COMMENTARY FOR STRANGERS IN THEIR OWN LAND
Our book for February, Strangers in their Own Land. Anger and Mourning on the American Right, is an important book addressing the ongoing problem of cognitive dissonance that plagues some of our country’s voters regarding their support for extractive industries that harm their communities. The author, Arlie Russell Hochschild, is currently a professor emeritus of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley and a prolific writer whose work focuses on emotional elements that impact public issues. You may be familiar with one of her earlier works, The Second Shift (2012), which examines the disparities in labor for those in dual-career marriages. The title refers to the additional but uncompensated labor assumed by working women in dual-income families. Strangers in Their Own Land measures a similar disconnect in the lives of ordinary Americans who live and work in close proximity to industrial polluters. She finds that even though these people (who are mostly Republican and Southern) personally suffer the devastating illnesses associated with environmental pollution, they do not (or will not) acknowledge that they are the casualties of the very industries they support. In fact, they are direct supporters of these industries, a disconnect Hochschild calls “The Great Paradox.”
Hochschild has an admirable and comprehensive approach to this sociological exploration. She relies on a wealth of statistics, but she also spent a year in Louisiana (one of the states most afflicted with environmental damage from industry) getting to know people personally who are on the front lines of environmental disasters but who either ignore, overlook, or just accept the consequences. Although most of the people afflicted with the consequences of industrial pollutants are Republicans, her lengthy interviewing helps to humanize them and helps the reader see how and why some people persist in voting and supporting policies that only end up harming themselves. Hochschild attributes the pervasiveness and continuity in this “Great Paradox” to specific religious, political, and cultural beliefs that all elevate the notion of endurance and loyalty to one’s chosen community over all else.
She talked to many people in Louisiana about the devastating hardships in their state from the infamous and catastrophic failures of state and federal agencies after Hurricane Katrina (2005) to the BP Deep Horizon oil spill (2010), called “‘the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced.’” After the BP devastation, the Louisiana legislature set up a commission that found that the necessary solutions for the problems had already been built into the contracts of the oil companies in the state. But when the legislature moved to sue the oil companies, Governor Bobby Jindal closed the commission, had the legislature nullify the lawsuit, and thereby transferred the cost of repairs from the oil companies to Louisiana taxpayers. Nonetheless, such deceptions are overlooked. As one Louisianan she interviewed said, “‘Pollution is the sacrifice we make for capitalism.’”
One of the most valuable elements of the book is “Appendix C: Fact Checking Common Impressions” which does just that. Many of the frequent delusions about the scale of environmental impact from industry held by the right-wing are answered with clarifying facts that dispel the frequent ploys of disinformation. But perhaps the most important element of this book is that it is not a red-state bashing book. She praises the “good angels” of the South for “their patience in waiting in unstable economic times, their capacity for loyalty, sacrifice, and endurance,” and their tight communities. The good angels of the North, Horchschild notes, commit to building large public spaces and services (i.e. big public squares, museums for kids, public art, libraries, and schools), and inclusivity. Those on the left have also been feeling the sense of being a “stranger in their own land” as they watch many of their public spaces gobbled up by McMansions and their public services sold off to price gouging privatization. Hochschild shows us that both red and blue have virtues that, if cultivated and accepted, would help knit the country together.
Pennsylvanians especially should remember that our own tax dollars have gone to oil and gas industries in the form of incentives. Like Louisiana, our tax dollars have been used to provide infrastructure specific to the needs of those industries, and tax dollars have gone to local emergency response services. Pennsylvanians also suffer the cost and pain of the health issues that follow the fracking industry. A grand jury concluded in 2020 that “State regulators have failed to prevent Pennsylvania's natural gas drilling industry from sickening people and poisoning air and water.” Governor Shapiro has been addressing the problem and promises better regulation, transparency, and a cleaner environment. The agreement he signed recently with the fracking companies includes their voluntary “intention” to follow health and safety reforms. However, elements of this arrangement bear similarities to what happened in Louisiana. Our own DEP has been shown lacking in putting teeth into existing regulations, and it may not be a good idea to put any faith into contracts made with fracking companies. It appears that we, like Louisiana, also suffer from the Great Paradox.