Key passages:
Epicurean self-sufficiency and adjustment to living within our means of the moment is not so that we may ratchet ourselves to a lower and lower existence, but to *change* our circumstances.
Behold! Just like the retreat of the Spartans in the battle of Plataea, at a time that was favorable to them they made a U-turn and thereafter they were victorious!
And the Epicureans? Are they trained to endure and withstand ultimately only to adjust to the necessary external conditions?
... What am I saying? That is the national anthem of the Stoics!
He who is self-sufficient is skilled and strong enough to act on his own, without being dependent on others.
And the Epicurean is self-sufficient.
The swerve allows him to not just adjust to the necessity, but to CHANGE it.