Summary

Chapter 1 begins by introducing Mike Schaff, a subject who embodies much of the book to come: dignified, kind, quintessentially Southern, and doggedly loyal to the Tea Party and Republican Party despite personally suffering from policies they support. Told in present tense (as is the rest of the book, except for the backstories that accompany each person the author meets), the chapter introduces Schaff specifically as a lifelong resident of Louisiana who has been victimized by a massive sinkhole that devoured his home and the homes of many others. Schaff is the starting point for the author's effort to break down "empathy walls" (5); a sociologist from Berkeley, the author seeks to bridge the divide between red states (particularly Southern ones) and blue states such as her state of residence, California. She writes that it is the political right in America that has moved further...