Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right Paperback – February 20, 2018

First, kudos to Ms. Hochschild for painstaking effort to peel back the onion of the deep division on this country. She maintained a neutral, unbiased position, patiently took all the time needed and listened deeply to the people she spent time with. She also poured over mountains of research which is documented in the many appendices, endnotes and bibliography well documented in the last 90 pages of the book. I learned so much, but I also finished reading the book feeling a little less hopeful than when I started.Ms. Hochschild, a sociology professor, applied her skills to learn about the behaviors and beliefs of those who identify with conservative values that for many on the left find mystifying. She details and defines why she choose an area in Louisiana to conduct her research, spent over 5 years basically living with the people there and came away with a rich understanding of the fabric of their lives. By focusing on what she refers to as an empathy wall, she was able to honestly understand the world these folks live in, what they believe and how they came to believe it (hint: it goes way, way back). In the end, those on the right and those on the left ultimately want the same things in life; meaningful work, strong family and a place to call their own. How we get there and how we see ourselves in our communities and country, well, that's the difference, a very big difference.I'm still baffled by some of the pretzel logic of how so many believe the big petro chemical companies, who are wantonly polluting the world these folks so dearly love, are not at fault - they place blame squarely on the EPA. This is the same EPA these folks are cheering for Trump to slam shut.The idea that is one has a decent job, they won't need government assistance, and if you don't need government assistance, you don't need government. But they have it completely backwards with respect to the role of business and government; they believe business is looking out for their health and well-being and that government is there just to make a buck. And the notion that one has to choose between jobs and the environment made my heart sink. I'm not sure they realize the government is us, all of us, no "them" and despite their government selling them completely out to big business and getting much much more than a negative return, they still believe the charity of big business. Incredible. And to add to it, there is clearly a direct relationship between the level of distrust of government has and level of government benefits one receives.I spent some of my youth in the Midwest and when we visit family there, the one thing that always sticks out for me is the general lack of education. After reading this book, I can see why so many on the right refer to education as a "liberal" thing. And I think so many on the right believe hard, physical work is the gold standard for character because honestly it's a lot easier than doing the mental work of learning. Everyday I thank my mom for moving us out of that stifling existence; I shutter to think what our lives might be had she stayed.One huge takeaway from the book for me is even greater appreciation for importance of government policy, and how it can destroy or enhance the lives of its citizens. I believe there are plenty examples of where putting priority on the environment did not cost jobs, but to the contrary, added jobs (think California vs. Louisiana). In light of the sweeping rollbacks of environmental policies, Louisiana is a microcosm of the gargantuan environmental disaster our nation could very easily look like if we continue and insist on remaking our democracy into a "corporate-acracy" our nation's "leaders" are hell-bent on pursuing.I believe in the author's proof that scaling the empathy wall will lead to more understanding, trust and eventually the ability to cooperate together but for this valiant effort to really work, we all have to be willing. In reading this book it seemed the people the author met with seemed quite happy for her do the work of climbing up and over the wall. It didn't appear that anyone even thought about maybe they should be willing to do the same.

I’m about a third of the way through this well-researched and thoroughly depressing book. I would give it five stars, but it's way too long for the simple message it delivers. A nod to brevity fo such a simple message would be good.I keep waiting for an epiphany, either mine or the author’s. Skipping ahead like I might with an Agatha Christie novel that I don’t have time to finish. At the end of every chapter I’m thinking “Okay...and?”Okay, so we have the politics of resentment to blame, coupled with the cynical appeal—pandering really—to that resentment by the very elite demographic that they so dislike. Not the Cambridge, Berkeley and New Haven elites, but the white, blond, well-educated New York media millionaires that Fox News mints with disturbing regularity. Got it. And?In the final analysis, these people are angry at the “line cutters.” Which in the 21st century— likely the last century of the planet's failed "human race" experiment—makes as much sense as it did in 2nd grade where the concept originates. They vote against self interest out of petty grade school resentments. Oh right. They're also angry at people who aren't white.And that is the fault of “coastal elites?” The angry racists bear no responsibility at all? Got it.Apparently, the angry white male—or at least the Southern angry white male—is sure going to show them. As he slowly—or in some cases, quickly—kills himself and his family, and destroys his entire world out of a petty resentment aimed at, but ironically created by, other angry white males (the wealthy, educated ones) in New York, LA, Boston and Berkeley. Got it.But as we’ve been hearing with some regularity since Covid started, “science doesn’t care what you think.” Neither does evolution. Adapt or die. So much of this white male angry resentment often just seems like the melodramatic death throes of a suicidal monster from a 1950’s horror movie. Pogo said, “we have met the enemy and he is us.” They’re dying out, are mad about it, want everyone to know, and don’t care even a little bit about their impact on the rest of the planet. But don’t, dear reader, lose the plot: The “line cutters” are the problem, and it is up to the rest of us to scale the “empathy wall” and understand that. Noted.Call me crazy, but for some reason, I don’t think that empathy is going to accomplish much. The monster is addicted to its anger and resentment, self-destructively resistant to common sense and appeals to self interest, proud of its stubbornness and-lovingly coddled--ignorance, and doesn’t care what the impact of any of that is on the rest of the human race. Just like a poor, misunderstood, drug addict. Destroying every thing, person, place or event he encounters in his blood lust for what feeds his monster. "Poor me, poor me, poor me...Pour me a drink and give me back my keys."The question is how much of the rest of us is this monster going to take down before it groans its final death rattle. Can the best of homo sapiens survive its very worst and most destructive members? Stay tuned. I’m not optimistic, and I have zero faith that empathy matters.None of which is the messenger's fault or responsibility. Great book. Depressing message.

It is quite interesting the way the author express her ideas through the story. Basically, she mentions the origin of resentment from the south towards the central government in Washington. In my case, the situation described in the book reminds me of the Brazilian political issues. After many years of a left-wing government, Bolsonaro’s mandate is quite the opposite. As a result, the country is divided between those who support a pro free-market government and those who are against it.

Having lived in the northern suburbs of Atlanta and being somewhat of an progressive, left leaning political person living in a conservative, church going society it was easy to identify the type of persons Ms. Hochschild wrote about. I particularly liked the example she used of hard working people standing in line for their turn for some type of a secure and better future for themselves and their family and seeing others (or assuming) others are jumping in line ahead of them. I would recommend this book to anyone attempting to understand what happen in 2016 resulting in Donald Trumps election and where we may be heading if no alternatives are found to address the issue,s facing these working class individual, in our current political system.

Beautiful effort of a bright mind to understand beyond prejudice and explain one of the most relevant social groups in contemporary USA.

Arlie Russell Hochschild’s 'Strangers in their own land' is a must-read for anyone keen on understanding how on earth the world came to face phenomena like Trump or Brexit and the rise of populist nationalism generally.Understanding everything, the French say, means forgiving everything. Well, I find that Hochschild’s explanations are great for understanding, but that makes me no more inclined than before to forgive. She, though, is a far better person than that. She set out to scale an “empathy wall” and, I believe, she succeeded.“An empathy wall,” Hochschild tells us, “is an obstacle to deep understanding of another person, one that can make us feel indifferent or even hostile to those who hold different beliefs or whose childhood is rooted in different circumstances.”Hochschild is a sociologist living in the “liberal bubble” of Berkeley. She felt she needed to understand the phenomenon of working class and poor people supporting the Tea Party, and more specifically, in recent times, Trump. She tackled the problem by travelling on multiple occasions to Louisiana over five years, spending time with individual Tea Party supporters and discovering them to be, in a great many cases, wonderful people.This leads to her establishing what she calls “the great paradox”. Republican states tend to be poorer, have worse health and reduced life expectancy than others. They also suffer worse industrial pollution.“Louisiana is an extreme example of this paradox. 'The Measure of America', a report by the Social Science Research Council, ranks every state in the United States on its ‘human development’… Of the 50 states, Louisiana ranked 49th and in overall health ranked last…”As she points out, this would suggest that Louisianans might welcome federal help. A high proportion of red state budgets does indeed come from the federal government – 44% in the case of Louisiana. However, one of her contacts gave her a view not untypical of attitudes she encountered: he “doesn’t welcome that federal money and doubts the science of climate change: ‘I’ll worry about global warming in fifty years,’ he says. [He] loves his state, and he loves the outdoor life. But instead of looking to government, like others in the Tea Party he turns to the free market.”That’s in spite of the fact that the industrial pollution that’s poisoning his state is produced by companies supposedly driven by free market concerns.This leads Hochschild to her central metaphor, that of “waiting in line.”“You are patiently standing in a long line leading up a hill, as in a pilgrimage. You are situated in the middle of this line, along with others who are also white, older, Christian, and predominantly male…“Just over the brow of the hill is the American Dream, the goal of everyone waiting in line. Many in the back of the line are people of color – poor, young and old, mainly without college degrees. It’s scary to look back; there are so many behind you, and in principle you wish them well. Still, you’ve waited a long time, worked hard, and the line is barely moving. You deserve to move forward a little faster. You’re patient but weary. You focus ahead, especially on those at the very top of the hill.“… You’ve suffered long hours, layoffs, and exposure to dangerous chemicals at work, and received reduced pensions. You have shown moral character through trial by fire, and the America Dream of prosperity and security is a reward for all of this, showing who you have been and are – a badge of honour.“The source of the American Dream is on the other side of the hill, hidden. Has the economy come to a strange standstill? Is my company doing OK? Will I get a raise this year? Are there good jobs for us all? Or just a few? Will we be waiting in line forever? It’s so hard to see over the brow of the hill.”The people in the line, mainly white, mainly male have been waiting for years and their progress has been poor or non-existent. And then they encounter – “the line cutters”.“Look! You see people cutting in line ahead of you! You’re following the rules. They aren’t. As they cut in, it feels like you are being moved back. How can they just do that? Who are they? Some are black. […] Women, immigrants, refugees, public sector workers – where will it end?”The metaphor’s telling and this excellent book powerfully communicates the frustration and bitterness of people who feel they’ve done enough to be entitled to more than they’re receiving.Personally, I find the empathy wall hard to climb over. I don’t like that sense of entitlement, I don’t like – following Hochschild’s metaphor – the looking forward at the people at the top of the hill, the most entitled of all. It leads to admiration for that self-appointed elite when it deserves suspicion for being the main cause of the frustration of the people behind them. It leads to the people at the back of the line, even more in need of help than the frustrated in the middle, being viewed with hostility and treated with harshness.I do, however, admire Hochschild’s ability to climb that wall. And to give such an insightful and illuminating view of what she found on the other side. A book that needs to be widely read.

I bought this book after the election of Donald Trump due to a recommendation of my former professor of sociology. Before the election, I already had expected that Trump would win. Just because of the dumb horse-race-media, which is also predominantly in Germany and which isn't not question their own BREAKING NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS. Trump made an excellent and more smarter campaign in understanding this media and his voters."Strangers In Their Own Land" is an “exploring”, “hypothesis generating” sociological work and an attempt to dissolve boundaries of an apparently divided nation (40% of Democrats and 33% of Republicans in 2010 would be “disturbed” “…if their child married a member of the other political party" (Hochschild 2016; 6)).Hochschild shows different right-wing people and their stories. The book has four parts. The first and longest part is facing "The Great Paradox". She determines the cause of the great split between democrats and republicans by the historically swing to the right of the right. There are different approaches concerning the "rise of the right." (13): paid campagnes, deception and populism, different geological cultures of political self-concepts, different values. But Hochschild “…found one thing missing them all - a full understanding of emotion in politics" (15) and the deep stories of the voters. She traveled to the Heart of the right - Louisiana - to understand those totally different people.The Keyhole Issue of the Paradox is another: "Everyone I talked to wanted a clean environment. But in Louisiana, the Great Paradox was staring me in the face- great pollution and great resistance to regulating polluters." (21) The places she examined were all highly polluted, highly influenced by chemical and oil industry "Lake Charles had become ground zero for production of American petrochemicals" and additionally the "Louisiana has the second highest incidence of cancer for men and the fifth highest male death rate from cancer in the nation." Besides the story of the influence of industry in politics, she shows highly self-estranged people like Lee, who performed crimes for his company and destroyed his home. He did very toxic work, wronged his body and in the end, didn't get pay off for his medical disability of this truly criminal organization. He became an environmentalist and paradoxically simultaneous joined the Tea Party. There are some more people, whose stories are deeply moving and beyond that unknowable concerning their political views - the great paradox.To Finally understand: Read the Deep Story, which has its grassroots in the American Dream. "A deep story is a feel-as-if story - it's the story feeling tell, in the language of symbols. It removes judgment. It removes fact. It tells us how things feel." Most of the people of Louisiana she finally calls her friends, sign this story. It is a story of the American Dream and of the individual who stands in line to achieve his dreams. Members of the Tea Party are mostly white, and they feel, despite of struggling through life, not coming further to the Dream. There are Line Cutters: women, blacks, immigrants, refugees, the brown pelican (animal protection), people who are getting more federal support from President Obama than oneself. And make matters worse: shameless disavowing comments like white trash and crazy rednecks always appear from the northern, liberals and the media. There is an undeclared class war, "expressed through the weary, aggravating and ultimately enraging wait for the American Dream... They hated other people for needing it [the federal government]. They rejected their own need of it- even to help clean up the pollution in their backyard."At the very end she gives an academic insight of her methods and sample size, Important findings of a quantitative study: “So the higher the exposure to environmental pollution, the less worried the individual was about it- and the more likely that person was to define him- or herself as a “strong Republican.” In Appendix C: she gives us a fact-checking to common impressions.Summarizing: Everybody should ask oneself, if the prejudicing conclusions of other politic concepts are too short-sighted.