In Benjamin Wallace-Wells's article "Arlie Russell Hochschild's View of Small-Town Decay and Support for Trump," the author connects Hochschild's new book with the real life experiences of those who live in small-town Trump country. It's often easy to assume moral superiority over the people mentioned in the article — we shake our heads at their prejudice against "African-Americans . . . women, immigrants, refugees, public-sector workers . . . President Obama" but fail to recognize our own economic privilege. It's often easy to villainize rather than attempt to understand these people's backgrounds and how their (and their families') lives have decayed along with their towns. If I had grown up "white and poor" in the aforementioned southern Louisiana, would I still hold the same views I hold now? No — I'd (the Louisianan) probably hate myself (the Californian).