A review by evirae
Glass House: The 1% Economy and the Shattering of the All-American Town by Brian Alexander

5.0

This Book Was: Informative, Heart-Rending, A MUST-Read for 2017 in America. If you read Hillbilly Elegy and/or Strangers In Their Own Land, you NEED to read this.

Content Rating: Rated-R for (quoted) Cursing, Drug Use, Racism, and Depression-Triggers for anyone with a sense of Empathy.

Maturity Rating: High Maturity. While mostly a flowing read, you need to come into this with an open mind.

Would I recommend it? -- YES. Everyone should read this, but especially those in America who could not understand why certain groups clung to populism so fiercely that they voted for a billionaire connected with Russia who vilified anyone who was not white. who has a disability, who is a woman, etc. Anyone who wonders why someone would "vote against their own interests."

Review:

I heard about Glass House on NPR while driving to work. It covers the rich history of Lancaster, Ohio and its sincerely expert-level glass manufacturing which proved to be a source of not only good-paying jobs (with pensions! remember those?!) but also social cohesion, identity, and well-deserved praise. Then, the world happened. From leveraged buyouts, hostile takeovers, and private equity, Glass House details the downfall of Anchor/American Manufacturing and the ripple effects on society-- explaining the desperation, sometimes hostility, and overall distrust for "The System" that comes with the social contract enabling average Americans to live even average lives is shattered like glass falling to a factory floor. You absolutely want to read this.

Reviewer's Note: I was born in Miami, Florida, but a job transfer in the family brought me to grow up in East Tennessee. Being Hispanic but "looking white," I watched as family members who looked more foreign get different treatment. Being an "outsider," the locals' responses to me weren't great, but I avoided the worst even though I was relentlessly bullied in middle and high school. I went to public schools but did transfer to a larger high school as the closer institution didn't offer much for what I wanted as high-level courses were my goal to get into college. I wanted to go to college, but, more than anything, I wanted to "escape the state." I couldn't imagine why people were okay with growing old and dying within an hour's drive of where they were born-- and, given Tennessee's low-paying jobs and oppressive climate, I couldn't understand the logic of that kind of decision.

I referred to my Tennessee town as a "tar pit." The longer people stayed, the harder it seemed it was to get out. The cost of living was low-- but the job wages paid accordingly. There was one big employer in the area for people without advanced degrees-- my mom ended up there, my future step-dad worked there, and I even did a stint there. It wasn't manufacturing, but, had it left the area, I can only imagine the ripple effect that would have. But it never had the loyalty that Anchor had in Glass House

I moved to Los Angeles for college, and I've never left. It might be more expensive, but the opportunities, diversity, tolerance, and room for growth here cannot be compared to Tennessee. At the 2016 election, I couldn't understand why, though not the majority, many Americans in depressed areas voted for a billionaire with a horrible business record-- and, even after his cabinet became a more congested swap rather than a drained one, why they still support him. There is racism, there is anger against "The System" and "outsiders," but mostly there is a desperation to bring back a world and a way of life that simply doesn't exist anymore (and that can't be brought back, no matter what Trump says).

Do you know that feeling of sadness and depression when watching The Walking Dead or any other show/movie/story where the cast of characters is not only fighting to survive but also to reconstruct the world that was destroyed? Welcome to Lancaster.