Definition of "self-sustaining" [self-sustaining]

• Able to sustain oneself or itself independently. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Republicans, on the other hand, believe long-term self-sustaining jobs are created in the private sector—that government cannot tax, spend and borrow our nation to prosperity."
• "Giving airtime to these kinds of people is part of how Fox reinforces the drumbeat of stereotypes that permeates the rest of its coverage, and how it ensures its viewers subscribe to what Greg referred to as the "self-sustaining, self-perpetuating alternate reality" where America is on the verge of establishing sharia law and where an anti-white hate group has influence in the White House."
• "Tuesday morning's economic data south of the border add to the growing sense that the U.S. is trending in the right direction, while serving as a reminder that the American recovery is a long way from what economists call "self-sustaining.""