Hillbilly Elegy, by J. D. Vance: on Principles & Values

Barack Obama: OpEd: Admired in most of America, but not by poor whites

Patriotism had seemingly vanished. The symptoms are all around us. 32% of white conservative voters believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim [or] was foreign-born & another 19% said they were unsure--which means that a majority of white conservatives aren't certain that Obama is even an American. I regularly hear from acquaintances or family members that Obama has ties to Islamic extremists, or is a traitor, or was born in some far-flung corner of the world.

Barack Obama: OpEd: Meritocracy was built for him, not for poor whites

Not a single one of my high school classmates attended an Ivy League school. Barack Obama attended two of them and excelled at both. He is brilliant, wealthy, and speaks like a constitutional law professor--which, of course, he is. He conducts himself with a confidence that comes from knowing that the modern American meritocracy was built for him. Of course, Obama overcame adversity in his own right--adversity familiar to many of us--but that was long before any of us knew him.

President Obama came on the scene right as so many people in my community began to believe that the modern American meritocracy was not built for them. Admittedly, there is an industry of conspiracy-mongers & fringe lunatics writing about all manner of idiocy, from Obama's alleged religious leanings to his ancestry.

Barack Obama: OpEd: Obama conspiracy theories come from mistrust of press

But every major news organization, even the oft-maligned Fox News, has always told the truth about Obama's citizenship status and religious views. The people I know are well aware of what the major news organizations have to say about the issue; they simply don't believe them. Only 6 percent of American voters believe that the media is "very trustworthy.'' To many of us, the free press--that bulwark of American democracy--is simply full of s---.

With little trust in the press, there's no check on the Internet conspiracy theories that rule the digital world: Barack Obama is a foreign alien actively trying to destroy our country. Everything the media tells us is a lie. Many in the white working class believe the worst about their society.

JD Vance: Failure to thrive comes from lack of personal responsibility

Rather than sink into a familiar pattern of sporadic employment, drugs and violence, he joined the Marines for four years and served in Iraq before going to Ohio State University. There, he gained a degree in political science and philosophy. He gained admission to Yale Law School, where he began his memoir, published in 2016 just as Donald Trump was making his ultimately successful pitch for the US presidency.

While the book does not mention Trump, some commentators described it as a window into a conservative white working class often overlooked by Ivy League-educated coastal elites. Profoundly conservative, Vance put the blame of the hillbillies' failure to thrive on culture and a lack of personal responsibility, rather than systemic issues of economics and policy.

JD Vance: Memoir made into popular Netflix film in 2020

While Vance was no Trump loyalist--and was sometimes harshly critical--he repeatedly said he understood the reasons for his popularity.

JD Vance: Met wife at Yale Law School as his "Yale spirit guide"

JD Vance: OpEd: Vance explains the economically precarious white voter

Vance's influence has been everywhere this campaign season, shaping our conception of what motivates these voters. And it is already playing a role in how liberals are responding to Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election, which was accomplished in part by a defection of downscale whites from the Democratic Party. Appalachia overwhelmingly voted for Trump, and Vance has since emerged as one of the media's favorite Trump explainers.

JD Vance: Trump speaks to my people, who are really struggling

A: The simple answer is that these people--my people--are really struggling, and there hasn't been a single political candidate who speaks to those struggles in a long time. Donald Trump at least tries.

The two political parties have offered essentially nothing to these people for a few decades. From the Left, they get some smug condescension, an exasperation that the white working class votes against their economic interests because of social issues. From the Right, they've gotten the basic Republican policy platform of tax cuts, free trade, and economic growth. Trump's candidacy is music to their ears. He criticizes the factories shipping jobs overseas.