Our curious millionaires
You have to admit there is an odd aspect to some of the populist multi-millionaires who have been running for president. They seem to have gotten ahead very nicely in life, but seem to despair of others doing so without the larder of Washington and the generosity of high-achieving politicians and their spouses to redeem our benighted past. VDH:
Barack Obama may have gone to exclusive private schools. He and his wife may both be lawyers who between them have earned four expensive Ivy League degrees. They may make about a million dollars a year, live in an expensive home and send their kids to prep school. But they are still apparently first-hand witnesses to how the American dream has gone sour. Two other Ivy League lawyers, Hillary and Bill, are multimillionaires who have found America to be a land of riches beyond most people’s imaginations. But Hillary also talks of the tragic lost dream of America.
(The “lost dream of America” was recently found in Kazakhstan.)
February 22nd, 2008 at 12:23 pm
I’m struck by how unimpressive candidates for leader of the free world are. I know people in my own life that excede these people in all the areas most people say they care about. Integrity intellegence, accomplishment, even speaking ability. These people are in total so mediocre. Perhaps that is what it takes to get the votes of the general public. I suppose a truly impressive unassailable candidate would probably turn off the majority in the sweet spot of the electorate.
We are hiring one of them to run the biggest competitive enterprise the world has ever known, yet none of the current leading candidates have ever run any major competive enterprise. That seem strangely off target. I have run a corporation for 25 years and I’m always struck by how much difference experience makes in decision making. Imagine someone trying to run the worlds largest restaurant for instance with no experience; scary.