J.D. Vance is an ivy-league educated lawyer. He has all the trappings of the heralded American dream – rewarded for hard work and diligence, he has a good job, a loving wife, and a nice home. But to get there, he had to first rise above (and in many instances, simply survive) the poverty of his surroundings in Kentucky and his “crazy hillbilly” family. Vance paints a clear portrait of Appalachia that is dire and often hopeless. As a person having a graduate degree that […]
I’m not joining the fan club
This book has gotten a load of press, particularly since the Trump election. Reviewers and pundits see it as an explanation of the Trump phenomenon — who voted for that rat bastard and why? The disaffected and neglected white working class, that’s who! Of course, it is a mistake to think that it is just the white working class who bear responsibility for Trump. As Ta Nehisi Coates and others have pointed out, Trump’s support is all about being white, with class having little to […]
“Psychologists call it “learned helplessness” when a person believes, as I did during my youth, that the choices I made had no effect on the outcomes in my life.”
“Americans call them hillbillies, rednecks, or white trash. I call them neighbors, friends, and family. Hillbilly Elegy has been making the rounds since its release in June of last year and, despite being released five months before the election, has been touted as providing insight into the minds of Trump Voters. J.D. Vance’s memoir delves into his childhood, raised primarily in Middletown, OH with familial roots in Kentucky, and the struggles he had growing up straddling the poverty line. This reminded me a lot of The Glass Castle except […]