2024年7月30日 5時00分

バンス氏の哀歌

　まだ３１歳なのに、なんという人生か。米国で８年前に出版されたＪ・Ｄ・バンス氏（３９）の自伝『ヒルビリー・エレジー』を読んだとき、衝撃を受けた。これが、白人労働者層の多いラストベルト（さびついた工業地帯）の現実なのかと。失業、貧困、暴力は日常の風景だ▼母親は薬物中毒（やくぶつちゅうどく）だった。バンス氏が１２歳のころ、高速道路を走行中に突然「車をぶつけて２人とも死ぬ」と告げた揚げ句に、逮捕された。親代わりの祖母は気性が激しく、アルコール依存症の祖父にガソリンをかけて火をつけたことも▼壮絶な青少年時代を生き延びたバンス氏が今月、共和党の副大統領候補に指名された。選んだのは、トランプ前大統領だ。２０１６年の大統領選で「忘れられた人々を守る」と約束し、本来は民主党の支持基盤である白人労働者層を変えた▼この支持固めを担う（になう）バンス氏は、指名受諾演説で著書とは異なる主張を展開した。「若者は重労働を嫌い、すぐ政府のせいにする」と批判していたのに、今ある問題はどれも民主党政権のせいだという。自己責任論から政府の失策非難へとずいぶんな変わりようだ▼さらに、過去に出産経験のない民主党議員らを「子のいない猫好き女性たち」と呼んだことが最近になって取りざたされた。外交絡みの失言も▼「ヒルビリー」は貧困から脱しようともがき、変わり続けた若者の成功譚（たん）だ。かつて批判したトランプ氏へ忠誠を誓ったバンス氏は政治が揺れ、民意が分断した時代の申し子なのか。

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis is a 2016 memoir by JD Vance about the Appalachian values of his family from Kentucky and the socioeconomic problems of his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, where his mother's parents moved when they were young.

It was adapted into the 2020 film Hillbilly Elegy, directed by Ron Howard and starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams.

ラスト‐ベルト（rust belt）

《rustは、金属のさびの意》米国中西部から北東部に位置する、鉄鋼や石炭、自動車などの主要産業が衰退した工業地帯の称。ミシガン州・オハイオ州・ウィスコンシン州・ペンシルベニア州などが含まれる。

The Lament of Mr. Vance

What a life for someone only 31 years old. I was shocked when I read the autobiography "Hillbilly Elegy" by J.D. Vance (39) published eight years ago in the United States. Is this really the reality of the Rust Belt, where there is a high population of white working-class people? Unemployment, poverty, and violence are everyday occurrences.

His mother was a drug addict. When Vance was 12 years old, while driving on the highway, she suddenly said, "Let's crash the car and die together," and ended up getting arrested. His grandmother, who acted as a parental figure, had a fierce temperament and once set fire to his alcoholic grandfather by pouring gasoline on him.

Having survived such a harrowing youth, Vance was nominated this month as the Republican vice-presidential candidate. He was chosen by former President Trump, who promised in the 2016 presidential election to protect "the forgotten people" and transformed the white working-class base, which traditionally supported the Democratic Party.

Vance, who is expected to solidify this support, gave a nomination acceptance speech that differed from the claims in his book. Although he previously criticized young people for disliking hard work and blaming the government for their problems, he now claims that all current issues are due to the Democratic administration. It's quite a shift from personal responsibility to blaming government failures.

Furthermore, it has recently come to light that he referred to Democratic lawmakers who have no experience of childbirth as "childless cat-loving women." He has also made gaffes related to diplomacy.

"Hillbilly Elegy" is a success story of a young man struggling to escape poverty and continuously changing. Having once criticized Trump, Vance is now pledging loyalty to him. Is he the child of an era when politics wavered and public opinion was divided?