Strangers in their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right
" It is one of the central political puzzles of our time: Parts of the country that depend on the safety-net programs supported by Democrats are increasingly voting for Republicans who favor shredding that net." - Who Turned My Blue State Red Alec MacGillis, author of the above NYTimes article, suggests that rather than voting for Republicans, those who need Medicaid and food stamps are disengaged and not voting, while those white conservatives who are more well off are voting against public dollars for the poor. Arlie Russell Hochschild, professor emerita of sociology from UC Berkeley and author of "Strangers In Their Own Land" isn't buying it, and wants to test this idea. Her thought is that rather than being disengaged, these citizens are actively voting against their own self interest. Her goal is to choose a problem that affluent voters in poor red states personally experience and demonstrate that they don't want government help for that either, a