Well, Whaddya Know? "Hillbilly Elegy" Author J.D. Vance Is Exactly The Asshole We Thought He Was

[hatrack]

JD Vance, the author of the best-selling “Hillbilly Elegy,” has exited the board of directors of AppHarvest, according to an emailed statement from the $1.6 billion indoor agriculture company.

The newly public Kentucky firm announced Vance’s departure, in response to a Bloomberg News inquiry about some of Vance’s recent statements. On Twitter, he’d written that taxes should be raised on businesses that oppose a new spate of state-level voting restrictions.

He also called Fox News host Tucker Carlson “the only powerful figure who consistently challenge elites dogma,” after Carlson came under fire for saying that “the Democratic party is trying to replace the current electorate,” a frequent talking point of white supremacists.

Vance, who is currently a partner at venture capital firm Narya Capital Management LLC and is often mentioned as a possible candidate for political office, didn’t respond immediately to a request for comment sent through LinkedIn.

EDIT

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/hillbilly-elegy-author-exits-board-of-agtech-company/ar-BB1fCSDq?ocid=entnewsntp

[ProudMNDemocrat]

1. Still have not seen the Netflix film of the same name.

Perhaps there is a reason why.

[liberal_mama]

7. I saw the movie and hated it. Not surprising because I hated the book too

[Luciferous]

23. If you hated the book why watch the movie?

[liberal_mama]

32. I love Amy Adams and thought it might be entertaining, but it was just depressing

I was hoping it might be a fun watch like The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia. That was one of my favorites. I watched it like 10x and laughed so hard. What a freak show!

[Sympthsical]

2. So a guy who wrote about Hillbillies is conservative

This is news because . . .

[Ferrets are Cool]

9. Not conservative. That descriptor doesn't exist anymore.

Repuq's, racists and insurrectionists work much better.

[Sympthsical]

15. So you're just out over there

And don't see humans as humans anymore. Ok. That has never gone wrong in our history.

[Ferrets are Cool]

20. Well that came out of nowhere.

Would you care to explain? I said they are not conservatives. I said NOTHING about being human.

[GoneOffShore]

24. John Prine had something to say about that -

[Solly Mack]

3. Not everyone in Appalachia would agree Vance was an authority on anything but his own life.

Appalachian Reckoning is a retort, at turns rigorous, critical, angry, and hopeful, to the long shadow Hillbilly Elegy has cast over the region and its imagining. But it also moves beyond Hillbilly Elegy to allow Appalachians from varied backgrounds to tell their own diverse and complex stories through an imaginative blend of scholarship, prose, poetry, and photography. The essays and creative work collected in Appalachian Reckoning provide a deeply personal portrait of a place that is at once culturally rich and economically distressed, unique and typically American. Complicating simplistic visions that associate the region almost exclusively with death and decay, Appalachian Reckoning makes clear Appalachia’s intellectual vitality, spiritual richness, and progressive possibilities.

IOW, Vance does NOT speak for Appalachia. Nor should he be considered the voice for people of the Appalachian Mountains. He is merely a voice of his own experience and how he defined those experiences.

That said, Vance is a POS.

[Withywindle]

14. Appalachian Reckoning is very good

I also recommend What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia by Elizabeth Catte, which was specifically written as a rebuttal to Vance's spurious claims and bad history.

[Solly Mack]

21. Thanks! I'll get the book.

[Maeve]

28. Thank you for the recs

I saw many people I know in Vance's book but not the Appalachians I know best---I look forward to reading the better books.

[kskiska]

4. Whatever his politics,

I didn't care for the movie.

[abqtommy]

5. It's important to remember that White Supremacists/Fascists have always been and

remain a minority even among us White Folk, let alone the world population of our diverse
ethnic groups. Let's all be sure to keep them that way!

[Boomerproud]

18. I'm sick of the squeaky wheel getting all the grease.

With so many problems in the world it's exhausting how much attention these asses get.

[abqtommy]

19. I appreciate what you're saying. But there are many fascist groups around the world

and not all of them are white-skinned. We ignore any of them at our peril.

[Hortensis]

6. In hindsight Vance's coming out is not entirely a surprise, wouldn't have

been if I'd known he was going to run for office as a Republican. As an author, just like many L and R in academia, he might otherwise have continued to maintain a more respectable cover for professional reasons.

[PETRUS]

8. I read "Hillbilly Elegy" before I knew anything about him.

Probably less than halfway through the book, it was clear to me that he's both a shallow thinker and very right wing.

[GusBob]

10. Same here!

Just about half way I figured such

[Bev54]

11. Isn't this jackass considering running for the senate somewhere? n/t

[zeusdogmom]

13. Ohio

[Jilly_in_VA]

12. J.D. Vance

can go commit a biological impossibility.

[GoneOffShore]

25. Too late - That appears to have been his condition for years.

It appears he won the award for Rectal Cranial Insertion when he was in college.

[JI7]

16. racist asshole

[Withywindle]

17. He's not even from there!

Summers with grandma in Kentucky but come on, he's from western Ohio. He's a poser.

[FakeNoose]

22. Parts of Ohio can be considered Appalachia North

Just sayin'

[GoneOffShore]

26. Same with Pennsyltucky.

[FakeNoose]

29. Yep

[Withywindle]

33. Yes but not a county that borders Indiana!

It ain't Appalachia if it's FLAT!

But definitely yes, the areas near WV and northeastern KY are Appalachian for sure.

[betsuni]

27. I just started watching the movie and the guy freaks out at a fancy dinner because

he doesn't know which utensils to use, just like in "Pretty Woman." NOBODY except upper class people know this. Middle class people don't know, it's not a lower class thing.

[harumph]

30. you start from the outside utensils and move in

small fork is for salad. spoon with larger bowl is for soup. typically you don't see
a lot of utensils unless there's 4 courses. if unsure and intimidated, take control - set yourself apart and ask the waiter to serve the
salad last as is done in Italy. American custom serves the salad first - which is stupid because it's a palate cleanser
and fiber. American custom also swaps the fork and knife between the same hand - it's absurd.
the best way is to nonchalantly show you don't give a fuck for custom without
resorting to coarseness. I was required at one time to attend such bullshit dinners.

[gratuitous]

31. People are still running that gag?

Jeez, it was superannuated in 1981 when WKRP did it with Dr. Johnny Fever (can't find a clip, but here's the transcript):

Dr. Johnny Fever : No, no, no, Patricia, you're wrong.

Patricia : Well, I just don't know what I'm going to...

Dr. Johnny Fever : [cutting Patricia off] Right, right, right, wait a second. Would you just listen to me, please.

Patricia : Uh, all right.

Dr. Johnny Fever : Okay, because you don't want to look like a fool, right? Right?

Patricia : No.

Dr. Johnny Fever : Okay. So now listen very carefully because I'm not always going to be here to help you. Okay? So you always want to start on these things from the outside. That'll lead you naturally, organically, into those inner areas, and that's where all the real action is. Okay? Now, what's furthest out is the salad fork, and the soup spoon. Then, the tea spoon, okay?

Patricia : [with a panic in her voice] What side?

Dr. Johnny Fever : On the right. Big fork is on the inside left, and the dessert spoon is above.

Patricia : [with a continued panic in her voice] Above what?

Dr. Johnny Fever : Pat, Pat, Pat, Patricia. I tell you what. Put the napkin over your head and eat with your hands. Okay we've got a lot of calls...