[lbo-talk] lbo-talk] Fredrik deBoer: “I think the problem of white poverty is under-discussed in left-wing circles.”

[michael yates]

Joseph Catron says we can't say much about people on Indian reservations or urban black people. Well, that's not quite true. We can say what unemployment rates are at Pine Ridge or what fraction of people have diabetes, etc. Or we could take the poverty rate among blacks in Pittsburgh. Etc. There is plenty we can find out from census data. So when you write something like deBoer did, he could at least give a concrete example. He could look and discover that certain counties in Eastern Kentucky are among the poorest in the country, with high incidences of poverty, unemployment, obesity, and other things. And the race of the residents. If you don't try to be at least somewhat specific in trying to make some more general point, no matter the venue in which you are writing, then what you have is really what I call "bar talk." Great for twitter and facebook maybe but not if you claim to be a writer whose field is social science. deBoer is young, so he'll hopefully learn this. Carrol can't stand vague and therefore meaningless words. Nor can I. But to each his own, I suppose.

And isn't it a stereotype, the very thing deBoer is decrying, to write about a white underclass in the Appalachian Mts. Under what class? The white people in Pigeon Forge, TN are working in the scores of motels, restaurants, and other tourist businesses. Dollywood along must employ hundreds of people. Even those out poaching ginseng in the national park are working. Even people peddling dope are working. There are plenty of places where life is harsh, but it is not the case that no one tries to do anything about it. 

What deBoer says about somewhat younger privileged leftists not knowing much about workers is true for some I know, but again, not all.