The working class epidemic of demoralization

While coastal elites overindulge, struggling Americans in flyover country feel they have little to live for or believe in

Matt K. Lewis

I've written a lot this past year about the struggles of white, working-class communities. But nothing I have written will likely capture the desperation as completely as Anne Hull's Washington Post column about a struggling young woman named Tabitha Rouzzo.

If you haven't read it, you should. The column is remarkable, not just because it is interesting and well written, but also because it documents a phenomenon that has gone largely unnoticed and under-appreciated: The crushing burdens and near-impossible struggling of working-class white Americans.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Matt K. Lewis

Matt K. Lewis is a contributing editor at TheWeek.com and a senior contributor for The Daily Caller. He has written for outlets including GQ Politics, The Guardian, and Politico, and has been cited or quoted by outlets including New York Magazine, the Washington Post, and The New York Times. Matt co-hosts The DMZ on Bloggingheads.TV, and also hosts his own podcast. In 2011, Business Insider listed him as one of the 50 "Pundits You Need To Pay Attention To Between Now And The Election." And in 2012, the American Conservative Union honored Matt as their CPAC "Blogger of the Year." He currently lives in Alexandria, Va.