Stolen Pride

     I almost didn't read Arlie Russell Hochschild's Stolen Pride. I really wanted to. The subject is very timely. And I'm a big fan of the author who covers topics that make people uncomfortable with depth and nuance. It's that it seemed too nuanced for me to do it justice.  As sole content provider for this blog I feel that I shouldn't read anything for just me. But the book looked to good to bypass. 

     Then when I read it I realized that it was too good to not share with you. Hochschild, like many of us, is really concerned about America's political divide. It's a topic she'd gone into in Strangers in Their Own Land which we looked at in 2017. This time she shifted her focus from the deep South to Appalachia. She wanted to understand the growing appeal of the white nationalism that is frighteningly growing around the world. She traveled to Pineville, Kentucky and the areas around it and interviewed a wide range of people who had been impacted in different ways to see why a perfect storm was brewing. 

     For one thing a lot of the coal mines that had sustained many families were shutting down. This economic precariousness was shredding communities. Those who could move in search of decent jobs were doing so. And the left behind unemployed were experiencing not only poverty, but a deep sense of shame based on acceptance of the myth that in America if you can't make it it's your own damn fault; no one else is to blame. 

     Reading this made me think of my beloved husband, Eugene, a construction worker. He has worked almost fifty years for the same family owned company and prospered through hard work. His reputation in our trailer park is family man and good provider. That's what he prides himself on. I can't imagine how losing this ability would devastate him.

     And then there's the matter of drugs introduced not by sketchy street pushers, but by trusted physicians--doctors who were wooed with a lot of freebies from the sales reps of Purdue Pharma and sold the lie that OxyContin was nonaddictive. Many lives and families were destroyed by routine visits to doctors and dentists. Rural Maine, too, was targeted by Sackler and his minions. 

     Is it any wonder that a charismatic speaker,  preaching that they're the good guys, they're the ones being oppressed, even replaced, would win hearts and minds?

     I want you to read this book with an open mind. Both sides of the political demonize the other. Accepting stereotypes makes life easier. But it's really dangerous. I feel like we can't any longer afford to write off the "flyover states" and their citizens if we want to have any kind of national stability. 

On a purrrsonal note,  my first week of the semester has been fantastic. We've had really great on campus dinners, one put on by the commuter lounge and the Wilson Center (non denominational religious center) and the other by the graduate school. I could attend because my friend, Catherine, gave me rides home.  Most of this weekend will be devoted to homework. 

A great big shout out goes out to Eugene, my one and only, and Catherine for her kindness and generosity in giving me rides.

Jules Hathaway 

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone