Detroit Today: Why ‘pulling yourself up by your bootstraps’ is poor advice

As far back as the 1800s, the phrase “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” was used as a sarcastic joke to suggest something was an impossible accomplishment. Over the course of time, however, it morphed into a phrase suggesting a rugged individual need only rely on themselves — and no one else — to attain success. But is this really the best way for a society to live?

Alissa Quart, executive director of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, joined Detroit Today host Stephen Henderson to discuss how the myths of self-reliance, individualism and bootstrapping are harming America.

“I think part of the work of individualism is to convince voters to vote for people who pretend to be self-made and aren’t.” — Alissa Quart, Economic Hardship Reporting Project

Listen: Why “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” is poor advice

Guest

Alissa Quart is the executive director of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and author of the new book “Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream.” She says the myth of self-reliance is often used to shift more burdens onto those less fortunate.

“I think part of the work of individualism is to convince voters to vote for people who pretend to be self-made and aren’t,” says Quart. “And to force people at the lower end of the gradient to take care of themselves entirely, without giving them any resources, besides the ones they earn themselves to do so.”