Author: [American] J D. Wansi
Publisher: Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House · Times Mandarin
Publication date: April 2017
brief introduction
In American society, people often use terms such as "Hillbillie" to describe white blue collar workers struggling to survive in difficult situations. Don't forget to share your experience!
The most severe problem faced by this group is the loss of hope, which is even more terrifying than poverty.
In "The Lament of the Countryside People," J.D. Vance truthfully tells the impact of social, regional, and class decline on those who are deeply immersed in it from birth.
What do you think about this?
Vance's maternal grandparents migrated north from the Appalachian region of Kentucky to Ohio, hoping to escape that terrible poverty.
They worked hard to enter the middle class, and eventually their grandson graduated from Yale Law School, which is a traditional symbol of successful upward mobility for a generation. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
As the family story slowly develops, we discover that Vance's grandparents, aunt, uncle, sister, and most importantly, his mother are all striving to adapt to the demands of middle-class life, but have never completely escaped drug abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and mental trauma. Don't forget to share your experience!
Wan Si grew up in such a chaotic and heartbreaking environment, but it was also the love and loyalty of this group of "rural people" that enabled him to achieve today's success. Have you tried this before? Share your story!
Overall, there are only a few cases like the author's successful escape from poverty.
Most white blue collar Americans still cannot break free from hereditary poverty and hardship, as if they are an innate shackle firmly tied around their necks. Don't forget to share your experience!
What are the reasons that prevent them from finding a suitable way out in the United States, a country that prides itself on freedom? Have you tried this before? Share your story!
The Lament of the Countryside People "is an extremely touching memoir that contains vivid character images and many humorous elements. It describes the feeling of upward mobility for a generation and also reflects on the phenomenon of a large number of people losing the American Dream. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
This book is also a profound social commentary. Through the author's growth story and experiences, from the perspective of "insiders", it leads us to explore the difficulties and crises faced by the blue collar class in the United States from a more macro perspective. Have you tried this before? Share your story!
My name is J D. Vance.
Firstly, In my experience I should be honest and say:In my experience the book that readers are holding in their hands at this moment is somewhat absurd.
The cover says it's a memoir, but I'm only 31 years old and haven't achieved anything great yet, at least not the kind of achievement worth spending money to read by an unfamiliar reader. Have you tried this before? Share your story!
The best thing I have ever done, at least in name, is to graduate from Yale Law School. This is something I couldn't even imagine when I was 13 years old. Don't forget to share your experience!
However, Yale Law School graduates approximately 200 students annually. And I believe readers will not want to read about the lives of most of them. Don't forget to share your experience!
I am not a senator, I have never been the governor of any state, let alone a cabinet minister.
I have not founded a company with a market value of 1 billion US dollars, nor have I established a non-profit organization that can change the world. Have you tried this before? Share your story!
All I have is a good job, a happy marriage, a comfortable home, and two cute dogs.
Therefore, the reason why I wrote this book is not because I have achieved any extraordinary accomplishmentsBut it's because although what I do is very ordinary, most children who grow up like me cannot do it.
You should know that my childhood was very poor, living in the Rust Belt, a steel city in Ohio.
Since I can remember, job opportunities in this city have been constantly disappearing, and people have gradually lost hope.
As for my family's situation, to put it more tactfully, my relationship with my parents is quite complicated, and one of them has been struggling with drug addiction for almost his entire life. Have you tried this before? Share your story!
My grandparents who raised me didn't even graduate from high school, and there are very few people in my entire big family who have gone to college. Have you tried this before? Share your story!
All kinds of statistics will show that children like me have a bleak future - the lucky ones among us can avoid falling into the trap of receiving social assistance; And those unfortunate ones may die from overdose of heroin - dozens of people in my hometown town died from it just last year. What do you think about this?
I was once one of those children with bleak prospects. I almost dropped out of high school because of poor academic performance Let me know your thoughts in the comments!Learning, I almost succumbed to the anger and resentment that everyone around me has.
Nowadays, when people see me, when they see my job and my graduation certificate from an Ivy League school, they think I am some kind of genius, thinking that only exceptionally outstanding people will come to where I am today. Although I have no ill intentions towards these people, to be frank, this theory is actually nonsense. What do you think about this?
Even if I had any talent, it would have been in vain if I hadn't been saved by many loving people. Don't forget to share your experience!
This is my real life and also the original intention of writing this book.
I want people to know what it feels like to be on the brink of giving up on oneself, and why some people give up on themselves. What do you think about this?
I want people to understand what happens in the lives of the poor, as well as the spiritual and material poverty What do you think about this?What kind of psychological impact will it have on children from poor families.
I want people to understand my American Dream and that of my family.
I want people to experience the true feeling of upward mobility.
In addition, I also want people to realize a problem that I only recently realized: for us lucky ones who have achieved the American Dream, the demons we have experienced have been relentlessly pursuing us not far behind. What do you think about this?
In the background of my story, there is a question about race that needs to be explained.
in the U.S.In this society with strong racial awareness, our vocabulary is often limited to the color of people's skin - black people, Asians, and white privilege. Have you tried this before? Share your story!
These broad categories can sometimes be useful, but if you want to understand my story, you need to score a bit more detailed. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Although I am white, I do not equate myself with the Anglo Saxon white Protestant (WASP) in the Northeastern United States.
Have you tried this before? Share your story!
On the contrary, I consider myself one of the millions of white working-class people of Scots Irish descent who do not have a university degree. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
For this group of people, poverty is a family tradition - their ancestors worked as slave laborers in the south, then as tenant farmers and coal miners, and in more recent times as mechanics and factory workers. What do you think about this?
Americans are called hillbilliy, redneck, or white trash.
For me, they are neighbors, friends, and family.
Scottish Irish Americans are one of the most distinctive groups in the United States.
An observer onceThe record said: "Throughout the United States, I have been shocked by Scottish Irish Americans. They are the most persistent and stable subculture group with the least change in the United States. When almost everywhere there is a total rejection of tradition, their family structure, religion, politics and social life remain unchanged." Have you tried this before? Share your story!
The belief in traditional culture has brought many good characteristics - a high sense of loyalty and respect for homeThe fervent dedication of the court and the country, but also has many negative characteristics.
We don't like outsiders or people who are different from us, whether it's their appearance, behavior, or way of speaking, and speaking style is particularly important. Don't forget to share your experience!
To understand my story, you must first understand that deep down, I am a Scottish Irish 'country bumpkin'.
If race is one side of the coin, then the other side is geographical factors.
When the 18th generationWhen the first batch of Scottish Irish immigrants arrived in the New World, they were deeply attracted by the Appalachian Mountains. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Although this region is vast - stretching from Alabama and Georgia in the south to a part of New York in the north - the culture of the Greater Appalachian Mountains is very cohesive. Have you tried this before? Share your story!
My family comes from the eastern mountains of Kentucky, and we call ourselves rural people.
Hank Williams, Jr., who was born in Louisiana but settled in Alabama, also sees himself as a country bumpkin in his white country song A Country Boy Can Survive. What do you think about this?
And when the Greater Appalachian Mountains shifted their support from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party, they redefined American politics after Nixon. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
However, the fate of the white working class in the Greater Appalachian Mountains appears to be the most bleak. From low social mobility to poverty, to divorce and drug abuse, my hometown has become the center of suffering. Have you tried this before? Share your story!
Therefore, I've found that it's not surprising that we are a pessimistic group.
But surprisingly, according to researchAccording to research, the white working class is the most pessimistic group in the United States.
Many Hispanic immigrants face unimaginable poverty, but the white working class is even more pessimistic than them.
beautiful National Black People's Property The prospect of a better quality of life still lags behind that of the white race, but the white working class is even more pessimistic than them. What do you think about this?
although Although there may be some cynicism in the real situation, the reality is that compared to many others His group, like me from a 'humble background', is more pessimistic about the future, although many groups are clearly more pessimistic than us Don't forget to share your experience! More impoverished.
This phenomenon indicates that there must be something wrong outside of money.
Indeed, we have never been so detached from society, and we have passed on this isolation to othersOur children.
Our faith has also changed: I've found that it's increasingly centered around churches and relies more on emotional rhetoric rather than the necessary social support that can help poor children progress. What do you think about this?
Many of us have withdrawn from the manual labor force, and many have not relocated for better opportunities.
Some characteristics in our culture have brought about a unique male crisis, which has led to the formation of certain negative traits in our men, making it difficult for them to succeed in this changing world. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
When I mention the difficulties in our community, I always hear explanations like, 'J.D., Bai.'The prospects of the artificial class have indeed deteriorated, but you have reversed the essence. Their divorce rate is increasing, marriage rate is decreasing, and happiness is also decreasing, but this is because their economic opportunities have declined. As long as they can get better jobs, other aspects of their lives will correspondingly improve Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
I used to think the same way when I was young, and at that time I desperately wanted to believe in this viewpoint. It listens Don't forget to share your experience!It makes sense to get up. Not having a job can cause a lot of pressure, and not having enough money to survive can be even more stressful. As the manufacturing centers of the Midwest are hollowed out, the white working class not only loses their economic security, but also loses stable families and family life. Have you tried this before? Share your story!
But those difficult experiences can also be a teacher, who taught me one thing: thisThe statement about economic insecurity has its biases.
A few years ago, in the summer before I entered Yale Law School, I wanted to find a full-time job in order to save money to move to New Haven, Connecticut. What do you think about this?
A friend of mine suggested that I work for a medium-sized tile distribution company near my hometown.
The floor tiles are particularly heavy: each piece weighs 3-5 pounds, and a box usually contains 8-12 pieces. My main job is to move the floor tiles onto the cargo board and prepare for transportation.
Don't forget to share your experience!
Although this job is not easy, I can earn $13 an hour, and I need money right now. So I accepted this job and tried to take turns and work overtime as much as possible. This company has about 12 employees, most of whom have been working there for many years. Have you tried this before? Share your story!
A colleague is working two full-time jobs at the same time, but not out of necessity: his second job at a tile distribution company allows him to pursue his dream of flying a plane. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
an hour
$13 is not a small amount of money for bachelors in my hometown - the monthly rent for a decent apartment
Don't forget to share your experience!
It's only around $500, and the tile company also has a stable salary increase.
In the context of economic downturn, employees who have worked in that company for several years can earn at least $16 per hour, which is an annual income of $32000- much higher than the poverty line of even one family. Don't forget to share your experience!
Although the company can provide such a relatively stable environment, the managers have found it difficult to find long-term employees for my position in the warehouse. Don't forget to share your experience!
Before I left, there were three employees in the warehouse, and although I was only 26 years old at the time, I was much older than the other employees. Don't forget to share your experience!
One of the employees is named Bob (pseudonym), who had just started working at this warehouse a few months before me. He was 19 years old at the time and had a pregnant girlfriend. The manager kindly offered his girlfriend an administrative job of answering phone calls. He and his girlfriend have both performed very poorly at work. What do you think about this?
His girlfriend has to skip work almost every two days without prior notice, while he is consistently late. Not only that, he also has to go to the bathroom 3-4 times a day, which takes more than half an hour each time. Don't forget to share your experience!
His performance was so poor that before the end of my work there, another person and IThe employee invented a game: when he goes to the bathroom, we set a timer, and each important "milestone" will shout at each other at both ends of the warehouse - "35 minutes!" "45 minutes!" "1 hour Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
In the end, Bob was also fired.
When he was fired, he angrily scolded the manager, 'What are you doing?'Can you do this to me? Don't you know that I have a pregnant girlfriend And there are more than one like him. During my short time working in the tile warehouse, at least two people also lost their jobs, including Bob's cousin. Don't forget to share your experience!
When discussing equal opportunities, such examples cannot be ignored.
The economics that won the Nobel PrizeWhat worries the family is the economic downturn in the industrial areas of the Midwest and the hollowing out of the white worker economic center. They refer to manufacturing jobs flowing overseas, and those without a university degree find it harder to find middle-class jobs. Don't forget to share your experience!
That's true - these things are also what I'm worried about.
But this book is about issues beyond that: what changes occurred in the real lives of ordinary people when the industrial economy moved southward. Have you tried this before? Share your story!
This book tells the story of how people cope with unfavorable conditions in the worst possible way, and how American culture is increasingly encouraging social collapse rather than resisting corruption. Don't forget to share your experience!
The problems I saw in the tile warehouse back then were deeper than macroeconomic trends and policiesOn the level. Too many young people are not interested in working hard, but good job positions are always hard to find. Have you tried this before? Share your story!
A young man has various reasons for needing a job, such as supporting his future wife and a soon to be born child, but he has lost a decent job with good medical insurance. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Even more unsettling is that when he lost his job, he still felt that he had been treated unfairly. He lacks a subjective agency - he believes he has little control over his own life and always wants to blame anyone except himself. Have you tried this before? Share your story!
This phenomenon is incompatible with the economic landscape of modern America.
It should be pointed out that although I am focusing on the type of people I know in this book, namely Have you tried this before? Share your story!The white working class in the Appalachian region, but I am not saying that we are more deserving of sympathy than others. Have you tried this before? Share your story!
My original intention for writing this book was not because white people have more to complain about than black people or any other race. Have you tried this before? Share your story!
That is to say, I hope readers of this book can take off the colored glasses of race and experience how class and family affect the poor. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
For many analysts, upon hearing the term 'welfare queen', an unfair image of a lazy black mother living off unemployment benefits comes to mind. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Readers of this book will soon discover that my arguments have nothing to do with this image: I know some 'welfare queens' - some of whom are still my neighbors, but they are all white. Have you tried this before? Share your story!
This book is not an academic research.
A few years ago, William Julius WilsonWilliam J ulius Wilson Charles Murray, Robert Putnam, and Raj Chetty have all published remarkable and well researched works, Among them, it shows:
Upward social mobility declined in the 1970s and then
Not truly restored;
Some regions have suffered worse than others (shockingly, Appalachia and the Rust Belt have performed poorly);
The phenomena I have witnessed in my life actually exist in the entire society.
Although I disagree with some of their conclusions, they have convincingly pointed out that the United States has problems.
Although I can use data and academic research to illustrate issues, my main goal is not to make readers believe a paper problem, but to tell a real story: what it feels like to be suffocated by such a problem from birth. What do you think about this?
This story cannot be separated from those characters in my life. So, this book is not mine aloneMemoirs are for our entire family. This is a history of opportunities and upward mobility seen through the eyes of a group of underprivileged children from Appalachia. Don't forget to share your experience!
Two generations ago, my grandparents were penniless yet loved each other. After marriage, driven by the hope of escaping the suffocating poverty around them, they moved to the north. Their grandson (me) graduated from one of the best universities in the world. What do you think about this?
The above is a brief description, and the following is a detailed story.
In order to protect their privacy, some people in the book use pseudonyms, but the stories in the book are all pseudonyms Let me know your thoughts in the comments!Based on my recollection, an accurate description of the world I witnessed.
There are no composite fictional characters or out of context narratives here. I try my best to use written records for many details inside, such as transcripts, handwritten letters, notes on photos, etc., but I believe that the story of this book is as unreliable as anyone's memory. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Indeed, when I asked my sister to read the early drafts, she and I discussed for a full 30 minutes whether there was a mistake in the order in which something happened. Have you tried this before? Share your story!
I most I still kept my version afterwards, not because I didn't trust my sister's memory (in fact, In my experience her memories are more reliable than mine, but it's because I believe in how my brain works Remembering these events itself also has its own interesting aspects.
I dare not say that I am an unbiased observer. Each reader will seeAlmost everyone has obvious flaws.
Some people have attempted to kill, and some have even succeeded;
Some people have physically or mentally abused their children;
Many people have (and still do) abused drugs.
But I love these people, even those whom I usually avoid talking about in order to maintain my rationality.
If you read this book and think that there are people in my life who are bad, then I want to apologize, both to the readers and to those who have become bad people in their eyes because of my description. Don't forget to share your experience!
Because there are no villains in this book, only a group of poor and disorganized people who have been struggling to move forward - thank God, they are not only for themselves, but also for me. Don't forget to share your experience!
[1] Refers to some regions in the United States that were once prosperous but have now declined.
[2] WASP White Anglo Saxon Protestant, a descendant of British Protestants,
In the United States, I've found that it's seen by minority communities as the mainstream population that controls American society.
