"WHat is one classic western film that Perfectly embodies the spirit of Self Reliance.

 Still working on the 2nd part of my rant, might be a 3rd...depending on how it flows.

I saw this on Quora and it was very good, I knew that the 50's and early 60 was the heyday for the cowboy westerns and nobody embodies it like John Wayne.  Even the movie "Toy Story" touched on it when the main character "Woody" was a TV cowboy and was very popular until the Space phenonium took hold with the advent of the Mercury/Gemini/ and the Apollo missions with the race to the moon.

    Here is the back story on the Movie "Hondo", I think it is one of his best.

A man walks out of the desert carrying his rifle and saddle, accompanied by a dog.

The man’s name is Hondo Lane, and he was riding dispatch for the US Cavalry when he encountered some hostile Indians and lost his horse.

Now, your average person in the here-and-now would sit down and die of thirst or hunger out there in the desert, if put into the same situation. Hondo, on the other hand—in true rugged individualist fashion—uncinched his saddle from his horse and walked away. It’s not known whether he had a destination in mind when he began walking, or whether he knew he’d happen across a settlement or homestead if he headed in a certain direction. But sitting around waiting to die wasn’t in his wheelhouse. As it happened, he stumbled across a homestead where a lone woman and her son lived, and—though perfectly capable of robbing or requisitioning—he agrees to work for the woman until he earns enough to buy a horse from her. (Dispatches be damned, I guess.)

Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is “self-reliance.” Don’t wait for rescue. Don’t beg or borrow. Use what you’ve got. Put your brains and your legs to work. Earn your keep. Don’t give up and don’t take shortcuts.