Скачать или смотреть The Bootstrap Mentality Was a Joke

The phrase “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” is often used today to mean self-reliance or hard work.

That was never its original meaning.

When the expression first appeared in the 19th century, it was sarcasm about an impossibility. You cannot lift yourself by pulling on your own boots. The phrase was used to highlight unrealistic expectations and faulty logic, not to offer advice or motivation.

In its original form, “bootstraps” critiqued the idea that someone could succeed without support. It pointed out the absurdity of demanding outcomes without providing conditions that make success possible.

Over time, the meaning shifted.

By the early 20th century, the sarcasm was stripped away and the phrase was reframed as a moral instruction. What once challenged impossible demands began to justify them. Structural barriers faded from view, and personal struggle was recast as personal failure.