Hillbilly Elegy
was certainly very believable, and very readable. It described a life that was astonishing perhaps
because not usually described in such detail by an insider. But ultimately, it
was unsatisfying as a study of white working-class America, for a number of
reasons:
·
One person’s opinion does not equate to a
sociological argument. J D Vance certainly lived through a challenging
childhood and upbringing. A father he hardly ever lived with, a mother who
became an addict, and a succession of stepfathers was not a recipe for a peaceful
childhood, certainly. But experiencing the childhood does not automatically
mean that the author is able to analyze what was wrong with it.
·
Using academic studies to assess your own life
is not so simple. Clearly, J D Vance has read widely around social deprivation
in the US and one of the reasons his book is so fascinating is because he has
read around the subject. It is remarkable, perhaps unique, to have this double
perspective. But somehow using academic data to prove the personal details of
his childhood does not quite ring true. For example, he notes how his natural
father turned to religion and seemed to change for the better: “In this, dad
embodied a phenomenon social scientists have observed for decades: religious
folks are much happier. Regular church attendees commit fewer crimes, have
better health, live longer, make more money, drop out of high school less
frequently...” (and the author dutifully provides a citation to an academic
article). It’s as if all that was needed for his community to live better lives
was to read a few relevant academic journal articles, and act on them. And why
wasn’t everyone in his community religious, as a result?
·
In contrast, J D Vance displays all the evangelism
of the new convert – at various times, to Christianity, to becoming an academic
success, to the US Marines, to the right wing. With him it was never half
measures; it was all or nothing. He gleefully describes how during his college
days he had not one but two jobs, which means he got almost no sleep: “During a
particularly terrible February, I sat down with my calendar and counted the
numbe r of days since I’d slept more than four hours in a day. The tally was
thirty-nine.” He doesn’t just join the Marines, he subscribes wholeheartedly to
their values. “The Marine Corps taught me how to live like an adult.” Yet from
his description of what happened, it sounds like the Marine Corps provided him
with the parenting he lacked at home. That isn’t much of a recipe for the entire
white underclass to follow (at least, it would be a mighty expensive form of
social service).
·
As a story, Hillbilly Elegy starts to lose
interest for the reader about half way through when the author begins to switch
from victim to hero. Heroes simply aren’t interesting, not when they write
their autobiography and tell you the story of their success.
·
Vance’s story illustrates the remarkable
propaganda achievement of the US military. By the time recruits have finished
training, they have become convinced they are fighting for the right side –
even when they are stationed in Iraq.
As a result, while I greatly enjoyed his memoir, I don’t
entirely trust his analysis of the white underclass. As a conservative, he
seemed very critical of handing out welfare payments to what he stated were
often the wrong recipients. Yet at the same time he states candidly how
beneficial to him were the concessions he received as a poor student at Yale.
Because some of the welfare was misused, he seems to argue for not having
welfare at all. I escaped, he tells us, and it was really bad. And of course,
the worse the background, the more impressive his escape.
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