rugged individualism

1. The belief that all individuals, or nearly all individuals, can succeed on their own and that government help for people should be minimal. The phrase is often associated with policies of the Republican party and was widely used by the Republican president Herbert Hoover. The phrase was later used in scorn by the Democratic presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman to refer to the disasters of Hoover's administration, during which the stock market Crash of 1929 occurred and the Great Depression began.

Example Sentences

The fabric has long been shorthand for rugged individualism and the everyday workwear mythos of the American frontier — in other words, a different, portable performance of Americana.

From Salon

When Trump spoke on Wednesday, he played up the old tropes of rugged individualism for America and said our allies “profited at our expense.”

From Salon

In his remarks, he condemned the structural nature of poverty, saying “this country has socialism for the rich, rugged individualism for the poor.”

From Salon

“America is built on this idea of rugged individualism and that that has always been the connective tissue between the right and the left in conspirituality spaces,” he said.

From Salon

Gun debates obviously tie into larger questions about America and the belief in rugged individualism versus livable communities.

From Los Angeles Times