Strangers in Their Own Land Book Review PDF

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Strangers in Their Own Land Book Review...

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Book Review: Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild

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Arlie Russel Hochschild addressed the increasingly bitter political divide in America in her 2016 book, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right. !Hochschild, along with most people who do not live in the southern United States, wondered what significantly separated us from the far-right conservatives who live together in the South. She took it in her own hands to visit the people of the Louisiana Bayou to interview them, hoping to find an answer to this question. The reason Hochschild was able to make this a gripping read was not only the relevance it has in today’s political climate, but also the way she was very personable with the people she interviewed. Breaking down the “empathy walls” was how she was able to communicate the stories of the Southerners in her writing. An empathy wall is what holds us back from the deeper understanding of a person. This obstacle can make us feel indifferent or potentially even hostile to those who hold different beliefs. By interviewing the members of the Tea Party in the South, Hochschild was hoping to figure how these empathy walls were built and what we can do to bring them down.! Her book’s first interviewee was Mike Schaff. He was a southerner who was loyal to the libertarian Tea Party and the Republican Party. Given Mike’s economic status, he could benefit from government aid, yet he still aligned himself with republican candidates despite the fact he suffered from the policies they champion. This phenomenon was referred to as “the great paradox.” Why is

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there a tendency for America’s poorest states to back the Republican Party; a party that offers the least amount of aid to the poor?! Mike was not the only person in this situation. As a matter of fact, he lived in a community of like-minded people out in the Bayou. Hochschild believes that the people in the Bayou were the “keyhole” issue–an answer to a specific topic from a specific location. They could help us explain the great paradox and the divide between the left and the right.! The next person Hochschild introduced was Lee Sherman. Lee was a elderly, disabled man. He was a former football player and NASCAR driver. Unlike some of the people Lee lives near, he could be considered an environmentalist. Even though he possesses this somewhat liberal view, he still considered himself a member of the Tea Party. His job in the 1960s was a pipefitter for the chemical company PPG. Lee faced the same fate many other blue-collar workers faced. He was abused and overworked by his company.! He was involved in a chemical explosion which killed five of his co-workers, which he was made to help clean up. In another instance, he came into contact with toxic chemicals that burned all of his clothes off. Lee was instructed by his company to dump toxic waste into the Bayou. And finally, in a work-related injury, instead of giving him medical coverage, PPG fired him. Lee eventually confronted the company with their involvement in polluting the Bayou, stating he was the person who they made dump the chemicals.! Lee deserved every reason to hate chemical companies; however, he is more loyal to the Republican Party which

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supports big companies like PPG at the benefit of the environment. The only thing more suspicious to Lee than chemical companies, is the way the government used federal taxes to spend on “lazy people.” This is a common theme we begin to see with members of the Tea Party. Another Tea Party member, Harold Areno, had a very similar story to Lee. Harold and his family have lived in the Bayou their whole lives. Harold noticed the land around the area he lived had become polluted due to the chemical companies located nearby. Despite feeling bitter about how the big chemical companies treated the environment he grew up in, Harold and his family supported Mitt Romney in the 2012 election knowing he was a businessman who would not care to use money to clean up the environment. Another factor that influenced the Areno family to lean to the right was that they always supported candidates who supported Christianity and were against abortion. It saddened Harold to see his home become polluted; however, he had different priorities when it comes to electing a leader. Hochschild suggested that some people believe members of the Republican Party were being misled. She introduced a man with the name of Thomas Frank. He thinks that the G.O.P. seduces voters using social issues–such as Christianity and abortion rights–yet still give tax cuts on the rich. He argues that the use of media can heavily influence a voting population.

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Hochschild believes that in order for our country to unite and tolerate each other we are going to have to take down the empathy walls that drive us apart. This will help us see the “deep story,” which is a empathetic, non-judgmental portrayal of an individual’s worldview. Hochschild used an analogy to help the readers understand Southerners’ political views and the great paradox. She tells the audience to imagine themselves standing in a long line. You are a poor, white, elderly, Christian man. There are people of color standing behind you in line, and you wish them the best, but you do nothing to help them because you have been working hard and standing in line for a long time, which has been barely moving. Imagine a few people get to cut the line. They are black, immigrants, and refugees. You are upset because they get to receive the sympathy and welfare through affirmative action which you are paying for with your tax dollars. Although Hochschild sympathizes with the white man, she does not agree with their racial-finger pointing. While there may be an explanation as to why Southerners pick their political candidates it still does not justify some of their racist views.

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