Recently, however, hope is emerging, and one of its messengers is Troy Jackson, a fifth-generation logger from Allagash. His roots are authentically working class from The County; his family has long toiled as back-breaking fellers of giant trees in the northern forests. This is as physically hard as it gets, and his understanding of the exploitation of the working class flows from his and his forefathers’ experience. When I was growing up, we were a nation of middle class workers, whose corporate leaders earned maybe 10 times that of workers, not 100 or more times. This wealth shift changes everything: our government priorities, our feelings of repression, our powerlessness.