Author's Notes: Today's post will not be a promotion of either book discussed below, but will provide a discussion of important themes shared between the two desperate autobiographies by two authors who never interacted with each other, but faced similar situations.
Common Policy-Related Themes between The Other Wes Moore and Hillbilly Elegy
Reading these two books back-to-back gave me new significant insight into poverty, socio-economic opportunity, the role of social capital in moving up the socio-economic ladder, how poverty and socio-economic deprivation among Americans are not completely homogeneous, both within and between social groups, and other important social policy-related themes. Today's post will be a literature review and discussion of multiple similar social policy themes between the two books. A definite future post will look at common policy implications between the two books, and others will explore themes, lessons, and policy implications between and from both books.
Brief Overviews:
- The Other Wes Moore (Author: Wes Moore): In his book, Wes Moore (I will refer to him as "Author Wes Moore") tells his story of growing up in The Bronx, and of another African-American from a similar working-class Baltimore background also called Wes Moore (I will refer to him as "other Wes Moore"). In addition to telling the two life stories, Author Moore sets out to understand why he became successful in life and the other Wes Moore became a high school dropout, became involved in drug trading, and was sentenced to life at a young age for allegedly assisting in first-degree murder (Moore).
- Hillbilly Elegy (Author: J.D. Vance): J.D. Vance explores his family's background as part of the Scots-Irish people from rural Kentucky, many of whom (including his grandparents) moved to Ohio in the 1930s to take advantage of new socio-economic opportunities, while bringing their existing culture with them. While Vance grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, his community saw significant socio-economic changes as a result of larger macroeconomic shifts that began to be associated with increased poverty and despair in his community. In similarity to Moore, Vance went from a middle class background to being a marine veteran to becoming a Yale Law School graduate. Having this combination of experiences led him to think about how the spatial barriers between working-class Whites and coastal elites shape each side's perceptions of each other. Vance also laid out his story to comprehend how his ethnic group's culture and traditions could be making it difficult for them to adjust to new socio-economic and cultural conditions, and even contributing to their increased pessimism for the future (Vance).
Themes:
- How place shapes behavior and opportunities: This theme is probably one of the most important in both books, as the places that author Moore, the other Wes Moore, and Vance grew up in were arguably critical in shaping their personality and opportunities. This theme is most obvious when looking at the other Wes Moore, who grew up in socio-economically strained neighborhoods in urban Baltimore where opportunities to climb the ladder were limited, attended a public school system that was underfunded and overflowing with students similar to Moore, and grew up during a time when the urban drug trade, related violence, and their socio-economic effects were peaking (Moore, 26-27). As will be discussed extensively here, the other Moore ended up turning to the drug trade, which led him down a path to eventually facing life in prison. Author Moore, who largely grew up in the urban Bronx, faced similar conditions and almost stepped down the same road as the other Moore, although his opportunities and personal development were also extensively shaped by external factors (discussed further below). Finally, Vance's youth in Rust Belt Ohio witnessed a significant socio-economic decline as long-time industries that provided stable middle-class jobs moved-out, which strained the local economy and school systems (Vance, 143-144). Vance heavily discussed how this decline led to an increase in pessimism and despair, which in turn led to increased drug use, marital instability, decline of work productivity, and welfare reliance (Vance, 4-8).
- The importance of social capital for achieving the American Dream: As an aspiring policy professional, I have heard the phrase "it's not what you know, but who" many times since beginning my undergraduate studies back in 2014. This alludes to the idea of "Social Capital," which in this context, refers to personal relationships and networks that allow those within the network to help each other out and grow, including oneself (Kenton). Both Author Moore and Vance explicitly state in their books that social capital is what likely made the difference in helping them achieve the American Dream and become successful in their careers. In Moore's case, his social capital included his relatively well-off family (discussed further below), the teachers at the military school he attended, his fellow army personnel, and connections he made through said experiences (Moore, 181-182). On the other hand, Moore alludes to the potential that his success relative to the "other Wes Moore" was because he was able to gain such capital, while the other Moore had fewer opportunities due to the latter's life circumstances and opportunities (discussed further below). For Vance, his family also served as significant social capital (again, discussed further below), and like Moore, gaining personal connections through the military and work experience helped build his social capital, thus giving him the confidence to attend Yale Law School. Upon arriving at Yale, Vance discovered the true importance of social capital in moving up the ladder, as his new mentors and connections at Yale assisted him in thinking about, and securing his first post-law school employment (Vance, 214-222).
- Role of family as social capital: As a sub-theme of social capital's role in achieving the American Dream, both authors heavily relied on family for social capital, especially in their pre-college days. For instance, author Moore was sent by his mother to military school, an option she had always considered for her son (Moore, 87). In parallel with this, his mother had previously sent him to a private school in the Bronx, as she knew of the school as an option, and was willing to send her children there (Moore, 47-48). Author Moore's social capital also extends to his family's socio-economic background, as multiple members of his family were college-educated (Moore, 41-42, 53, 181), and that his mother was able to utilize her social capital gained through her socio-economic opportunities to help author Moore (Moore, 181). On Vance's end, his mother and extended family significantly assisted with his social development, including exposing him to people from different backgrounds (Vance, 61-65), his grandparents encouraging both their children and Vance to enter college (Vance, 45, 154-155), and his grandmother assisting Vance during his high school education (Vance, 137-138). When his mother was sent to rehab for drug addiction, his sister Lindsay helped fulfill the role of his mother to ensure his welfare (Vance, 113-114).
- Effects of drug abuse and trading on individuals and communities: One of the most critical themes that both authors (and the other Moore) experienced personally as part of their life journeys was a rise in drug trading and/or abuse, and the effects on their respective communities. This theme is especially prevalent throughout The Other Wes Moore, as both the other Wes Moore and his brother Tony started drug dealing at a young age (Moore, 27-28, 59-61, 69-75). While author Moore did not take part in drug dealing per se, he did become a delinquent and got into an interaction with the police when tagging a wall with a friend involved in drug dealing (Moore, 76-84). It was after that point that his mother sent Moore to military school as a way to change his behavior and give him additional opportunities (Moore, 85-87). As an extension of his and the other Moore's stories, author Moore discusses the overall effects of the drug trade on cities such as Baltimore and the Bronx in helping further deteriorate living conditions through a massive increase in violent crime (Moore, 43, 51, 56, 111-112, 148, 158). Vance's life experiences in Ohio saw many of his fellow citizens succumb to drug addiction (primarily heroin and opioids) as economic opportunities diminished and new opportunities failed to arrive (Vance, 143-144). In addition, one of Vance's key discussion points throughout the book emphasizes how widespread drug abuse harmed communities such as his beyond the individual-level, such as disinterest in work, increased child abuse and neglect, and furthering a feeling of pessimism that translated into political anger (Vance, 188-195). Vance himself also briefly try recreational drugs and alcohol while also becoming a delinquent (Vance, 127-128). Between both books, both authors make it clear that the increase of both drug abuse, use, and trading in their communities created significant negative externalities on their communities, and influenced the life paths and decisions of both themselves and those around them.
- Importance of external experiences in shaping opportunity: As part of their respective life journeys, both author Moore and Vance went through experiences outside their home communities that significantly contributed to their social capital and socio-economic opportunities. One of the most notable examples is that both authors joined the military and ended up serving in combat, with Vance in the Marines (Vance, 165, 175-177), and Moore as an Army Paratrooper (Moore, 129-137, 176-177). Both authors discuss in their respective books that joining the military significantly increased their social capital and allowed them to gain mentors to help them with their future goals. For example, Vance was able to learn many personal life lessons that would assist his future endeavors, such as setting high expectations and learning how to control one's impulses (Vance, 163, 174). On the other hand, author Moore gained connections through his military service and schooling, which gave him insight on applying to college (he eventually went to Johns Hopkins University) and the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship (which he also achieved) (Moore, 159-163). In addition, Moore indirectly argued that this external opportunity generally steered him away from getting involved in juvenile crime and drug dealing, thus preventing him from going down the other Moore's path. Speaking of the other Moore, he decided to take advantage of an opportunity to gain his GED and learn valuable work skills after being tired of the drug trade, having little opportunities for being a high school dropout, and interacting with the justice system multiple times. This opportunity was the Job Corps program, which he successfully completed, and hoped that it would provide new opportunities to transform its life (Moore, 138-144). While Moore ended up returning to crime (including the one that landed him in prison for life) (Moore, 144-157), Job Corps was a theoretical external experience that had the potential to provide future opportunities and social capital he previously lacked.
- The impacts of unstable households on children: In Hillbilly Elegy, Vance extensively discusses the experience of living in an unstable family, largely growing up in a single mother-dominated household, while his mother dated multiple men during the time period. Throughout the time period discussed by the authors, both largely grew up in unstable households, with Author Moore's father dying at a young age, and (implied that) his mother never re-marrying (Moore, 11-16). Meanwhile, Author Moore's (and his sister's) academic performance at their private school suffered as his mother was largely unable to assist them due to her work schedule (Moore, 77). Meanwhile, the other Wes Moore grew up in a single-mother-dominated household, with his father living distantly from Moore (Moore, 5, 30). Like Author Moore, the other Moore's mother was a working mother (Moore, 17-18), whose work schedule is implied to have allowed Moore to become a delinquent (Moore, 59, 71) and later get involved with drugs (Moore, 71). On Vance's end, his biological father divorced from his mother when Vance was young, and Vance rarely saw him after that point (Vance, 62). In the meantime, Vance's mother dated several men, and Vance witnessed marital instability as he spent a significant amount of time living with other family members when his mother turned to drugs or otherwise became unstable (Vance, 62-63, 119, 125-126). As a result of this family instability, Moore's educational performance suffered as a result of his mother's drug abuse, changing relationship status, fights with boyfriends, and his public school's relatively low quality (Vance, 127).
Works Cited:
Kenton, Will. "Social Capital." Investopedia, 14 Jun. 2019, www.investopedia.com/terms/s/socialcapital.asp. Accessed 10 Oct. 2020.
Moore, Wes. The Other Wes Moore. Spiegel and Grau: New York, 2011.
Vance, J.D. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. HarperCollins: New York, 2016.
Nathan Parmeter
Author and Host, The Parmeter Politics and Policy Record
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