EPISODE 1084; HILLBILLY ELEGY by J.D. VANCE…culture in crisis
alan skeoch
July 18. 2024
Trump frightens me. He is best described as a loose cannon …
a gut feeling.
Quite by chance while shopping in Marjorie’s favourite store…The Salvation Army Thrift Store.
I nosed through the book collection,…drawn to an odd book titled
‘Hilbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance. An unknown person to me.
The subject was industrial towns like Middletown, Ohio,which had
become wastelands as factories departed for cheap labour elsewhere in the world.
leaving behind the so called Rust Bellt … American States orbiting around Ohio.
I paid little attention to the author, J.D. Vance, but found the book interesting as a fist person
account of the kind of working class Americans left in the rust belt cities.
The name J. D. Vance has suddenly become a household word as
he is now Donald Trump’s choice as running mate for the Republican Party’s presidential election.
His speech at the convention was larded with comments about his personal life in the
Rust Belt/. Much of it tragic. Yet much of it heroic as well.
Vance was not a lifelong Republican. His roots are as much Democrat. Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat ,
was admired by the Vance family.
Why did Trump choose J D Vance as his running mate? Was the choice brilliant? Was the choice risky?
Time will tell.
