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Strangers in Their Own Land

Anger and Mourning on the American Right
Apr 26, 2017writermala rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
As the title suggests, the book deals with why Americans, particularly those on the right, feel like strangers in their own land. But, it is more than that; the author Arlie Russell Hochschild sets out from her Liberal home in Berkley, Ca, to the South and befriends Louisanians to try and explain the paradox of why despite increasing pollution the people are members of the Tea Party and vote for Republicans who talk of abolishing the EPA. Also, they are one of the poorest states but they do not want government funding. Hochscild starts out by talking of a Empathy Walls. she says, "An Empathy Wall is an obstacle to deep understanding of another person, one that can make us feel indifferent or even hostile to those who hold different beliefs or whose childhood is rooted in different circumstances." Rothschild does a detailed analysis of the paradox and the feelings of the people she meets and comes to the conclusion that ironically the right have more in common with the left; for many on the left feel like strangers in their own land too."