Philosophy

Raiffeisen stated that there is a connection between poverty and dependency. In order to fight poverty one should fight dependency first. Based on this idea he came up with the three ‘S’ formula: self-help, self-governance and self-responsibility. Originally in German: Selbsthilfe, Selbstverwaltung and Selbstverantwortung. When put into practice the necessary independence from charity, politics and loansharks could be established.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Wilhelm_Raiffeisen