Let the debate begin?

[LDAHL]

I see MSNBC isn’t airing “Morning Joe” today. Apparently they were afraid someone might say something ugly about the shooting.

[Tybee]

I know some here have read Hillbilly Elegy; I have not. Can anyone clue me in on what JD Vance is like, from reading the book and following his political life?

[catherine]

I know some here have read Hillbilly Elegy; I have not. Can anyone clue me in on what JD Vance is like, from reading the book and following his political life?

I read Hillbilly Elegy years ago and I loved it. I thought it was a really incisive look at his poor, desperate community. His grandmother was a huge factor in his success in life (his mother was a addicted to drugs but his grandmother was tough as nails), and that was a general theme of the book--that you will get on in life if you have even just one person fighting for you.

He was able to speak about the people who lived in his town dispassionately but there was an undercurrent of--"don't reject them--understand where they are coming from". He outlined many social factors for "failure-to-thrive" towns and people--to the extent that I was a little surprised when he came out as a Republican.

In all, great book. I'm not crazy about just how conservative he has become.

[Tybee]

Thank you! I remembered that people whose opinion I respected had liked the book.

[iris lilies]

There are two parts to Hillbilly Elegy: 1) JD Vance’s autobiographical story and 2) a lot of sociological commentary.

His autobiography was fascinating. The sociological commentary is not interesting to me and, I don’t know, he’s not trained in sociology, so I don’t know how valid his thoughts and conclusions are.


But his autobiography! It was a wonderful view into generational poverty in the Appalachians and how those same people brought their culture up north. He had to learn to fight. Defending one’s honor was very important in that culture. His grandmother taught him fisticuffs. She was also the one single stable adult in his life who made sure he went to school. She was his guiding light, even though she was a tough little old hillbilly Granny.

He talks about his culture shock as he moved up in society and how he did not have the cultural capital that his peers had when he got to college so he had to figure things out that middle class people just know.

as an aside, his mentor in law school was the Tiger Mom who wrote the book about how she shaped her daughters’ lives and held them to very high standards.

[catherine]

as an aside, his mentor in law school was the Tiger Mom who wrote the book about how she shaped her daughters’ lives and held them to very high standards.

I didn't know that! I hated her book and her philosophy of child-rearing.

[Rogar]

I suppose after the first debate disaster that a VP debate might be off the table? I've read that he thinks the 2025 Project is a good idea. That's sort of my starting point for an opinion. Despite Donald trying to distance himself for it, it certainly resembles a possible GOP platform.

[iris lilies]

I didn't know that! I hated her book and her philosophy of child-rearing.

Thank god I didn’t have a Tiger Mom. Agreed.

But high achieving Asians…whoosh.so many Tiger Moms out there.Let them be the super achievers if they like.

[early morning]

I read the book, and I really wanted to like it, because I have some of the same roots. And I did like a lot of it. Still, there were elements in it that really made me cringe - elders trashing a toy shop because the owner didn't want a kid, alone, playing with the merchandise? How was that a GOOD thing? That's the type of behavior my parents held up as "trashy" and strove hard to make sure none of THEIR family members would approve of/emulate. And there's the whole aspect of him as a "Never Trumper" swiftly turning to a major Trump A-kisser for political gain that really really turns my stomach. Not that he's alone in that. Not exactly principled, IMHO.

[Alan]

I suppose after the first debate disaster that a VP debate might be off the table? I've read that he thinks the 2025 Project is a good idea. That's sort of my starting point for an opinion. Despite Donald trying to distance himself for it, it certainly resembles a possible GOP platform.

Since you have an opinion on this Project 2025 thing I'm guessing you've read it? Could you give those of us who haven't a synopsis?