diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'jones-la')
| -rw-r--r-- | jones-la/vance-essay.tex | 22 |
1 files changed, 9 insertions, 13 deletions
diff --git a/jones-la/vance-essay.tex b/jones-la/vance-essay.tex index e0c96f6..c1bdc33 100644 --- a/jones-la/vance-essay.tex +++ b/jones-la/vance-essay.tex @@ -26,26 +26,22 @@ \header \title{{\it Hillbilly Elegy} on the American Dream} -The American Dream is a very nebulous concept, and it covers a lot of smaller ideas, like a theory of prosperity. One thing {\it is} clear, however: it is a dream, an aspiration to something. That something is mostly economic, and is related to some very American values: freedom at all costs and meritocracy. It's similar, but not identical, to the idea of upward mobility---that anyone, regardless of class, should be able to work hard and improve their social and economic statuses. J.D. Vance's memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, follows in a long line of philosophers who try to pin down the American Dream. Except Vance brings something else to the table that most of those philosophers didn't: firsthand knowledge of the people who couldn't achieve it and firsthand knowledge as a person who could. +The American Dream is nebulous. One thing {\it is} clear, however: it is a dream, an aspiration. It could comprise a personal hope, a hope for society, or both. If there were a personal aspiration, the American Dream is about prosperity, so it would probably be to prosper. However, almost everyone is motivated by that, so that couldn't be a part of the American dream. The hope for society would be similar: for everyone to prosper. But this wouldn't work because if everyone prospers, no one prospers. Therefore, there must be a discriminating factor. According to James Adams, this factor is ability or achievement: ``[The American Dream is] that dream of a land that should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.'' This is upward mobility at its most meritocratic, which is only possible in theory. J.D. Vance wrote his memoir, {\it Hillbilly Elegy}, about those failings of the meritocracy. Meritocratic approaches fail for both the very poor and the very rich, as Vance observed firsthand. %determine and strengthen thesis -Vance starts by describing Appalachian culture in broad strokes. They honor their families to a fault. ``\thinspace`When you say [son of a bitch], you're calling my dear old mother a bitch, so I'd kindly ask you speak more carefully.' When the driver---nicknamed Big Red because of his size and hair color---repeated the insult, Uncle Pet did what any rational business owner would do: He pulled the man from his truck, beat him unconscious, and ran an electric saw up and down his body'' \vancite{14}. %use shorter anecdote (maybe chap. 2 feud?) -They have a close-knit community unwelcoming to outsiders. They act like their problems don't exist. And they often ``[leave] a trail of neglected children, cheated wives, or both'' \vancite{17}. Their undesirable traits %just say flaws lol -have a bigger effect than just a bad family life. It propagates, importantly, into a lack of economic successes for those children. In addition, the same people avoid hard work, preventing their own economic success. %draw interest into next paragraph. Also, Bob story? +Vance starts by describing Appalachian culture in broad strokes. They honor their families to a fault. ``I doubt that any deed would make me as proud as a successful feud'' \vancite{24}. +They have a close-knit community unwelcoming to outsiders (even when those outsiders come from their own communities). They act like their problems don't exist. And they often ``[leave] a trail of neglected children, cheated wives, or both'' \vancite{17}. Their flaws +have a bigger effect than just unhappiness. It propagates, importantly, into a lack of economic successes for those children. %bruh is that a summary -There's a sense that those people deserve to not succeed, especially identifiable with Vance and Mamaw's observations of ``welfare queens.'' %clarify -Because Mamaw has ``an almost religious faith in hard work and the American Dream'' and believes ``welfare queens'' deserve to fail, the American Dream is probably meritocratic \vancite{35}. People who work hard and make the right decisions deserve to succeed and prosper---to be upwardly mobile. The hillbilly communities point to this being unrealistic: hard workers without the emotional, social, educational, and financial resources to succeed don't. Even if they were innately able to make the right choices, social support structures are lacking if they exist, and defensive behavior learned from childhood trauma prevents most from sustaining relationships long enough to develop personal structures. This may mean that the American Dream isn't realistic, or it could mean that the definition is more complicated. +There's a sense that those people deserve to not succeed, especially understandable through Vance and Mamaw's observations of ``welfare queens.'' %clarify +Mamaw has ``an almost religious faith in hard work and the American Dream,'' but she is deeply ambivalent if welfare queens deserve to fail without a gover\kern0.05pt\relax nment support safety net \vancite{35} \vancite{141}. People who work hard and make the right decisions unambiguously deserve to succeed and prosper---to be upwardly mobile. The hillbilly communities, however, suggest this is unrealistic: hard workers without the emotional, social, educational, and financial backing to succeed don't. Even if they were innately able to make every right choice, social support structures are lacking if they exist, and defensive behavior lear\kern0.05pt\relax ned from childhood trauma prevents most from sustaining relationships long enough to develop personal support structures. This points to the unhappy truth that the American Dream, where society is now, is unattainable for certain people. -Maybe it's the right to being able to provide for your children. Having kids is typically valued by American society, providing for those kids even more so. Where the economic prosperity of extreme wealth (being professional-class as Vance became) may not be the ultimate goal, it's replaced by the ability to work hard and give your child the tools to succeed. However, this isn't always achievable either. In the broken families and abusive relationships, kids don't learn how to make their own relationships work. Vance had this same problem in his marriage---he couldn't deal with his emotions healthily by talking to his partner. Instead, he ``tried to get away, but Usha wouldn't let [him]. [He] tried to break everything off multiple times, but she told me that was stupid unless I didn't care about her'' \vancite{225}. This is because poor kids in Rust Belt cities ``are constantly ready to fight or flee, because there is constant exposure to the bear [a metaphor for an environmental stressor], whether that bear is an alcoholic dad or an unhinged mom'' \vancite{228}. If he weren't married to an ``outsider,'' he wouldn't have had the necessary loving support to learn how to break those habits, and much like Mom, he would have continued the cycle by not being able to properly care for his kids. %this is poorly written +In the broken families and abusive relationships, kids don't lear\kern0.05pt\relax n how to make their own relationships work. Vance had this same problem in his marriage---he couldn't deal with his emotions healthily by talking to his partner. Instead, he ``tried to get away, but Usha wouldn't let [him]. [He] tried to break everything off multiple times, but she told [him] that was stupid unless [he] didn't care about her'' \vancite{225}. This is because poor kids in Rust Belt cities ``are constantly ready to fight or flee, because there is constant exposure to the bear [an environmental stressor], whether that bear is an alcoholic dad or an unhinged mom'' \vancite{228}. If he weren't married to an ``outsider,'' he wouldn't have had the necessary loving support to lear\kern0.05pt\relax n how to break those habits, and he would have continued the cycle of poverty (emotional and financial) because he couldn't deal with stress. %this is poorly written -This shows that the American Dream is clearly impossible if defined that way. Looking to the aforementioned philosophers, %should I use aforementioned? -historian James Adams defined it as ``that dream of a land that should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.'' %need to cite?? -Considering that the American Dream is a dream, it can be defined as America's common desire instead of a reality. Politics, education, and religion are proxies for these goals; people who want to enact change do it through these vessels. Politically, virtually everyone supports upward mobility, need-based scholarships are plentiful in the realm of education, and churches generally act like mutually beneficial communities, which lines up well with Adams's definition. The other aspects also mostly fit---general prosperity is better for the individual and most people think they are hard workers, %cite that neighbor who hadn't worked complaining about lazy bums -so they support meritocratic rewards. +Vance, however, didn't continue the cycle of poverty. This was due to his partner, but it's also partially a result of Mamaw's saving grace: her stable home, her consistent guidance, hers and his Mom's encouragement of learning. Factors which allowed Vance to get into college were even more complex; he had to make up for missing social knowledge by joining the military, which worked but wouldn't have happened with every Middletonian student in the same situation. For getting to any high-paying professional job, he would have need to learned networking is necessary (which took him a while even at Yale) and then applied it. ``The problem is, virtually everyone who plays by those rules fails. $\ldots$ Successful people are playing an entirely different game $\ldots$ They network'' \vancite{214}. The presence of any of these factors are uncommon in any hillbilly family, but the presence of all of these factors---what was necessary to lift Vance out of poverty---is extremely rare. Someone born into that class already has every single one of those boxes ticked. -%it's unattainable, not impossible; this is all based on bad thinking :( -Vance supports the meritocracy to a degree. He believes that hard work is valuable and should be rewarded, but he also recognises that no one starts on a level playing field. He is a firm believer in the American Dream, the right to opportunity, but he knows that to provide it is a long process which for at least one group, the Irish--Scots, can only occur from internal change of values which are extraordinarily stagnant. %add citation from original (is this thesis?) +Vance supports the meritocracy to a degree. He believes that hard work is valuable and should be rewarded, but he also recognises that no one starts on a level playing field. He is a firm believer in the American Dream, the right to opportunity, but he knows that to provide it is a long process which for at least one group, the Irish--Scots, can only occur from inter\kern0.05pt\relax nal change of values which are extraordinarily stagnant. %add citation from original (is this thesis?) \biblio \bye |