Hillbilly Elegy

In 1879 Henry George wrote an article titled “Progress and Poverty”. In this article he discussed the ongoing industry and he stated that “the wealthy class is becoming more wealthy; but the poorer class is becoming more dependent.

Now more than in recent past is economic and wealth inequality a crucial issue in

The multidimensional expression “hillbilly” carries different cultural significances throughout the book Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance. First, Vance utilizes the term “hillbilly” to refer to the working class white Americans of Scots-Irish descent who have no college degree (3). Second, Vance uses the term hillbilly to refer to a group of people from a specific geographic area, namely the area of the Appalachian Mountains. According to Vance, the area stretches from Alabama to Georgia in the South to Ohio to parts of New York in the north (4). Third, hillbilly indicates the way of life, behavior, or identity of the people of Greater Appalachia.

Since the first page of Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, perseverance is prevalent. No matter what comes J.D. Vance’s way he always works through it. There are many ways people respond to the adversity in life, and there are many ways people respond each distinct time. Perseverance has been key in my life, not just J.D. Vance’s; I would argue every person in this world as well. Whether it be in the military, like Vance, school, sports, or a job, there is no hiding from adverse situations. J.D. Vance talks about his adversity extensively in Hillbilly Elegy, and if success is wanted, perseverance is a major key in the process. Fighting through the challenging times in life is what will get the job done in the end.

In “Economic Elites, Investments, and Income Inequality” from the academic journal, Social Forces, graduate Ph. D student from Ohio State University, Michael Nau presents throughout his study the rise of an additional factor that has evidently influenced the concentration of vast amounts of income among the elite class, income from investments. In this era, the common belief is that demographics, labor market institutions, and technology are causing the inequality to rise and for the elites to produce astounding amounts of income. Nau’s findings present how the debate over the incomes of the elites has to be expanded apart from the ‘working rich class’ to also include the income producing wealth. In addition, Nau presents how the

There are different opinions towards inequality, some people are accepting of it while others dislike the whole idea of inequality. Is it okay to let the wealthy have more control than the poor? Should their ideas matter more than the non-wealthy? And most importantly should the poor be okay with this, if not what must they do? In “Gospel of Wealth” by Andrew Carnegie and “The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx, both Carnegie and Marx expose their thoughts behind inequality and its traits. They both focus and touch upon the poor (proletarians) and the rich (bourgeoisie). They bring up the pros and cons about inequality, capitalism, and communism. Inequality was in Carnegie 's view. In his opinion progress required the processes of competition. Making capitalism an engine of progress. Carnegie believed that there is good to inequality while Marx begs to differ. Marx had his own view on capitalism, he believed that it would eventually result disastrous. Marx believed communism was the best solution to keep both the proletarians and bourgeoisie in an equal place. Both of these socialists have much to say about capitalism and communism and also for economic inequality. They both share different points of view, neither wrong or right. Their opinions are based towards their life experiences and this essay will be noting the differences between they share on inequality, the means of production, and capitalism.

The book Hillbilly Elegy is a story about a man that achieved things he never thought possible. J.D. Vance grew up in an extremely small town in Ohio which did not present much opportunity to him. Most of his family members had worked in places like steel mills in the past where physical labor was done in return for low wages. Throughout his childhood, J.D.’s mom battled a drug addiction and was emotionally unstable. Eventually J.D. moved in with his grandma, Mamaw, who saw the potential J.D. had to succeed. She encouraged him to do better with his life in many ways, one being giving him his first calculator. This motivated him to learn math and was the first step in achieving his goals. J.D. soon went on to graduate high school and

The sociological views of functionalist and conflict theorist on stratification and economic inequality have had profound impact on the current economic discussion. In the past, economist have argued that wealth inequality is essential for “economic strength and social stability. [5] That wealth inequality “is needed to reward hard work, talent and innovation”. [6] However, in recent years, many economist have come to the conclusion that extreme wealth inequality, can lead to economic stagnation and social instability. What degree of

Every year, there are millions of people that suffer from mental illness, addiction, or both. Not only do the people who have a mental illness or addiction suffer, but so do their families, friends, and loved ones. Therefore, mental illness and addiction are two topics that can easily spark controversy when it comes to two areas of concern: blame and solutions. Many people have strong feelings when it comes to the institutions and processes surrounding mental illness and addiction. Ex-marine, Yale Law School Graduate, and hillbilly-at-heart J.D. Vance wrote a book titled Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis which includes parts his connection to addiction primarily through his mother and his personal view on the

Income inequality has been a major concern around the world, and it mainly links to how economic metrics are distributed among individuals in a country. Economists generally categorise these metrics in wealth, income and consumption. Wilkinson and Picket (2009) showed in their studies that inequality has drawbacks that lead to social problems. This is because income inequality and wealth concentration can hinder or delay long term growth. In 2011, International Monetary Fund economists showed that less income inequality increased the duration of countries’ economic growth spells more than free trade, low government corruption, foreign investment or low foreign debt (Berg and Ostry, 2011).

“ Some economic inequality is essential to drive growth and progress, rewarding those with talent, hard earned skills and the ambition to innovate and take entrepreneurial risk”(Oxfam, 2014, p1).

Piketty's economic matters deciphers in this manner: Wealth draws in more riches, which along these lines prompts a grouping of influence. The issue of social status along these lines advances toward the political framework and the general arrangement of governance, as the financial tip top looks to ensure its centralization of energy, leaving the poor weak to stop this self-maintaining process. Over the long haul, broadening financial disparity would affect the political class, denying it of the ability to go about as the rich get all the more intense and more joined together while the poor lose the ability to affect the nation. The end condition of this moderate, incremental process spells the finish of the majority rule prepare. A once-liberal

David Leonhard is known to be a credible source due to the fact that he won a Pulitzer prize on his commentary as well as being the author of an online e-book. Now the main argument of this article is that inequality is and will always be a problem in society’s to come. The point of the article is to tell about how inequality is a problem. It once was severely bad, but did get better. Yet it is now starting to decline back to the older times. The information is reliable since it provides credible facts and that it comes from a credible man. The chapter is more objective than biased by stating the problem and then a way to correct it. The article begins by david explain a story of him talking with a man named Thomas Piketty about his ideals

In the article, “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” by Thomas Piketty, Piketty explains the history of unstable and stable periods of economic equality and inequality in the world. His theory “central contradiction of capitalism” explains the rate of wealth coming out of the economy is greater than the economy itself. As a result, wealth becomes more divided and the inequality grows between the distributions of the wealth. Piketty proposes a ‘global tax’ to equalize the current economic wealth, but the way he measured this wealth was flawed.

Much has been written about Economic inequality and how it affects various aspects of quality of life. The literature is varied with recent works such as Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett’s Spirit Level which suggesting that economic inequality has a detrimental effect on several factors such as increased crime, increased obesity, and worse mental health within a country. Whilst other authors have seen economic growth as part of the development process as outlined by Simon Kuznets. Whilst there has always been a wide range of literature on inequality, this literature has expanded significantly since the Financial Crisis of 2008. The financial crisis seems to have sparked a vast amount of public disapproval which has been reflected in the increased literature and popularity as shown through French economist Thomas Piketty’s best-seller ‘Capital in the Twenty-First Century’