Joe Bageant

When Joe Bageant returned to his hometown of Winchester, Virginia, he rediscovered his redneck roots — "the great beery, NASCAR-loving, church-going, gun-owning America that has never set foot in a Starbucks". But he soon realised that these were the very people who had carried George W. Bush to victory. This seemed ironic, because Winchester, like countless American small towns, was...

In 2004, at the age of 58, writer Joe Bageant sensed that the internet could give him editorial freedom. Without having to deal with gatekeepers, he began writing about what he was really thinking, and started submitting his essays to left-of-centre websites. Joe’s essays soon gained a wide following for his forceful style, his sense of humour, and his willingness...