Self-Reliance is an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson one of the great authors from Concord, Massachusetts. Emerson was an American essayist, philosopher, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early 19th century.
The Self-Reliance is one of his most famous essays and has inspired many that have read it. Wikipedia describes it, "It contains the most solid statement of one of Emerson's repeating themes, the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency, and follow his or her own instincts and ideas."
The proposal by the Deficit Commission on reducing the deficit by curbing Social Security cost-of-living increases, raising the retirement age, lowering the corporate tax rate, and limiting the mortgage interest deduction.