JD Vince may shape the politics of America for the next 12 years

By: Jean H Charles

Eight years ago, (2016) I wrote this essay drawn from the book written by JD Vince showing how the culture of poverty can lead to failed nation and failed life; the contrary leads to a culture of wealth creation and abundance.

To understand the meaning of the culture of poverty, I drew inspiration from JD Vance's book, The Hillbilly Elegy, which explains his own transformation that has allowed him to progressively succeed and prosper by breaking from the culture of poverty.

J.D. Vance defines the culture of poverty as the main valve that keeps the poor in their state of poverty. "With the money they have, they buy the most expensive televisions, tennis shoes and phones, maximizing their credit card with frivolous purchases, and the money that should be saved for the next generation is spent today", he says.

As a trained man in the field of social work, I am familiar with the theory advancing that people become poor because of bad habits. However, the said theory tends to ignore the fact that the market creates the same circumstances that condemn the poor to their wretched situation, the same way the colonial world did condemn slaves to their dehumanization.

I am fascinated by J.D. Vance's concept of the culture of poverty as a hidden venom that will prevent someone from embracing prosperity when it is offered to him. To prove his point, Vance proposes his own existential history. He was born in Appalachia, Kentucky, the mining region of the United States; where, decades ago, Robert Kennedy had expressed his indignation at the gloomy situation of so-called "white trash": the whites deprived of education or culture of the 1970s who lived in total misery. It's been 45 years and the situation has not changed since.

The Appalachian values, tainted by the culture of poverty, are filled with addiction and alcoholism, verbal abuse and loud music. The popularity of J. D. Vance's book could be at the origin of Donald Trump's electoral victory over Hillary Clinton.

Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party are seen in the United States campaign, whether true or false, as people who maintain a dangerous connection with the culture of poverty. While Donald Trump and the Republican Party would support the values of resilience, hard work and biblical principles leading to a culture of prosperity.

In the United States ‘heartland, we have showed the model to inspire the whole world; millions of whites and blacks living in poverty, but trying to emulate all the traps of prosperity through excessive consumption, using credit cards.

Vance's family moved from Kentucky to Ohio, where another culture, that of his grandmother, prevailed. She taught him the principles of ethics, responsibility, hard work and resilience. In Ohio Vance converted to a hard-working young man. He became so successful in high school and college that he was admitted to Yale Law School, where he graduated with a law degree. He is now a popular celebrity, as a frequent guests of several talk shows in the United States.

The importance of history is that people and nations can change their condition despite the environmental hurdles imposed on them. Haitians often feel victims of foreign countries, and indeed they are. But I tend to tell them, grow up! Look at the history of Vietnam, Rwanda and Japan. The destruction inflicted on the populations of those countries was systematic and much greater than that inflicted on Haiti. But, afterward they stood up and strengthened themselves to become dynamic nations, what Haiti and the Haitians failed to do despite their history of bravery.

Haiti, like other Caribbean countries and the rest of the world, must fight the culture of poverty to become an organized and prosperous nation. Our inherent culture of poverty began during the colonial period when settlers took everything, leaving little to those who sweated to enrich them.

Barely out of slavery, Toussaint Louverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Henry Christophe preached and practiced the concept of accumulation of wealth. They have not lived long enough for the new concept to be firmly anchored in the minds of new citizens.

On the other hand, the presidents who inspired the culture of poverty in Haiti, Alexandre Pétion and Jean Pierre Boyer, remained in power for half a century. Haiti has been and is defined by them as the nation that wastes its human and natural resources for the benefit of others or by ostentation.

In further examining the concept of culture of poverty, we must also reject the position of Oscar Lewis, who before J. D. Vance, questioned the destructive effects of poverty on the characteristics of the individual. Like bourgeois values, the culture of poverty transcends borders, genres and nationalities. We find the same traits of this culture of poverty in Harlem, Haiti or Harare: lack of discipline, order or stability, masochism, sexual abuse, alcoholism, and consumption excessive products of all kinds.

In Haiti, we live in a world of weak institutions and medieval infrastructure, while the government elite enjoy a standard of living similar to that of most prosperous countries. The culture of poverty extends from the ghetto to the official.

An important part of the national budget is devoted to projects with no real benefits for the majority and to luxury vehicles for civil servants. As a result, the true needs of the Haitian people are totally neglected. Electricity, even in the capital, is provided only sporadically, especially at night. I fought unsuccessfully with the water company (DINEPA) to regularly receive running water for the past seven years, while I was religiously paying my monthly bill.

From one government to another, Parliament, the Presidency and the Judiciary have become a milking cow that only benefit those in power, without addressing the needs of citizens. The Haitian people, hated and poor, protract this situation by re-electing, sometimes for a lentil dish, those who perpetuate the culture of poverty.

Haiti, because of its culture of poverty, without being at war with itself or against anyone, has become a damned nations, the same distinction attributed to Mali or Somalia.

Lewis' study in Mexico and Puerto Rico is one of the most comprehensive on the lives of the poor, showing how some of the basic traits of their lives can prevent any redemption toward wealth creation.

The sad side of the story is that today's culture of poverty is now bought, packaged and used by the Western world in the media. Certain World leaders use it to keep the poor in poverty and prevent them from accessing wealth. Louis Vinton and Moët are very happy that a poor individual is stupid enough to take out a loan just to buy their gadgets or drink their champagne!

The culture of poverty is a product exported from the black and Puerto Rican ghettos of the United States to the Caribbean, Africa and the rest of the world. It has invaded the minds of the children of the poor as well as children of wealthy families. The wealthy live with trashes in the resplendent castles of their parents; and those of poor parents espouse all the traits of rich families while they are penniless.

The rich child proudly dresses in the clothes of the poor, the pants at the bottom of the hip, the shirt pierced, preferring the sound to the music. He spends most of his time talking or attending football or basketball games.

This essay is in the interest of our future and the future of the nation, hoping that it will bring to the fore all who believes that a better world based on the values of beauty, goodness and happiness should to be inherited from one generation to the next. This conversation should help us get out of the culture of poverty that will eventually destroy our civilization. Good manners, classical music and hard work are the prerogative of the good people who pass them on to their children.