pull the ladder up behind oneself

English

Alternative forms

• pull the ladder up after oneself, pull up the ladder behind oneself, pull up the ladder

Etymology

Coined by analogy with phrases such as make it to the top and climb the ladder that liken success to an upward struggle.

Pronunciation

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Verb

pull the ladder up behind oneself (third-person singular simple present pulls the ladder up behind oneself, present participle pulling the ladder up behind oneself, simple past and past participle pulled the ladder up behind oneself)

1. (idiomatic) To prevent others from attaining or benefiting from the same advantages, opportunities, or rights as oneself.
   • 1965 July 24, “Shall We Non-Proliferate?”, in The Economist, page 313:

     The odds are that, after the first flush of enthusiasm, a non-proliferation treaty is going to look to many of the have-nots like a device for letting Russia and America scramble on top of their nuclear piles and then pull the ladder up behind them.

   • 1973, Wade Rowland, The Plot to Save the World: The Life and Times of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment‎^[1], page 47:

     Environmental concerns were a neat excuse for the industrialized nations to pull the ladder up behind them.

   • 1994, Tema Frank, Canada's Best Employers for Women: A Guide for Job Hunters, Employees and Employers‎^[2], page 45:

     Commented one senior administrator, “Early in my career another woman said to me, 'When you get where you're going, don't pull the ladder up behind you.' That is the prevalent attitude here."

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:pull the ladder up behind oneself.