We talk about the value of hard work but tell ourselves that the reason we’re not working is some perceived unfairness: Obama shut down the coal mines, or all the jobs went to the Chinese. These are the lies we tell ourselves to solve the cognitive dissonance­ the broken connection between the world we see and the values we preach.” (Vance, 2016, 147)
People choose to blame everything else but themselves for their own problems. They preach certain values but then don’t actually follow through with them. Success would be achievable if they stopped complaining and followed what they preached.
Unfortunately, these types of people believe they don’t have the opportunity to get ahead in the first place, so they give up before they even try. This leads back to their perceived unfairness and the broken connection between the world.
Society focuses on everyone else but themselves for the high unemployment rate in America. This is a fair statement because most people have decided that working low-wage jobs will not improve their quality of life, so they choose instead to simply not work. Another reason is that they are simply underqualified. These people are unable to work the jobs they want, so they instead choose to blame what is around them to take the blame off of themselves.
More than 40 million people in America currently live under the poverty level showing its effect all over the country. With a lot of emphasis being put on jobs going to foreign countries, it makes it hard for people to realize that there are still opportunities for them out there.
It is highlighted in the book Hillbilly Elegy, that J.D.’s family often struggles due to their conditions in life. There are a lot of struggles a family can go through because of these conditions. The citizens of the midwest are accustomed to the certain struggles they are predestined to go through and are forced to deal with the difficulty of trying to find opportunity. One of the major setbacks include not having a permanent residence and people struggle to see that even with the setbacks there are still opportunities for them.
In Ohio, where J.D grew up, the poverty rate is higher than what it is for the entire country. In the Appalachia region, the poverty rate is significantly higher than the country’s. While the poverty levels are higher in certain regions there is also evidence of opportunities for these people.
People choose to blame outside influences instead of themselves for their lack of opportunity in life. They already know that hard work is what will get them ahead showing that they have the knowledge to succeed. Society just needs to practice what they preach if they want an improvement in their own quality of life.