Word for "had they not provided for us, we would have learned to provide for ourselves" [closed]
The usual proverb covering your title statement is
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Lexico defines this proverb:
- When the need for something becomes imperative, you are forced to find ways of getting or achieving it.
The implication, as you point out is the true situation, being that if there is no urgency, people become complacent and progress isn't made. New tools, methods, ideas are left undeveloped.
A more common phrasing of your title statement is [Wiktionary]
- Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.