Finished Nick Kristof's and Sheryl WuDunn's book "Tightrope" last night. Like "Educated" and "Hillbilly Elegy," it examines the cultural divide in America. Those books, though, are about the struggles and victory of their authors. "Tightrope" is about the struggles and defeats of many of the people Kristof grew up with.
It's certainly a book of the moment -- many of the issues underlying the racial divide in America also separate us by economic class. It ends, hopefully, with specific prescriptions to address the problems kids face when born into poverty.
I liked "Educated" and "Hillbilly Elegy," but they felt a little bit like cultural safaris to me -- like, let's go look at the poor folks! Kristof writes about the people he grew up around with genuine love and respect. He recognizes their strengths and dignity, despite any failures and without boasting of successes.
I like that attitude. I believe the coast-versus-heartland divide is manufactured. The people I know in both places are interesting.
The book's not light summer reading, but it goes pretty quick. I recommend it. ( )

Heartbreaking and maddening and inspiring. The authors do a fine job of showing the difficult lives of a somewhat random subset of Americans facing very rough lives, caused by both their own frailties and by issues way outside their own control. All of the people are depicted in a very personal way, but especially the many people that Kristof grew up with and went to school with who didn’t survive the awful things that happened to them and well as the awful mistakes they themselves made. It’s easy to say “it’s society’s fault” and it’s easy to say “it’s poor people’s own faults” but the authors show what a tangled mess it really is, and how some social changes could really help (imperfect) people do much better, and thus be able to contribute back. ( )

We Are Better Than This, Yes?

In the past few years, books have appeared about America’s working poor and just plain poor, not to mention America’s drift to the right and our current populist phenomenon, some better than others. Kristof and WuDunn’s book is among the best on these topics for a couple of reasons.

The authors offer personal stories of Nicholas’ boyhood friends, boys and girls with whom he rode the bus to school and played with. These are real people who once had futures, who the author knew as nice people, some brighter than others, people like you probably grew up with, if you lived in a small town, or in the middle class part of town, if you came from a working class family. In other words, these are ordinary Americans, and they ran into a buzzsaw by virtue of birth, or job loss, or illness and lack of medical care, or bad care, and a myriad of others problems. They might look like deadbeats to some, people who made their problems; in reality, they are like us, you, me, the Kristofs, and bad decisions and an equal dose of circumstances crushed them.

Then the authors use these stories of what happened to these people, many of whom are either now dead or destitute, to explain what’s happening in America’s communities, how dysfunctional family lives, drugs, violence, excess incarceration levels, job losses, and unwanted pregnancies account not just for the plight in his hometown of Yamhill, Oregon, but of that in small towns and inner cities across America. These authors examine how millions of Americans devolved into the situations devouring them, both through their own means the compounding effect of lack of meaningful, consistent, research-based solutions to the overarching factors affecting them.

What’s more, they explore programs, although small, that are working to turn around lives, and based on this, offer a number of suggestions that could break the current cycle of despair and early dead. That’s where the hope comes in, that there are ways, many proven, that can lift many people up. The challenge, however, and it’s a huge one, is getting Americans to recognize we face a collective problem. This isn’t, as too many of us believe, simply an issue of personal responsibility. The authors acknowledge that personal responsibility plays a role here. However, they argue very effectively, based on research and in dollars and lives to be saved, that there’s a collective, national responsibility, too. If we would heed even a bit of what they have to say, if our leaders, both in government and business, would listen, if we could embrace the idea of shared responsibility, then we as individuals and as a country would ultimately be better off. It boils down to: are we better than this, better than the way we now are ignoring the issue of poverty in America, or blaming it solely on the poor? The solution rests with us.
( )

We Are Better Than This, Yes?

In the past few years, books have appeared about America’s working poor and just plain poor, not to mention America’s drift to the right and our current populist phenomenon, some better than others. Kristof and WuDunn’s book is among the best on these topics for a couple of reasons.

The authors offer personal stories of Nicholas’ boyhood friends, boys and girls with whom he rode the bus to school and played with. These are real people who once had futures, who the author knew as nice people, some brighter than others, people like you probably grew up with, if you lived in a small town, or in the middle class part of town, if you came from a working class family. In other words, these are ordinary Americans, and they ran into a buzzsaw by virtue of birth, or job loss, or illness and lack of medical care, or bad care, and a myriad of others problems. They might look like deadbeats to some, people who made their problems; in reality, they are like us, you, me, the Kristofs, and bad decisions and an equal dose of circumstances crushed them.

Then the authors use these stories of what happened to these people, many of whom are either now dead or destitute, to explain what’s happening in America’s communities, how dysfunctional family lives, drugs, violence, excess incarceration levels, job losses, and unwanted pregnancies account not just for the plight in his hometown of Yamhill, Oregon, but of that in small towns and inner cities across America. These authors examine how millions of Americans devolved into the situations devouring them, both through their own means the compounding effect of lack of meaningful, consistent, research-based solutions to the overarching factors affecting them.

What’s more, they explore programs, although small, that are working to turn around lives, and based on this, offer a number of suggestions that could break the current cycle of despair and early dead. That’s where the hope comes in, that there are ways, many proven, that can lift many people up. The challenge, however, and it’s a huge one, is getting Americans to recognize we face a collective problem. This isn’t, as too many of us believe, simply an issue of personal responsibility. The authors acknowledge that personal responsibility plays a role here. However, they argue very effectively, based on research and in dollars and lives to be saved, that there’s a collective, national responsibility, too. If we would heed even a bit of what they have to say, if our leaders, both in government and business, would listen, if we could embrace the idea of shared responsibility, then we as individuals and as a country would ultimately be better off. It boils down to: are we better than this, better than the way we now are ignoring the issue of poverty in America, or blaming it solely on the poor? The solution rests with us.
( )

“When a strong economy leaves behind Americans, who then aren’t able to contribute to America reaching its peak competitiveness, there’s a risk of collective anger surfacing. ‘History always repeats itself, so we had a revolution once, it’s going to happen again, but how long is it going to take to get there?’ Ethan said, standing outside the farmhouse. When we asked if he would join in, he exclaimed, “Yes, I am! I’m not going to watch it!

“They say I have a problem with control?” Ethan seethed to us. “Look dude, I have ten guns, and I can’t control myself ?” p 200

Author Nicholas Kristof grew up in rural Yamhill, Oregon. Previous generations had bought land, built houses and small farms, and found jobs that could support a family. They seemed to be reaching the American dream of upward mobility for the next generation.

But of the kids that Nicholas rode the school bus with every day to school, a large number of them had early deaths – what Kristoff calls ‘deaths by despair’ – drug overdoses and addictions, prison sentences, early pregnancies and broken families.

In this book he and his wife, coauthor Sheryl WuDunn, explore these individuals’ stories and how their families fell from the American dream. Good paying jobs disappeared from the area, and as they did, social services and education declined. As a result, when kids made a bad choice, there were none of the traditional safety nets available that in wealthier areas lend a hand and let them turn their lives around.

Well written and researched, this tells a compelling story. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to understand the anger and disenfranchisement felt by many Americans today. ( )