People looking for an explanation of Donald Trump's popularity among low-income and unemployed white Americans can get a little enlightenment from this memoir. The author, J.D. Vance, was born into an Appalachian hillbilly family with Scotch-Irish roots.
Author J.D. Vance
Though the word hillbilly is often used in a pejorative sense, it's defined as 'people who live in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in Appalachia and the Ozarks.'
Mountain people traditionally work blue collar jobs, and the closing of factories, mines, and mills in their towns left many hillbillies unemployed and disheartened. Moreover, those hill folk who do have jobs, and a good work ethic, resent their taxes being used to subsidize their unemployed neighbors - who they consider lazy whiners who illicitly profit from food stamps, eat steaks, and buy gewgaws like cell phones.....which many working hillbillies can't afford.
If these indolent food stamp recipients DO get work, they show up sporadically, and slack off when they're present. Vance tells a story about a hillbilly who - when he deigned to show up for work - took five half-hour bathroom breaks during his shift. Naturally, the man was fired.....and probably thought he was done wrong.
All this leads the working poor to resent welfare nets/entitlement programs associated with the Democratic Party.
According to Vance, economically disadvantaged hill folk - many of whom disdain education and resent locals who better themselves ('get too big for their britches') - have a culture of 'learned helplessness.' They're poor, they're resentful, and they want someone to blame. Thus, Donald Trump 'speaks to them' with his diatribes about jobs going overseas, rapist immigrants, callous environmentalists, terrorist Muslims, and so on.
Vance claims that the hillbillies dislike of Obama doesn't focus on race, but rather on the fact that he's a cultured Ivy League graduate who speaks well and doesn't understand their concerns. I don't totally buy this argument since I've met some Scotch-Irish descendants who express their dislike of black people in colorful terms. Be that as it may, I do understand the attraction of disaffected people to a rabble rouser like Trump.
*****
Vance grew up in Middletown, Ohio, with a drug-addicted mother who hooked up with a long string of boyfriends and husbands.
Young J.D. Vance
Luckily for the author, he was able to take refuge in the home of his grandparents - Mamaw and Papaw - who lived down the street. Mamaw and Papaw grew up in Jackson, Kentucky and married at the ages of 13 and 16, respectively, when Mamaw got pregnant. Like many other residents of eastern Kentucky, the young couple took the 'hillbilly highway' to Ohio - where the steel mills offered good-paying jobs.....until they closed.
J.D. Vance and his Mamaw
Old steel mill in Ohio
For much of their marriage Mamaw and Papaw had a troubled home, since Papaw was a raging alcoholic. However, Vance's grandparents provided him with unconditional love, a sense of stability, and the will to learn and improve himself. Thus Vance eventually served in the Marines, went to Ohio State University, and graduated from Yale Law School.
J.D. Vance and family members at his graduation from Marine boot camp
Unfortunately, the author's early years, during which he observed constant screaming and throwing matches between his mother and her men, left Vance without a framework for a healthy relationship. Vance admits he was a 'bad husband' until his wife Usha, whom he met at Yale Law School, helped him learn the proper way to disagree.
J.D. Vance with his wife Usha
Vance speaks lovingly of his 'lunatic' Mamaw, who carried a gun and wasn't afraid to use it.
Everyone feared her, which worked to the boy's advantage during his mother's many stints in rehab. Mamaw insisted on caring for young J.D. herself - though she didn't have fostering credentials - and kept him out of the system.
Vance was strongly attached to all the members of his family, including his sister; aunts; uncles; cousins; and especially his great-grandmother - Mamaw Blanton - whom he often visited in beautiful eastern Kentucky.....which he considered his true home.
Some of J.D. Vance's family members
Like many hillbillies, Vance was (and is) intensely loyal to his clan, and any insult to himself or his kinfolk resulted in a fist fight.....starting at age six. As an adult Vance still has a bad temper, and takes pride in being able to restrain himself, like the time he wanted to - but DIDN'T - confront a driver who flipped him off.
Vance relates some interesting (and humorous) anecdotes about his ignorance of the 'outside world' as a young adult. For instance, when Vance bought his first car, a fellow marine made him shop around for a car loan.....not just accept the dealer's high interest rate. And during dinner with a potential employer at a fancy restaurant, Vance had to sneak off to call Usha- for instructions about the over-abundant cutlery.
During that same meal, the author spit out his first sip of sparkling water - thinking something was wrong with the carbonated beverage. Moreover, Vance had to learn about professional attire. The author wore jeans and combat boots to an early job interview, before he learned that a suit was the appropriate garb. These are telling stories about the cultural divide between mountain folk and the 'educated elite' they disdain.
J.D. Vance had to learn to wear proper attire for a job interview
Vance acknowledges that hillbillies need help, but their situation is complex....and Vance can't pinpoint the best way to assist them. An influx of jobs would be good, but wouldn't solve the sociocultural problems like family conflict; drinking; drug addiction; poor eating habits; bad health; bad teeth; aversion to learning; disinclination to work; over-spending; and so on. Also, to successfully 'climb the ladder', people have to WANT to pull themselves up.....and this doesn't seem to be the case among hillbillies right now.
In an interview after the book was published, Vance cites a study that says upward mobility is stymied by living in neighborhoods with concentrated poverty; and residing in neighborhoods with a lot of single mothers. Addressing these issues might provide an initial boost to underprivileged groups.
Vance also remarks that religion (Christianity in this case) helped his biological father and himself focus and make better personal choices. In Vance's words, "I’d make one important point: that not drinking, treating people well, working hard, and so forth, requires a lot of willpower when you didn’t grow up in privilege. That feeling–whether it’s real or entirely fake–that there’s something divine helping you and directing your mind and body, is extraordinarily powerful."
Vance also notes, "I remain incredibly optimistic about the future. Maybe that’s the hillbilly resilience in me. Or maybe I’m just an idiot. But if writing this book, and talking with friends and strangers about its message, has taught me anything, it’s that most people are trying incredibly hard to make it, even in this complicated and scary world."
J.D. Vance at book signing, advancing his message
Vance is a political conservative and a reluctant (I think) Trump supporter. He wants his people to have better lives - and has made a push in that direction with this memoir.
I like the book, which has many interesting and instructive tales about Vance's life, his struggles, and his successes. I'd recommend the book to everyone interested in what's going on in the country today
Rating: 4 stars
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