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4.5
The goal of social science can be simply stated: to understand the social world we live in. The ethical imperative behind all critical scholarly work is equally straightforward: If we know, we must act. Each generation produces seers, fools, and ideologues who compete for turf. The Vietnam Generation has given us a seer. His work should be studied by all concerned with contemporary America. If you teach sociology, anthropology, political science, or economics, assign this book in the suitable courses. It's a fascinating read, and you can intergate what Bageant has done with the tools of your discipline. Clear thinking about American society is always welcome.Sometimes, however, it takes an outsider to shock the academy into remembering its prime purpose: to bring us out of Plato's cave. Bageant is not a social scientist but uses a time honored method to make the social world understandable: participation (social interaction), observation, and reflection. Upon returning to his hometown in rural Virginia, after over 30 years of absence, he reflects on his working class roots. Each essay offers insights into the American scene which unfold while dining in a local restaurant, drinking in a local bar, and walking childhood's streets. His literary style and the power of his writing have been blurbed by notables(among them Howard Zinn and Studs Terkel--sufficient reason, to my mind at least, to pay serious attention) but I am interested in the sociology which, although not billed as such, comes through in a crisp manner on almost every page.This is not conventional sociological analysis, however, it offers a more vital and rare texture of lived lives. Working class lives. Ignored lives. Marginalized lives. Expendable lives. Broken Lives. White lives. Fundamentalist Christian lives that have been chewed up and disposed of by the economy (American Serfs), have had their fears and pride manipulated (Republicans by Default), fall victims to predatory marketing practices (The Deep-Fried, Double Wide Lifestyle),who cling to their guns as symbols of self-worth and tradition (Valley of the Gun), are manipulated by the policio-religious right and kept ignorant by failing schools and limited opportunities (The Covert Kingdom). These folks are the 75% of us who never went beyond high school.They survive indignities: having their daughters scapegoated for the military incompetence of commanders (The Ballad of Lynddie England); are abused by the American health care system (An Authorized Place to Die) and are kept ignorant by a system that essentially provides only mediated images that serve a narcotizing function (American Halogram).Bageant is also one of the few to get the 1960s right: "There was electricity in the air". The outlines of the changing social landscape are well documented in social science, but never before with such a human face. Stratification theorists draw lines between groups based on wealth, status, and power but, since social class in America is invisible, an amazing twin alchemy is possible: 1) accidents of birth are seen as choices 2) those less favored come to see themselves as personally responsible for a system that exploits them. Thus, those groups most brutalized by social inequality become it's staunchest defenders--a fact not ignored by ideological operatives.Because of this fact I disagree that the liberals in the middle class who sold out to the system will somehow change because they are the prime beneficiaries of social inequality. After all, when taste, education, and lifestyle become commoditized that requires a reference point for relative evaluation. "Other": the idea of a gun totin', ignorant, bible readin', white trash, violent, drunkard to insure that all political eyes are kept off of the elites. So, the manager at McDonald's "earns" the right to control the lives of the part time workers and those who own 20,000 shares of McDonald's needn't even get involved. An elegant solution: young workers are easily hired, fired, and remain invisible, older workers there are simply underpaid, the manager can aspire to owning the franchise, we get cheap junk food, and the large shareholders drink fine wine and debate the finer points of conspicuous ceremonial consumption at a five star restaurant.
