The notion of self-reliance, therefore, had both normative and practical components.
Some analysis have mistakenly construed this term to mean "total independence."
The real test of self-reliance, however, was whether a community could sustain itself even in adverse circumstances.
The ability to "keep the initiative in your own hands" proved to be a major force in Mao's thinking, and over the years many policies in both domestic and foreign affairs bore the imprint of the high value he attached to self-reliance.