College America – Phoenix Chapter 9 Hillbilly Elegy Culture in Crisis Paper
In Chapter 9 of Hillbilly Elegy, Vance gets deeper into politics, pointing out that “Appalachia and the South went from staunchly Democrat to staunchly Republican in less than a generation” (140). We can see this mental shift in Vance himself when he works at the grocery store, turns into an “amateur sociologist” (138), and starts to think that “Mamaw’s ‘party of the working man’ — the Democrats — weren’t all they were cracked up to be” (140).
Vance’s reasoning for this is that the white working class and lower income people saw each other taking advantage of government programs designed to help them — they “gamed the welfare system” (139), as he put it. He also says that the working class and lower income folks where he grew up “spend our way into the poorhouse…to pretend that we’re upper class” (146).
What do you think of Vance’s argument that the problems in Appalachia are related to financial irresponsibility and reliance on government programs rather than a steady job and a good work ethic? Are these problems solely the fault of the people who live there, or are there other, larger forces at play? Be sure to use the text to support your answer.
And finally, do you think Vance’s argument explains the results of the 2016 election? Or is it not related?
