I recently read a wonderful book called Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance.  It was adapted for the screen last year and features a stellar cast, with direction by Ron Howard.  I have yet to see it, but if it's half as good as the book, it will be worth watching.

Many of you may remember J.D. Vance from his many television appearances, including semi-regular stints on Tucker Carlson Tonight.  He earned a bachelor's degree from Ohio State and a juris doctor from Yale Law.  He's extremely articulate and offers some of the best commentary I've heard on the current status of a "culture in crisis." 

He's also the product of an uneducated, dirt-poor, often vulgar, and sometimes violent clan of Kentucky hillbillies from one of the most destitute coal-mining regions in the Appalachians.  You need to read the book to grasp the hell he went through growing up.  But despite the odds being stacked heavily against him, he pulled himself together and realized the American Dream.

What was the key to his success? White privilege!

While reading Hillbilly Elegy, I suddenly realized exactly what constitutes white privilege.  I was, in turn, unburdened from the crushing shame I felt for being born white.  Thanks to J.D. Vance, I finally understood: white privilege does not automatically remove the struggles in life and guarantee success based almost entirely on your race.  If it did, there wouldn't be millions of whites living in poverty and misery in broken cities and some of the most backward regions of the country.  Vance could have easily turned down the wrong path as well, but he didn't.  Instead, he used the real tools of white privilege, not the hateful, racist propaganda being used by the Marxist lunatics.  It's not easy — not like collecting your monthly welfare check — but, with a little effort, anyone can do it.  And the best thing: You don't have to be white! 

To use white privilege to your advantage, simply follow the path of J.D. Vance.  1) Study hard and get a good education; 2) stay away from drugs and crime; 3) learn to speak proper English (reading helps); 4) work hard; and 5) take pride in what you do.  If you follow these rules, you'll find your own special type of white privilege, no matter what skin color you were born with.  (People are indeed different, so results may vary.  But anything is better than the alternatives.) 

Oh, and if you happen to be black, drop the nonsense about "not acting white."  Getting good grades, furthering your education, and speaking good English are tools for success and will help you get ahead in life.  You might rise to power in your local gang by speaking ebonics and killing your rivals, but you probably won't live too long.  And remember, white privilege is not exclusive to white people.  Just ask Dr. Ben Carson, Larry Elder, Shelby Steele, Candace Owens, Thomas Sowell, Tyler Perry, Herschel Walker, Robert L. Johnson, and countless other successful "people of color."  Using the basic principles of white privilege worked great for them.

And don't misuse your white privilege; it can have disastrous consequences if not properly applied.  The likes of Joy Reid, Stacey Abrams, Don Lemon, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Barry and Michelle Obama, and many others are proof of that.  They might have fancy degrees, celebrity, and material success, but their abuse of white privilege is greatly contributing to the destruction of this country.  They are the ones who should be ashamed of themselves.

Image: National Archives.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.