Self-help doctrine made character-molding the state’s political task rather than legislation or rights

Evidence

The book made ‘character’ the object of its study in order to make three arguments, each of which was to contribute to its enormous usefulness in Egypt: (1) that the political task of those who govern is to mould individual habits and morals; (2) that government should not concern itself therefore with further legislation or greater rights, all of which lead to ‘overgovernment’ while failing to make the idle industrious; and (3) that to make the idle industrious requires the discipline and training of an education – the aim of which is not to supply knowledge as a ‘marketable commodity’ whose acquisition makes men ‘better off’, but to train those who must do society’s daily work in the mentality of perseverence and industry. — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 352 (#expands, via linked claim)

In reality, the question is still that of Italian “apoliticism”, 187 which takes on these various picturesque and bizarre forms.) Individualism is merely brutish apoliticism; sectarianism is apoliticism, and if one looks into it carefully is a form of personal following [clientela ], lacking the party spirit which is the fundamental component of “State spirit”. The demonstration that party spirit is the basic component of “State spirit” is one of the most critically important assertions to uphold. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 659 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Self-help ideology reframed governance as molding habits rather than granting rights. — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 352; Self-help doctrine reduced national progress to the moral character of individuals. — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 351; Secularism as state doctrine emerged from linking personal morality to legislative social reconstruction (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Self-help ideology reframed governance as molding habits rather than granting rights. #expands (0.95) — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 352
• Party spirit, not individualism, is the foundation of State spirit #complicates (0.72) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 659