Hillbilly Elegy

(Rick Simeone) #1

conservative, although cultural
conservatism and political conservatism
are not always aligned in Middletown.
The people I grew up around are not
all that dissimilar from the people of
Jackson. This is especially obvious at
Armco, which employed a plurality of
the town’s population. Indeed, the work
environment once mirrored the Kentucky
towns that many of the employees came
from. One author reported that “a sign
over a doorway between departments
read, ‘Leave Morgan County and Enter
Wolfe County.’”^11 Kentucky—down to
its county rivalries—moved with the
Appalachian migrants to town.
As a kid, I sorted Middletown into

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