ANP: Goes to rural Virginia to visit Joe Bageant, author of "Deer Hunting With Jesus"
Much has been said about white working-class voters. But those who've been doing all the talking are pollsters and political operatives. As part of the Long View series, ANP traveled to rural Virginia to talk to someone who's lived the life and knows from personal experience what those voters are thinking -- author Joe Bageant. His highly-acclaimed recent book, Deer Hunting With Jesus, was lauded by one reviewer as a "raging, hilarious, and profane love song to the great American redneck." In addition to being that, it's also one of the most prescient pieces of analysis about American politics and culture in this election year.
Joe's remarks about ignorance were a perfect way to open the interview. Ignorance results primarily from two sources: poverty and privilege. Either denied an education or entitled to power, this isolation that enables ignorance breeds arrogance, and our society suffers from both.
markmason 2008-10-31
The Right continues to attack education by directing money to everything else--Wall Street, Iraq. According to a recent Pew report, most people get news from TV. The "nameless, faceless corporations" form the specter of modern power. Government *is* the problem, though not because the private sector can do better, but because government functions as an out-sourced service organization for corporations like Rubbermaid. Tragically U.S. culture can be characterized thusly; Cut those castrating, weak-kneed, embarrassingly feminine entitlements--except for those manly heros of Goldman Sachs. Live free of entitlements, or die. He who defines the vocabulary of men, rules the world. The women can follow, or else act like men.
rideforever 2008-10-31
That's a reall great interview with a smart man.
One thing that is always painful watching the US from here in the UK is watching working class families in the US hating the Democratic Party even though they the DP wants to redistribute money to them, and fiercing advocating the Republican Party that is sucking money from their pockets and giving to Corporations and rich people. It's sad.
I always think the working class in the US is the core and centre of America, good people with pride, but people who get taken advantage of ... like sending their sons proudly off to a war in the wrong country against the wrong people for the wrong reasons.
shawmutfinlay 2008-10-31
It's true. The Democratic Party has been hijacked by liberals with increasingly socialist tendencies. God do we need a real third party!
alanknight2001 2008-10-30
Excellent excellent excellent! This guy is great, intelligent, highly articulate and with great insight into the American psyche - the antithesis of the non- thinking right wing ignoramus. A pity he's in the minority...
sseidelwnms 2008-10-30
Nice work. A thoughtful, articulate, intelligent and caring "redneck", probably less rare than you might think if you go by the comments by most of the right wing troglodytes who post on the Internet. I particularly enjoyed his description of who constitutes the "working class", and thought that he was right on the money. Also his characterization of how our mindset has been colonized (infected) by the virus of the corporations. Plus, he plays a pretty mean old time mandolin on "The Old Plank Road":
Won't get drunk no more
Way down the Old Plank Road
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