Originally published in Labor Today
The lies of the Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance, also author of the book Hillbilly Elegy, are finally catching up to him now that he is in the spotlight. JD Vance who claims Appalachian heritage, is the antithesis of everything that Appalachia stands for.
Firstly, Hillbilly Elegy is a memoir of JD Vance’s life written in 2016. The book has won many awards and even was given a Netflix film directed by Ron Howard. After having read the book myself, it is understandable why conservatives have promoted the book for so long. In the book, JD Vance recounts his life starting when he was a little kid. He talks about growing up with his sister and drug addict/alcoholic mom and grandmother. His childhood was plagued with trauma and abuse.
At times he and his sister would have to go to their grandparents to avoid domestic violence. The book goes on and on about how poor people were in his hometown of Ohio and he mentions the same thing about where his parents come from in Kentucky. He visited extended family in Kentucky. And eventually, he made it out of Ohio and went to law school.
You would think that growing up in the region, people would be fond of him. He had 12 supporters at a rally in his home state so that is clearly not the case. In the book, he concludes that Appalachia is poor because they are all drug-addicted domestic abusers who do not work hard enough. This is the conclusion he has made based on his words. He talks about Appalachian values of loyalty and love of the country but then says they are poor because of their own actions.
His views on women are even worse. He has said multiple times that women who cannot have kids are worthless. He wants women to have more babies so they can grow up to be cogs in the machine of capital. He has fully aligned himself with the Republican Party and wants to take rights away from women. He supports the oppression of workers in Appalachia because they “don’t work hard enough”, he is the antithesis of our values. JD Vance is anti-union and he is against federal free lunch programs that feed many children in Appalachia. Many kids rely on that school breakfast and lunch in Appalachia. Even my school had free lunch and breakfast every day. He is a goon of the misogynistic elements of the ruling class. Many of our women here are single mothers who do great at raising their children, and JD Vance has a problem with single mothers getting assistance from the government as well. Many people in Appalachia rely on these subsidies to survive.
We Appalachians work hard, many work 2 jobs and still can barely pay the bills. It is too common. There is a reason this book is promoted by conservative news outlets such as the American Conservative and the National Review.
Our region is poor because most of the major industry high paying jobs have left the country to make more money in third-world countries by offering them cheap pay. I am from Appalachia, proudly. It is a beautiful region. Neighbors help each other. JD Vance never mentioned that. People wave when they go past you on a two-lane road. But the people of Appalachia are also tough and determined.
The people here have a revolutionary history, we fought for the rights that we have. At the battle of Blair Mountain during the West Virginia coal wars, and many other times, where the police and mercenaries from the coal companies shot at and killed many workers who were originally peaceful until the company’s lackeys fired on the workers. This eventually led to our region having strong unions that have gradually been chipped away by both Democrats and Republicans. People like JD Vance exploit the struggle of our people as entertainment.
In conclusion, Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance is nothing but nonsense. He is pretending to be something he is not. Pretending he is better than these wonderful hard-working people in Appalachia just because he made it out. Many of our people work ‘til the day they die because they don’t like the idea of not working.
The book was little more than a way for him to enrich himself and become known so he could be known on a national level and run for higher office. It is of no coincidence that JD Vance arrived on the scene at the same time faux Working Class grafter, Mike Rowe fell out of favor nationally. Like Rowe, Vance was pushed by dark money to present a fake working-class understanding solely for the benefit of the bosses.
