Strangers in Their Own Land: Appendix C Summary & Analysis

Suggesting that “often I felt that my new friends and I lived not only in different regions but in different truths,” Hochschild decides to have her research assistant fact-check the most popular ones.

Contrary to many Louisianans’ assumptions, welfare only makes up about eight percent of the federal budget and its funding is declining fast. Among the “poorest 20 percent of Americans,” 37% of income comes from the government and the rest from work. The poor also cannot universally access welfare, especially in places like Louisiana, where only four in a hundred poor people get TANF benefits (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). Black and white fertility rates are nearly equal.

Fewer than 17% of Americans work for any level of government, and they make less than people in the private sector, not more.

Hochschild cites five studies suggesting that environmental protection laws seem to have little or no impact on jobs—one study found that regulations create more jobs, and about twice as many people are laid off for “disaster or safety” reasons as are laid off because of government regulations. Companies flock to areas with high levels of municipal spending rather than those who provide tax incentives, and there is little evidence that the tax exemptions Louisiana gave oil companies affected investment or jobs numbers at all. And between 20-35% of the oil industry’s revenue “leaks” out of Louisiana into other states and countries.

Finally, the economy does not do better under Republican presidents. Compared to Democrats, they have overseen accelerated inequality, slower growth in the stock market and the economy as a whole, higher unemployment, and larger increases in the national debt.