self-help
self-help. Social and moral doctrine that people should rely on their own efforts and not look to the state for help. In the 19th cent. self-help took two forms: collectivist, as with friendly societies, mutual improvement societies, Cooperatives, and trade unions; or individualistic, as with the practice of sobriety, thrift, hard work, and self-education. Self-help, as popularized by Samuel Smiles, was middle-class advice how working people might better themselves without upsetting the status quo or seeking public relief when sick, aged, or unemployed. It also harmonized with the skilled artisan tradition of independence.
John F. C. Harrison
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self-help
