I don't know if you listen to much country music. The joke is true - play it backwards and you get your dog, your wife and your truck. It is a music genre based on loss and alienation. Hillbilly/Southern/Whatever culture is all like that - "we don't have much but we do our best." It is now, has always been and shall always be about the struggle.

Workin’ on coming to Jesus, kicking the bottle,

Wrestling with our roots,

Trying to turn off Mama’s tears, and feel up Daddy’s boots

Shutting off our pride, fixing bridges we burned,

learning how to live and learn

Keeping our demons down and our trucks up and running

Loving them angels sitting pretty in the middle of ‘em

Fighting with the man in the mirror til we gone

Yeah, that’s what all us good ol’ boys gonna go out workin’ on

Gonna go out workin’ on

Unfortunately, it's also not a genre of government intervention and boons from benevolent Yankees.

So you're left with a culture that recognizes despair but also values self-sufficiency above all else. Also, Jesus. And as it's become more insular and forgotten, it's looking more and more like the Panjshir.