J.D. Vance describes his experiences growing up in a disadvantaged Rust Belt community in this highly-regarded memoir. Though it is tempting to suggest political events explain this book's ascent to the top of bestseller lists (it was atop The New York Times Best Seller list in January 2017) there is an underlying quality to this work that made it nationally relevant prior to the (electoral) votes being counted (as evidenced by its place atop the same list in August 2016).
My Wednesday post mentioned the power of agency as one of this book's many themes. Those who succeed tend to believe their actions influence outcomes. For Vance, the primary application of agency came through his belief in education. Over time, his upbringing and experiences instilled and reinforced this belief in him. When he emerged into the adult world, Vance did so with a strong sense of control over his future.
Vance suspects this feeling was not shared among his childhood peers. One reason he suggests is the lack of positive role models in the community. Instead of seeing how going to college, learning a trade, or pursuing a creative field could pay off in the future, Vance's peers were surrounded by those disillusioned with the lack of economic opportunities in the area or disinterested in working for the scraps on offer.
A dangerous aspect of such an environment is the temptation to conclude success is based on an inborn trait. Many will avoid making an effort to change what they see as fixed, preferring to save their energy for outcomes more easily influenced. Vance did not see things in this way and he credits the development of his worldview to the support and care given to him by his grandparents. Although there were a number of instances when Vance could have fallen to the wayside, he managed to escape childhood with a belief in education and a confidence that his hard work would one day pay off.
One thing I really liked about this book is how Vance extended his individual reflections to better understand the issues plaguing his hometown. He writes in one part about how he observes a 'fight or flight' pattern among children who do not feel secure. Though he acknowledges the survival value of the tactic, he observes how it does not prove an effective formula for success in adulthood.
The idea of relying on survival skills for too long comes up again when he looks at why opportunity in America's Rust Belt is diminishing. Eventually, focusing too much on short-term survival limits opportunities to build up the skills or support needed for long-term success. He identifies a few factors which contribute to this situation: social isolation in communities, churches preferring emotional rhetoric over direct support, and a culture emphasizing masculinity. Though perhaps these were all important survival characteristics in a past generation, they are now proving harmful qualities for communities seeking success in tomorrow's world.
One up: What stood out to me was the way Vance kept his interjections or reflections out of the memoir portions of the book. He did this by slowly shifting the balance of his writing. The early portion of the book was almost strictly a retelling of his childhood. The later sections saw reflections and interjections intertwine with his descriptions of his adult experiences.
The pattern was reflected in the way I took notes. I took down very little from the early sections (where Vance focused on relating the events of his early days) and saw a steady increase in my note taking as I reached the later chapters (when he opened up about how he thought his experiences applied to society in a larger context).
One down: Vance is quick to extrapolate conclusions based on small sample sizes. He cites the influence of his grandparents and his older sister as major explanatory factors in the outcome of his life. Sounds reasonable, no? But it doesn't explain why things turned out so well for his sister, the one person in life with circumstances almost identical to the author yet growing up with the notable absence of herself as a supportive older sister.
Vance also looks back on his service with the Marines as a major positive influence. I did not doubt this for a second and I thought his explanation made a lot of sense. But it doesn't explain (or even acknowledge) why so many return from their military service with no improvement on their lives.
I think this speaks to a problem I have with how I apply my own personal experience. No matter how wise, reflective, or thoughtful I might be about a particular element of my past, the sample size always remains one. I am sure this is not a problem unique to me. But unless hundreds of lives influenced by similar conditions are observed over long periods of time (I believe these are known as longitudinal studies) the conclusions drawn from experience are subject to the
The open question for me at the moment is not whether relying heavily on experience to explain life results is rigorous. It isn't and I'm certain of that. What I'm not sure of is if this is still not the best way forward relative to other methods of thinking about success and failure. After all, when it comes to drawing from experience, you can only help but draw from what's there.
Just saying: I was surprised by how much I related to Vance's story. It speaks to his ability to connect with people of all backgrounds. I think readers who make the effort to understand this story and see how the ideas apply in their own communities will find this an enriching read in the way I did.
However, those opening this book expecting some kind of 'an explanation'
