this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2024
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Showerthoughts
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It not a 'both sides' thing. It's a 'fuck the rich' thing.
INB4 people try to tell me that their rich politicians are good actually.
So then you'd be interested in looking up the background of Biden, Obama, and the Clintons. They're hardly from the elite. The stupid truth is we've destroyed social mobility so badly we can't conceive of a USA with good schooling and cheap college so that making it on your merit really is a thing. But their entire generation benefited from heavily subsidized college and schools. I'm not going to say they were good politicians but this idea of a dynasty on the left really doesn't track. Biden, and both Clintons worked in politics for decades before they got a shot at the highest office.
Bush on the other hand comes from a family of political elite that goes back to a World War 2 era pro fascist senator that tried (badly) to mount a coup against FDR. He spent Vietnam barely keeping his slot as a national guard pilot who never deployed because he was a bad pilot and a worse officer. Then he worked family jobs until he was airdropped in by the GOP to run for governor of Texas. And from there he ran for the Presidency.
But yeah tell me more about this attempt to conflate people who had to work their ass off with a trust fund party boy that got funded.
And Trump is the very definition of rich elite.
Yup
I think a huge misstep of the original argument is "career politician bad". Biden is seen as a one man "dynasty" because he has ~50 years of experience. Obama and Clinton are only seen as dynasties because they had active First Ladies so there's a "power couple" image.
I think it's fair to say there are political dynasties- the Kennedy's, the Bushes- and it makes sense that they will tend to happen naturally. If my dad was president of the United States, at the age of 12 I'd have a much better understanding of the Washington Political Machine than most people.
Usually when we think of "Outsider" candidates, we think of people who have 0 government experience who enter the arena. Notice that Trump isn't mentioned in the post. Ofc Trump was as embedded in the Washington establishment as much as anyone else when he ran in 2016, having ran for president previously and using the ol' "wine and dine" method generously to help him get a leg up in business.
I personally don't think it's a bad thing to have a ton of experience in getting a lot of people to do one thing together- oddly enough that's an INCREDIBLY HARD THING TO DO. We need all sorts of people in politics in order to represent the people accurately. The Tim Walz's and AOC's in congress brought so much to the table- they know what it's like to grow up as the everyday American. The Biden's and the Pelosi's have been removed from that world for so long it's understandable they might not have the most accurate picture of modern American life, but they do have the deep understanding for how to get things done. In Biden's single term, he has outpaced most presidents in getting legislation passed. I remember being optimistic in 2020 hoping Biden would be a modern LBJ, and by gum I think ol' Joe did it.
Carter, Clinton, Obama, and Biden did not come from riches.