Hillbilly Elegy

I grew up thinking that hillbilly is a synonym for redneck or hick.  I thought it was just another derogatory name for poor (white) people in rural areas that don’t have much class or education.  Turns out, Hillbilly refers specifically to people of the Appalachia mountain region that spans 18 states from North to South.  It is an area that is economically depressed and isolated due to the rugged geography and lack of infrastructure.  It has also been robbed of his natural resources by corporations that leave after they destroy the environment and quit getting federal tax breaks to do it.  Though the title of this book would lead you to believe that it is about a family in this region, it isn’t.

This book is J.D. Vance’s story of growing up in rust belt Ohio to a mentally ill mother who abused drugs and alcohol.  She married and divorced several times, creating chaos and insecurity for Vance and his sister.  Their maternal grandparents became a refuge from the storm and Vance spent a good portion of his childhood living with them. THEY grew up in Eastern Kentucky in the Appalachia Mountains so they could be considered Hillbillies, but the book isn’t about them.  It’s about the pathology of a poverty mindset.

A person with a poverty mindset says my situation is hopeless and there is nothing I can do to make things better.  When money comes their way,  they spend it.  They numb themselves with drugs and alcohol, avoiding discipline and accountability.  They depend upon family to provide basic needs well into adulthood and take for granted their aid.  When bad things happen, they blame external forces out of their control and do not accept responsibility for their actions like showing up late, taking long breaks, or not coming in at all.  These are the behaviors Vance saw growing up and wanted to highlight.

The problem is that this isn’t a hillbilly problem or even a white working poor problem.  This is a human problem and it is more complicated than economics or geography.  In my life, I have lived in a variety of situations. I’ve always told myself, I can handle anything if I know it’s only temporary, but what if it isn’t temporary?  What if it seems like nothing will ever change?  What if the misery you are in is all you can hope for? There is a proverb that says, “Without vision, the people perish.”  That is the problem Vance is identifying in his book.  It’s a universal condition, not a hillbilly one.