Activism Through Reading: Strangers in Their Own Land Book Review + Next Read

I'm back with another Activism Through Reading book review. In April I read "Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right" by Arlie Russell Hochschild. In this book, Hochschild, a sociologist from Berkeley, spends time in Louisiana with Tea Party members to try to understand why they vote against candidates who policies they would benefit from.


I read this book to try to understand the thoughts of Tea Party members. In the words of Hochschild, I wanted to cross the "empathy wall." In her words, an empathy wall is "an obstacle to deep understanding of another person, one that can make us feel indifferent or ever hostile to those who hold different beliefs or whose childhood is rooted in different circumstances (p.5)."  Here are a couple of the main points I am taking away from this book, along with my thoughts:

- The Tea Party members she spoke to feel like they have been victims of "line cutters." Wage growth has been non-existent for many. According to Hochschild's research, real wages of high school educated American men have fallen 40% since 1970. For the bottom 90% of workers, average wages have flattened since 1980. Many people who are unemployed or lacking wage growth feel they have been waiting in line for more prosperity for a long time, and all of a sudden, there are all these people cutting in line. Hochschild sums it up by saying: "Blacks, women, immigrants, refugees, brown pelicans - all have cut ahead of you in line. But it's people like you who have made this country great. You feel uneasy. It has to be said: the line cutters irritate you. They are violating rules of fairness. You resent them, and you feel it's right that you do. (p. 139)."

Thoughts: In my opinion, wage growth is lacking because our economy has drastically changed. We are not the manufacturing powerhouse we used to be.  We cannot compete with countries like China. You cannot solely get a high school education and expect wage growth that is on par with those with a technical or college degree. You need an education and a skill set that will allow you to thrive in this new economy. I have compassion for those who are living in dire circumstances. It would be awful to not be able to provide for your family. But I do believe that some that have been left behind think that things should be the way they were before globalization took hold.  That is just not possible.  I cannot imagine our country ever going back to being a manufacturing powerhouse. I understand the source of frustration toward 'line cutters' but some/many of those cutting in line are experiencing even more dire circumstances. There should be room for all of us to prosper.

- Since the author focused on the Louisiana oil region, there is a heavy emphasis on the environmental devastation of that area. Many of the people that Hochschild interviews cannot swim in or eat fish from the waters they live near due to the pollution by oil and other chemical companies. In an extreme case, some people's homes have even been swallowed up by a massive sink hole caused by drilling by oil companies. Birds, fish, and turtles have died. And yet - the Tea Party members Hochschild meets with want to do away with the EPA because they think regulation is not the answer. They want oil companies to continue to build plants in Louisiana because of the economic prosperity that should result.

Thoughts:  I think there is such a thing as over-regulation, but when our environment is at stake, I don't think we can eliminate environmental regulations and expect corporations to act in the best interest of the citizens of the communities they operate within. Clearly having environmental regulations in the first place didn't prevent the devastation that has occurred, but it seems like that should put fuel to the fire of having more monitoring to ensure companies meet the regulations. It seems like the views of the people Hochschild speaks to can be summed up by saying "capitalism is more important than our environment."

Closing thoughts:

I'm still struggling to relate to the views of the Tea Party members the author interviewed. I recognize that the people she spoke to are a small % of the Tea Party, and the Tea Party is just a small part of the Republican Party. But these kind of views seem to be the loudest views and they seem in line with Trump's views. I'm struggling to have hope that our political parties will find a way to compromise in the face of such differing and catastrophic views.

I'm glad I read this book, though, even though I didn't make as much progress in crossing the "empathy wall" as I wanted.  Hochschild did a really good job of telling the story of the people she met with in an engaging way. This book definitely read like narrative non-fiction. Hochschild really got to know her interview subjects and she became friends with them even though her views were very different.

****

My next read for my activism project will be "An American Sickness:  How Healthcare Become Big Business and How You Can Take it Back" by Elisabeth Rosenthal.

Excerpt from Goodreads:
Our politicians have proven themselves either unwilling or incapable of reining in the increasingly outrageous costs faced by patients, and market-based solutions only seem to funnel larger and larger sums of our money into the hands of corporations. Impossibly high insurance premiums and inexplicably large bills have become facts of life; fatalism has set in. Very quickly Americans have been made to accept paying more for less. How did things get so bad so fast?

Given the vote that occurred in the House last week, healthcare has moved up the list of things I need to become more informed about. I am disgusted by the bill that was passed by the House. The Senate will likely modify the bill but I can't believe that something so awful was passed by all but 20 House Republicans. Whatever form the final bill takes, it will potentially impact every person in this country - including those who have employer-provided health insurance. Outside of being concerned for the high number of people that will lose insurance coverage (which will result in more ER visits, which does not solve the problem of the escalating costs of providing medical care to the uninsured), I am particularly concerned because the cost of treating my RA is incredibly expensive (one of the slew of drugs I take costs $1,000 PER WEEK).  If lifetime or annual caps come back, that could have severe consequences for me.

I listened to the author of this book on the NYT Book Review Podcast recently. She was an emergency room doctor before moving into journalism so she has seen the healthcare system as a provider. I think it's going to be a really interesting read. I really wish that our Senators and Representatives could get to the heart of the problem of our healthcare system - the high cost of healthcare - instead of penalizing people, like myself, who have no control over the high cost of the drugs and treatments we need. Hopefully this book will help me become more informed on the topic.

If you made it this far, CONGRATULATIONS!  This was a lengthy post. Have you read any great non-fiction books lately?  Do you find yourself seeking out more non-fiction books given the state of our world and political system? That has definitely been the case for me as I feel like I need to read more about different issues that matter to me.

Activism Through Reading: Strangers in Their Own Land

I'm back with my next selection for my Advocacy Through Reading project. My 2nd book will be 'Strangers in Their own Land' by Arlie Russell Hochschild which was recommended by the NYT as a book that would help people understand Trump's victory. Hochschild is a renowned sociologist. In this book, she travels to the bayou country of Louisiana, which is a stronghold of the conservative right movement. Here is a synopsis from goodreads:

Strangers in Their Own Land goes beyond the commonplace liberal idea that these are people who have been duped into voting against their own interests. Instead, Hochschild finds lives ripped apart by stagnant wages, a loss of home, an elusive American dream - and political choices and views that make sense in the context of their lives. Hochschild draws on her expert knowledge of the sociology of emotion to help us understand what it feels  like to live in "red" America. Along the way, she finds answers to one of the crucial questions of contemporary American politics: why do the people who would seem to benefit most from "liberal" government intervention abhor the very idea?

This is a book I am reading to try to understand the views of a group of people that I have a hard time relating to.  By reading this book I'm hoping to gain more of a personal understanding of the views of groups of people who have been left behind by the economic recovery and how and why they saw Trump as the candidate that would save them.

There is such a divide in our nation right now.  I know I am just one person, but by trying to learn more about a group with views different than mine, I'm hoping it will metaphorically help me step across a divide that feels so insurmountable right now.

I'll be back in late April/early May with my thoughts on the book!

Activism Through Reading: The Faith Club Review

As I mentioned early last month, I've decided to embark on an Activism Through Reading project. My goal is two-fold. I want to expand my knowledge about topics that tend to be debated, with varying levels of knowledge. Secondly, I want to understand the thoughts and feelings of people with opinions that different from mine.

My first selection was "The Faith Club" which is a book written by three women who came together with the goal to write a book for children that would explain the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths. Early on in the project, the women realized that they needed to address a lot of stereotypes and misconceptions about each of their faiths, and so this book was born.  

My goal of reading this book was to learn more about the Muslim faith. And boy did I learn a lot by reading this book! As I have mentioned before, I was raised Catholic and continue to practice my faith as an adult. My focus has been entirely on my faith and I know very little about other faiths, mostly because there is always more to learn about my own faith. That said, I recognize that learning more about other faiths helps me build understanding of others. My goal was to learn more about about the Muslim faith but I ended up learning quite a bit about the Jewish faith as well. 

Here are some of the things I learned by reading this book:

1. Similar to the Jewish and Christian faiths, the Muslim faith descended from Abraham. Muslims  believe Muhammad was the last of a series of 25 messengers and prophets, starting with Adam and including Moses and Jesus, who were sent by God to guide people to the right path. Muslims believe that Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which means peaceful surrender to the will of God, are three forms of one religion, which was the religion of the prophet Abraham.  Thus, Muslims are required to believe in the Gospels and the Torah. 

2. The word "jihad" means a struggle or effort. It is mostly meant to resolve an internal struggle to overcome sin. Unfortunately, this word has been corrupted by extremists/terrorists who are using it in ways that are not in line with the Muslim faith. This BBC explanation of jihad addresses the concept of holy war. I think many of us associate jihad or holy war with something that is actually not in line with what the Qur'an teaches. If you look at the Qur'an's teaching on what can necessitate holy war, it is clear that the campaign of ISIS/ISIL is not in line with the teachings of the Muslim faith. So it is wrong to associate their terrible actions with what it means to be a Muslim. 

3. The Muslim faith can be split into Shia and Sunni Muslims. They are divided based on who they think should have been the Islamic leader after Muhammad died. Within the Sunni sect, there is a movement called "Wahhabism." It is an extremist group that is thought to be the source of global terrorism. It's an extreme minority within the Muslim faith and it's an extremely wealthy group as they tend to inhabit the oil-rich areas of the Middle East. Both Shia and Sunni Muslims denounce this group.

4.  I also learned a lot about the battle between the Jewish and Muslim faiths over Israel. I vaguely knew about the conflict in this region, but Ranya, the Muslim author and Priscilla, the Jewish author, had many debates about this territory.

5. Lastly, the book addressed some of the roots of antisemitism. I did not think that antisemitism was something that was alive and well in the U.S., but the events of the past several months have opened my eyes to the fact that it is still a problem.

Main takeaway:

I'm walking away from this book reminded that groups of people can corrupt the teachings of a religious faith. I think we can all agree that groups like the Westboro Church have corrupted the teachings of Christianity. As a Christian, I denounce the acts of the members of Westboro Church. Their message of hate is not in line with the teachings of Christianity. It does not reflect the fact that we have a loving and forgiving God. Similarly, Muslims denounce the actions of terrorists who have corrupted the teachings of the Qur'an. I am not trying to compare the Westboro Church to ISIL because clearly ISIL has carried out their corrupted beliefs in extremely horrible ways. I am merely trying to show that various faiths have groups whose actions are not in line with the teachings of their faith. And just as I do not want anyone to see the actions of the Westboro Church and associate their practices, words and beliefs with what I believe, other Muslims do not want to be associated with the horrific actions of ISIS/ISIL. Especially since many of them have been victims of ISIS/ISIL.

My hope is that our country's leadership will stop associating being a Muslim with being evil or prone to terrorist acts. The group that has corrupted the Muslim beliefs and used those corrupted beliefs to justify their horrific actions has resulted in what I believe is a great misunderstanding in the Western world about what it means to be a Muslim.

And that is why I read this book. Obviously I only read one book so my knowledge of the Muslim faith is still very limited. But I know more than I did before I read this book. My hope is that I can help to disspell misconceptions about the Muslim faith when they arise in conversations with friends and family.

If you want to start to learn more about other monotheistic faiths, I highly recommend this book. It's a very accessible and engaging way to learn about the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths. I also think it is useful to find ways to engage with others that have different beliefs and faiths than you do. Because of where I live, most of my friends are Christians. But thanks to blogging, I've made a couple of friends who are Jewish and we've had several conversations about our beliefs. I've also had the opportunity to meet others from the Muslim community by volunteering in an adult ESL classroom. Obviously that is not the place to engage in conversations about their faith, but it's allowed me to get to know them as a fellow citizen of Minneapolis. The benefit is that it humanizes a group of people that I did not have contact with before volunteering.

Have you learned much about other faiths? Do you have a curiosity about other faiths? Would you consider reading this book?

I'll be back later this week with my next selection!

Activism Through Reading: Book 1

A lot has happened since the start of 2017.  What has disappointed me the most is the Executive Order that banned persons from "terror" prone countries from entering the US for 90 days and suspended the US Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days until it is reinstated for nationals of countries for whom members of Trump's Cabinet deem can be properly vetted.

The statement by Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham reflects how I feel about this ruling:

"Ultimately, we fear this executive order will become a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism. At this very moment, American troops are fighting side-by-side with our Iraqi partners to defeat ISIL. But this executive order bans Iraqi pilots from coming to military bases in Arizona to fight our common enemies. Our most important allies in the fight against ISIL are the vast majority of Muslims who reject its apocalyptic ideology of hatred. This executive order sends a signal, intended or not, that America does not want Muslims coming into our country. That is why we fear this executive order may do more to help terrorist recruitment than improve our security.” {source}

I do not like to discuss politics on my blog as it's just not something I've ever been comfortable with. But this is an issue that I feel so strongly about, especially after working in an ESL classroom with adult immigrants - most of which are refugees. I have seen the faces of our refugee population and I have heard their stories.  It is heart-breaking.  

I've given a lot of thought about what I can do to raise awareness about this issue.  And what I keep coming back to is books.  I have my own thoughts and feelings about this issue, but maybe I can raise even more awareness by reading books on the topic and suggesting that others read them as well.  I'm calling it my "Activism Through Reading" project. Every 6 weeks, I will select a title and announce it here.  Maybe no one besides me will read the book.  But even if one other person reads it and it opens their mind a bit more, I will call it a success.  

I'm starting by reading a book that will advance our knowledge of other religions, including the Muslim faith.  My first selection is "The Faith Club" by Ranya Tabari Idliby, Priscilla Warner and Suzanne Oliver. There are countless books about religion but I decided to pick a memoir-style book as memoirs feel very accessible. "The Faith Club" is a memoir of spiritual reflection in three voices that will make readers feel as if they are eavesdropping on the authors' private conversations, provocative discussions, and often controversial opinions and conclusions. The authors wrestle with the issues of antisemitism, prejudice against Muslims, and preconceptions of Christians at a time when fundamentalists dominate the public face of Christianity.  


If you are looking for a way to expand your understanding of the issues that are being debated in our world and particularly in the U.S., I encourage you to join me in reading this book.  My goal is to post my review and some discussion questions in 6 weeks, which falls around March 21st.  

I'm also open to suggestions for future books to read, so suggest away!