Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by
J.D. Vance
My rating:
5 of 5 stars
So.
I have a problem here. I, in my humor, decided to finally read this in full light of J.D.’s vice-presidency candidacy and the elections next month, placing this in October as a funny nod to Spooktober and calling it a horror.
When looking at the current politics, with so many of J.D.'s stances and horrible comments—not to mention how he still espouses crackpot theories and is in bed with Peter Thiel in some rather vast and disturbing ways—I thought I’d find a book full of faults and ideas that point to an easily cynical “social currency” that would also, cynically, propel his person, through this “memoir,” into politics.
Which, if we look at the course of things, DID. Almost as if it were custom-made to grease his way into the public consciousness.
So. With all of the “social currency” that J.D. keeps mentioning throughout this book, about how “social currency” is the only way to lift up the poverty-ridden, trauma-led Hillbillies (of any persuasion, even rednecks like me), I’m reminded of one little fact: Money, itself, is also, at its core, “social currency.” No matter how you stretch the idea, it’s a fact. Those who give money to others do it to propel their vision of what is right and proper, socially. That’s why we have Yale and other Ivy League schools. To build social connections, to open those doors, to create the society that is right and proper for all those with the money to make the world go round. And if you don’t follow the “social” in the “currency,” you don’t get the currency.
J.D.'s final point in this book underscores it. The poors that he escaped are at fault for not getting with the proper social behavior—indeed, because they eat poorly (because they’re poor), because they treat each other abominably (because they’re traumatized by generational poverty and abuse), or even because they’re uneducated and bombarded with overwhelming agendas (often eschewing further education because of the need to WORK—just to survive—because that’s how it’s always been done), it gets them all farther and farther away from the “social currency.”
I’m underlining this point because he underlines it.
Other than that, I generally have few qualms about the actual observations he makes throughout the memoir. I agree that poverty is absolutely horrible, that nobody ought to go through systemic abuse or trauma while growing up or as adults, PERIOD. J.D. brings up all the big issues that seem to be endemic in the poorer parts of America. I say America because, while there are poverty-stricken areas everywhere else, there is a particular flavor here that isn’t quite like the others. Any embellishments J.D. makes in this book are rather insubstantial compared to the recognition of the real problem. Namely, it IS very different from generations past, the poverty has only grown worse, and so has the continued abuse between all those people still living in it. They’re tearing each other apart, one relationship at a time, and I find no reason to fault J.D.’s observations.
Only his conclusions.
I’m going to ignore the blame game here. Republicans or Democrats, the lies or truths told about either. I’m just going to focus on the little problem of poverty. If money is a social construct that serves to give advantages only to those who play the right games, then J.D. is saying that if you’re poor, like he was, YOU need to simply play the game right, like he did. And then, miraculously, you, too, will be on the winning side.
See how it is?
The book is a masterful work of manipulation. It tells a lot of truth, and then, when it gets to the zinger, it also seems to offer a brilliant, hopeful truth.
So, now that we see where J.D.’s wonderful memoir is headed, and now that we see where HE is headed, we also see quite clearly WHY J.D. is headed right to the top—if Trump wins.
He is a pied-piper. And if YOU follow him, YOU, TOO can sing the praises of “social currency,” together, perhaps, with real currency! All you grassroots will get to sprout into actual trees!
Well. Who knows. Maybe I’m utterly wrong on this.
Maybe J.D. really did go through systematic abuse throughout his young life and came through it all extremely well-adjusted and blessed, always on the lookout to not perpetuate more abuses. Maybe he isn’t on the dole of a massive amount of “social currency” from Peter Thiel and the RNC. Maybe he isn’t cynically cashing in on a massive load of kingmakers who see him as someone who can be level-headed AND controlled. Maybe.
Well, anyway, after reading this book, I feel like I could have a nice conversation about the ills we’ve encountered, discuss possible solutions, and in the end, be proud to call someone who has gone through so much and even now seems to have his head screwed on right, a friend. I could disagree with his conclusions, but likely never his observations. We would part as possible allies.
At least, I could with the man he wrote himself to be back when this book came out.
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