Circumstances

David Joy published the essay “Digging in the Trash” in the online magazine The Bitter Southerner, in July 2017. 

At that time, Donald Trump was in his first year of office as US President, winning the 2016 elections on a campaign that mostly appealed to the poorer, working class in America because of his pledges to bring back jobs and prosperity.

David Joy’s essay focuses on the issue of poverty in the US and the gap between the rich and privileged and those living in extreme poverty. For example, his essay makes references to Baltimore, one of the cities in the US with the highest poverty rate: “The other day I was watching a BBC interview about poverty in Baltimore. (...) He looked into the camera deadpan and beaten and he said, ‘Desperation is a way of living.’ ” (ll. 166-172).

The essay further reveals that some of the consequences of poverty are violence and drug use. David Joy gives...