I don’t think that’s true, though. You could say that for some self-help books, that they claim or imply that individual action is the source of/solution to problems, but how would that be inherently true of books that are, say, aimed at reducing one’s anxiety. Obviously some books of this nature may harbour some liberal messages, but is that intrinsic to the genre? Like all of psychology is liberal? Are books on exercising or learning an instrument also individualistic?

I’m not tryna be difficult. Is self-help, by definition, individualistic? Like two books could be about CBT, but one is self-help and the other is not? Is there some other genre of books that deals with improving oneself in some way, without being individualistic?

What about in socialist countries? Are there no books about learning a craft or improving one’s discipline?

I totally get what you’re saying about a lot of self-help books, but to me it sounds like you’re throwing the baby out with the bath water. Like saying horror is inherently misogynistic because a lot of horror media is. Again, maybe I’m wrong and there is something intrinsic to self-help that is wrong, but it sounds to me like you’re making a generalization.