To me, homesteading is relying a bit less on the modern capitalist system for your bare necessities, and growing your own food, maybe even supplying your own power, so you can be a bit more self-reliant. Many people might choose to get a place in the country...but I'm not sure that that's necessarily required. We all can grow our own food a bit and be a bit more self-reliant so we aren't dependent on trade just to survive in a world with ever rising cost and reliance on oil, an ever depleting resource.