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JD Vance's Hillbilly Elegy is not a far stretch from rural and regional Australia. |
I read JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy years before he was popular. In fact, I bought his book while I was in Shanghai in 2018. It turns out it was the most unlikely of places to buy the book – a country where his forthcoming role as Vice President of the United States is unlikely to garner support for his background. But for me, Hillbilly Elegy was an American version of my own upbringing (sans the drugs), and when Vance was announced as the next Vice-President of the United States, I immediately saw Trump’s reasoning.
Writing in the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes had this to say:
Meanwhile, Michael de Percy looks down the track, to 2028 and beyond. He is impressed by the new Vice-President, JD Vance, arguing that ‘he represents the American equivalent of the Anzac spirit’. Vance, according to de Percy, has political and philosophical values very much akin to the Australian character and mindset, and we can be grateful he is the dauphin to Donald Trump’s sun king.
JD Vance is the best succession plan for Australia | Michael de Percy (@FlaneurPolitiq)
— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) January 19, 2025
JD Vance represents the American equivalent of the Anzac spirit. Willing to put one’s life on the line in service of one’s country.https://t.co/FVZLPiz316