Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

J.D. Vance “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis,” HarperCollins, 2016 Paperback, 257 pp.

First, some of my own thoughts prompted as I read Hillbilly Elegy.  Most white Americans thrived when agriculture was the dominant industry and they continued to thrive when agriculture was replaced by factories—neither of these occupations required a college degree; nevertheless, they did provide constant and dependable employment and participation in the American Dream.  To participate only required a work ethic nurtured by family, relatives, religion, and community.  This is no longer working, I see much of the deterioration and hopelessness described in this book in my childhood hometown.

Although this book profiles the deteriorating white-working-class, (hillbilly Appalachian culture) its conclusions and references apply to all of the rust-belt and flyover central areas of the country.  As far as I know, all the studies of these problems have heretofore been made by people that never lived it: this book’s author lived it and writes convincingly about how hard it is to escape.  Author Vance is former marine and Yale Law School graduate who grew up in a poor Rust Belt town in Appalachia.  He spent his childhood in Jackson, KY, and Middletown, OH.

Mr. Vance stipulates that it isn’t laziness that’s destroying hillbilly culture but “learned helplessness” — the fatalistic belief, born of too much adversity, that nothing can be done to change your lot. Vance’s friends and relations are convinced that the media lies. That politicians lie. That the military is fighting two fruitless wars. Universities feel “rigged” and inaccessible; job prospects are slim.  And too many children lack role models and encouragement and fathers at home.

My Notes:

P. 19:  In 2009, AB News ran a news report about Appalachian America, highlighting a phenomenon known locally as ‘Mountain Dew mouth’: painful dental problems in young children generally caused by too much sugary soda. 

P. 194:  A study was made of how Americans evaluated their chances at economic betterment.  They found there is no group of Americans more pessimistic than working-class whites.  Well over half of the blacks, Latinos, and college-educated whites expect that their children will fare better economically than they have.  Among working-class whites, only 44 percent share that expectation.  Also, 42 percent of working-class whites report that their lives are less economically successful than those of their parents. 

Pg. 227:  Harvard pediatricians have studied the effect that childhood trauma has on the mind.  In addition to later negative health consequences, the doctors found that constant stress can actually change the chemistry of a child’s brain.  The constant presence of the fight-or-flight response is destructive when a constant companion.

Pg. 244:  In a given year, 640,000 children, most of them poor, will spend at least some time in foster care.