We had an excellent discussion in person about this book! Sometimes I pick books because I adore them...sometimes I am eager to see what will come of the discussion. This title would be in the latter category. Given that the CA primary elections are around the corner, I thought it might be interesting to delve straight into the traditionally taboo topics of religion and politics.
The thing that I liked about this book is that it brought up some of the issues facing a lot of people in our nation- poverty, healthcare, and religion. Bageant makes sweeping generalizations that can most definitely turn some people off. I think he gave himself a by to make such statements because he is talking about "his" people. He used the pronoun "we" when discussing the quirkiness backward tendencies of his Westchester, Virginia town, but he most definitely not part "them" anymore.
Questions we discussed:
- Is the trend of the military's prevalence in the south a new phenomenon?
- Is it the education system or culture that keeps people stuck in a cycle of poverty?
- How did you react to his chapter on gun control?
- He mentions lots of statistics about gun control and safety-- just looking at his own family, he said no one had ever shot themselves or were injured. He felt common sense is missing from urban people. Thoughts?
- Do you think issues like gun control will make it hard for Democrats to attract people from rural/poor areas?
- What can we do- as individuals- to make this country better? Environment, education, buy wisely, inform voters?
If you enjoyed reading this book, you might also like:
- Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
- Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy by John Bowe
