An elegy for the American Dream [JD Vance]

Unherd ^ | 7/15/24 | JD Vance

[EnderWiggin1970]

This piece was first published in 2019.

My book Hillbilly Elegy is really an exploration of the American Dream as it was experienced by me and my family and the broader community in which I lived.

It chronicled a real decline in the American Dream, not because people weren’t consuming as much as they have in the past – if you look at the trend lines, we’re certainly able to buy more stuff today than we ever have been able to. It’s a story about family decline, childhood trauma, opioid abuse, community decline, decline of the manufacturing sector, and all these senses of dignity and purpose and meaning that comes along with it.

When I was growing up, what the American Dream meant to me was that I had a decent enough job to support my family, and I could be a good husband and a good father. That’s what I most wanted out of my life. It wasn’t the American Dream of ‘the striver’. It wasn’t the American Dream, frankly, that I think animates much of Washington DC. I didn’t care if I went to Ivy League law school, I didn’t care if I got a best-selling book, I didn’t care if I had a lot of money. What I wanted was to be able to give my family and my children the things I hadn’t had as a kid.

[EnderWiggin1970]

I've been trying to get a better handle on Vance, what makes him tik, what his worldview is and so on, and was getting frustrated until I found this piece. Now I'm finally feeling like I have a better handle on him. Rather than reading about him from partisan commentators on any side, how much better to just read his own thoughts directly? Happy reading!

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

Bookmark

[Nervous Tick]

Too bad you have to “register to unlock” his article, but good on you for the sentiment and the reference. Thanks.

[bwest]

What exactly will “get(ting) a better handle on Vance” do for you? He’s the VP. You can’t change that. Suck it up and don’t f**k this up. Vote Trump/Vance.

[bella1]

I read Hillbilly Elegy six years ago and have admired him ever since.. Such a heartbreaking yet inspiring story. I have given the book to others with instructions to pass it on.

[Magnum44]

His book was made into a movie on Netflix. I hadn’t payed attention to it until I heard Trump talk about his book. Watched the movie on Netflix tonight. If the movie is anything close to his real story, he is definitely not the typical Ivy League Washington lawyer. Not a self made billionaire like Trump, but definitely a down home working class family man. The timing of the book/movie and his VP selection is fortuitous. Some have said they don’t know much about him. The story helps.

[Ronaldus Magnus III]

Here is a link to the entire thing.

https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2019/07/beyond-libertarianism

[EnderWiggin1970]

Thanks Ronaldus for your link. I didn’t have to register or anything to view it at the link I originally posted but hopefully yours works for anyone who has problems.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

This is a good article and worth reading - and worth thinking about.

Thanks for posting

[cymbeline]

“I’ve been trying to get a better handle on Vance, what makes him tik”

He’s good at seeing what’s around us and putting it into words. I like him.