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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am from a poor white trash family in the Midwest.  I was looking forward to reading this book this month.  Sorry to hear it is just so-so.

What boggles my mind (the only person in my family who "got out" with scholarships and went to college, and the only one not on some sort of government aid... I kid you not) is [b]how no one in my extended family wants to improve their lot in life.  I would love some discussion and insights on this. [/b] My husband thinks I was switched in the hospital (his explanation of how I emerged)!  Lol.[/quote]

To me, this is a core part of the book.  Vance describes exactly that.  And though he tries to understand and explain it, I'm not sure how well he succeeded.  Frankly, I'm not sure he can yet.  He's young and maybe does not have enough perspective.

But he absolutely calls out the exact mindset you describe -- and his confusion about how he somehow turned out differently (while recognizing how easily he might have gone the other way).  My guess is you and he might be in similar places about this part of your identity.  He's not necessarily offering massive insights, but he is shining a light on it for those of us who have not walked in your shoes.[/quote]

It's a core part of the book, but this is essentially the Conservative view of poor people.  They don't want to be rich.  It's their fault because they don't want to work hard.  They could stop being poor, they just don't want to.  That's a fact because look -- I wanted to, I climbed out of poverty, I'm now a rich Ivy League lawyer, so it could happen for those people.  They just don't want it.

Damn right he isn't offering massive insights.  He isn't offering any insights.  He's offering indictments.[/quote]

It's not the Conservative view of poor people. It's a one person's memoir of living among poor people.

That's you automatically consider that Conservative shows how out of touch, condescending and clueless limo liberals are.[/quote]

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