Lisa

“There is no group of Americans more pessimistic than working-class whites. Well over half of blacks, Latinos, and college-educated whites expect that their children will fare better economically than they have. Among working-class whites, only 44 percent share that expectation. Even more surprising, 42 percent of working-class whites—by far the highest number in the survey—report that their lives are less economically successful than those of their parents’.”
― J.D. Vance, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

“Shall we make a new rule of life... always to try to be a little kinder than is necessary?”
― R.J. Palacio, Wonder

“It’s about a culture that increasingly encourages social decay instead of counteracting it.”
― J.D. Vance, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

“Mamaw and Papaw taught me that we live in the best and greatest country on earth. This fact gave meaning to my childhood. Whenever times were tough—when I felt overwhelmed by the drama and the tumult of my youth—I knew that better days were ahead because I lived in a country that allowed me to make the good choices that others hadn’t. When I think today about my life and how genuinely incredible it is—a gorgeous, kind, brilliant life partner; the financial security that I dreamed about as a child; great friends and exciting new experiences—I feel overwhelming appreciation for these United States. I know it’s corny, but it’s the way I feel. If Mamaw’s second God was the United States of America, then many people in”
― J.D. Vance, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis