Hillbilly Elegy

class saw precisely what I did, working
at Dillman’s. As far back as the 1970s,
the white working class began to turn to
Richard Nixon because of a perception
that, as one man put it, government was
“payin’ people who are on welfare today
doin’ nothin’! They’re laughin’ at our
society! And we’re all hardworkin’
people and we’re gettin’ laughed at for
workin’ every day!”^20
At around that time, our neighbor—
one of Mamaw and Papaw’s oldest
friends—registered the house next to
ours for Section 8. Section 8 is a
government program that offers low-
income residents a voucher to rent
housing. Mamaw’s friend had little luck