And then they convince themselves it was their perseverence and gumption that resulted in all their success, which enables them to look down on anyone who isn’t successful, because clearly they just lack perseverence and gumption.

Never really thought about it this way, but my wife’s little piggies do have a lot of personality!

Still are in Australia. It was very confusing to my American wife for quite a while.

It’s pretty intuitive from the saying. It’s the carrot OR the stick, not the carrot ON the stick. The carrot is the reward for doing the thing, the stick is the punishment for not doing it. Just google it.