Hillbilly Elegy was published back in 2016, but it remains essential reading for two reasons: 1) It provides a glimpse into the plight of the white working class, and 2) JD Vance is now Donald Trump’s running mate on the Republican ticket and could very well be the next Vice President of the United States.
Book Summary
The story told by Vance is relatable. It’s as if he’s sitting at your dinner table or around a fire. He opens up, courageously, about his journey from hillbilly to Yale Law School, which has now led him to the pinnacle of American success.
Intertwined in his story is an analysis of a culture in crises. Specifically, the white working-class men and women from the Appalachian Mountains. In his case, Kentucky is the cultural epicenter of his world. But it’s not just that area, what he describes is widespread throughout the country and the world. It’s a culture of poverty – single parent homes, substance abuse, and joblessness create a sense hopelessness for many.
Where Vance’s story and his cultural critique collide is at the intersection of upward mobility. In short, Vance’s quest for a better life for himself and his family proves the American Dream. The idea that you can start from nowhere and find yourself trucking down the road to somewhere much better is, however, only available to those who understand how to navigate the journey. For those who don’t, it’s a treacherous and improbably path.
Part of his meditations address personal responsibility, economic decline, culture, and what it’s like for him feeling like a cultural immigrant. When he went to Yale Law School, he didn’t know how to use a butter knife or how to dress or what sparkling water was. Vance’s inability to understand how to seamlessly fit into his new culture, mirrors the problems faced by Vance’s grandparents when they moved from the Kentucky hills to Ohio.
At times the book is funny, other times it’s dead serious, and sometimes you can’t help but cringe at what you know is coming. For me, it forced me to reflect on where I came from and my past. My hometown is similar to his, which I suspect is true for large numbers of people. Vance’s story is relatable to many people and proves the American Dream is alive today for many of us, but not everyone.
The question he seems to want to answer is this: How can we export the American dream to every neighborhood and home in our great land? How can we teach folks how to navigate the road to a better life?
Vance concludes by first observing, “Thinking about it now,” he writes, “about how close I was to the abyss, gives me chills. I am one lucky son of a bitch.” How many millions of people feel those same chills? And then referring to all the problems he grew up facing in hillbilly country, he writes: “there is no government that can fix these problems for us.” And then follows up by writing: “I don’t know what the answer is, precisely, but I know it starts when we stop blaming Obama or Bush or faceless companies and ask ourselves what we can do to make things better.”
Upward Mobility
In Vance’s world, upward mobility is available only to those who are willing to change their circumstances and assimilate to a new way of life. As he demonstrates, it’s not easy to shed old skin. Cultural habits, like fighting instead of negotiating, are second nature.
One sailient point Vance hammers home is how lucky he is. As he writes,
“When I look back at my life, what jumps out is how many variables had to fall in place in order to give me a chance. There was my grandparents’ constant presence…Despite the revolving door of would-be father figures, I was often surrounded by caring and kind men. Even with her faults, mom stilled in me a life-long love od education and learning. My sister always protected me, even after I’d physically outgrown her. Dan and Aunt Wee opened their home when I was too afraid to ask. Long before that, they were my first real exemplars of a happy and loving marriage. There were teachers, distant relative, and friends.
Remove all those people from the equation, and I’m probably screwed.”
Escaping the trappings of hillbilly culture wasn’t the end of Vance’s journey to a better life. Once on the path to success, Vance felt very out of place. Moving up the social ladder doesn’t come without a constant barrage of doubt and an entirely new set of customs. When at Yale Law School, he didn’t know what a butter knife was and didn’t know about sparkling water. He was like a fish out of water.
A Culture of Poverty
Vance indirectly pulls back the curtain on a culture of poverty. Single parent homes, substance abuse, poor work ethics, poor school performance, and fighting are all part of the culture. Each of these things keep people jobless and poor and are roadblocks to the American Dream.
The stories that stay with you are the seemingly idiotic decisions by people all around Vance. The fights, for instance, create winless circumstances. When people engage in fights, often one person goes to the hospital and the other to jail – everyone loses. By negotiating a resolution to conflict, it’s possible both people win. Having children grow up in a single parent home is idiotic because the one person has to work and so there is no one raising the kids. Unsupervised teens use drugs, drink, and engage in sex. These things obviously lead to substance abuse and out of wedlock children. And, the circle continues unbroken because people don’t know how to change their circumstances.
Another aspect of poverty is the low value placed on education. People don’t see education as essential to securing a better life. Without basic education, people’s job opportunities are limited, as are their ability to make good decisions. Part of this decision making has to do with money. A particularly stern section of the book deals with how lesser educated people make terrible financial decisions. Vance highlights all the imprudent decisions hillbillies make with money and how that traps them into an endless cycle of borrowing and debt.
Vance’s grandparents made him change his life. They couldn’t quit figure out how to make the changes seamlessly themselves, but they encouraged Vance to study, work hard, and find his God given purpose.
What the Book Shows About Vance’s Political Thinking
Vance declares himself a conservative – socially, politically, and economically.
He clearly thinks two parent homes, going to church, hard work, and education are valuable. When the book was published back in 2016, it was obvious he approached issues from a conservative perspective.
For one thing, Vance and his grandmother grow increasingly irritated throughout the book at how much of their hard-earned money goes to support other people who are not working hard. The idea that the government steals from hard working poor people to give to lazy poor people is repugnant. All around Vance sees people who are cheating the system and lazy.
As it relates to “cat ladies” his point is that most of America has a family and that provides healthy perspective, and that single women running the government is not representative of most people.
We see also, he thinks the government does not have solutions. Our futures are defined not by the President or major corporations, but by our actions. He celebrates individual agency, which is the thing that Vance used to escape what could have been a difficult life.
He does acknowledge something many conservatives know, but don’t say. Entitlements and social programs how actually helped many people. Government programs often create incentives not to work, are easily cheated, are mismanaged, are overly burdensome to taxpayers, and are mostly ineffective, but the fact remains that many people have escaped poverty with a helping hand. What he’s arguing is that we need to acknowledge that the system doesn’t work, but there must be a better way. Vance doesn’t articulate exactly how, but he wants to help teach people to fish.
Hillbilly Elegy is a great read with many facets. I strongly encourage everyone interested in our contemporary culture and politics to read it. You can purchase it here: https://amzn.to/3WNNea6
If you are interested in other commentary, visit our YouTube channel for our review of Hillbilly Elegy and other books. You may also enjoy reading our Woke, Inc. review for another astute take on our current culture.
