Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

We will not go back.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

The revolution will be supervised.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

How stupid are these people?

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Reflections on Our Awesome Meritocracy

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47Comments

  4. 4.

    BombIranForChrist

    Hopefully, when Friedman’s children grow up, they will want to go into something more respectable, like porn.

  5. 5.

    Elizabelle

    WWJBD? Love it.

    Palins of working age? Quick, get ’em government jobs or government support of some sort. It’s the Alaskan former half-term first family way.

    I think Friedman has college-age daughters. As to whether they look like they were spawned by Scott Brown and his news anchor wife, I cannot say.

  6. 6.

    El Cid

    Relevant-ish:

    The upper class probably makes up only a few tenths of one percent of the population. For research purposes, I use the conservative estimate that it includes 0.5% to 1% of the population for determining the over-representation of its members in corporations, nonprofit organizations, and the government.
    …
    Members of the upper class live in exclusive suburban neighborhoods, expensive downtown co-ops, and large country estates. They often have far-away summer and winter homes as well. They attend a system of private schools that extends from pre-school to the university level; the best known of these schools are the “day” and “boarding” prep schools that take the place of public high schools in the education of most upper-class teenagers.
    …
    Adult members of the upper class socialize in expensive country clubs, downtown luncheon clubs, hunting clubs, and garden clubs. Young women of the upper class are “introduced” to high society each year through an elaborate series of debutante teas, parties, and balls. Women of the upper class gain experience as “volunteers” through a nationwide organization known as the Junior League, and then go on to serve as directors of cultural organizations, family service associations, and hospitals (see Kendall, 2002, for a good account of women of the upper class by a sociologist who was also a participant in upper-class organizations).
    …
    These various social institutions are important in creating “social cohesion” and a sense of in-group “we-ness.” This sense of cohesion is heightened by the fact that people can be excluded from these organizations. Through these institutions young members of the upper class and those who are new to wealth develop shared understandings of how to be wealthy.
    …
    Because these social settings are expensive and exclusive, members of the upper class usually come to think of themselves as “special” or “superior.” They think they are better than other people, and certainly better able to lead and govern. Their self-confidence and social polish are useful in dealing with people from other social classes, who often admire them and defer to their judgments.
    …
    For research purposes, the important thing about these social institutions is that they provide us with a starting point for systematic studies of power. For example, these class “indicators” allow us to determine which economic and political leaders are and are not members of the upper class. Put another way, class indicators allow us to trace members of the upper class into the economic, political, and ideological power systems of the society.

    G. William Domhoff, also quoted [oops, a year ago, though the topic’s come up again] in the New York Times‘ look at the discussion that maybe Obama should nominate a non-Ivy leaguer for Sup Justice.

  7. 7.

    Brian J

    In all fairness to Friedman, didn’t he actually work his way up? Granted, his wife was loaded, which probably helped him with any troubles, but still…

  8. 8.

    Lev

    I predict right here, right now that Scott Brown runs for president in 2012. The GOP field has nothing, and it’ll be easier than getting his ass whupped by Mike Capuano for the Senate.

    He won’t win, and he probably won’t even matter, but why not?

  13. 13.

    The Populist

    Bush proved to me we live in a society where merit and hard work mean diddly. Ownership society my ass. It’s only an ownership society for the kids of the super rich and the banker/broker/exec classes.

  15. 15.

    beltane

    To continue from the McArdle thread, it is my hope that when she finally settles down in her dream house, she quickly learns that her next door neighbors are in to loud sex and wild parties. I trust that as a good libertarian, she will not even consider calling the cops.

  17. 17.

    Paris

    Friedman’s kids went to play in the basement, got lost, and no one’s heard from them since. The hazards of living in a mansion the size of many small countries.

  19. 19.

    arguingwithsignposts

    Since this is an open thread, I have a special request. I have a very dear friend who has a cat who may have a very dire medical situation (can’t be more specific). This person will know in a couple of days whether the situation is really bad. I’d ask the animal lovers of the BJ community for whatever positive thoughts, prayers, or whatever to send to this person. This cat means a lot to her, and it’s not something that she needs right now.

    thanks

  21. 21.

    slag

    All I know is that he has a house of ridiculous size. What he puts in it is something I’d rather not know.

    Also, I’m pretty sure our country’s in-breeding problem is rivaling Britain’s at this point. At least theirs is mostly just genetic.

  22. 22.

    Calouste

    @El Cid:

    That whole organization thing only exists to formalize the unofficial aristocracy in the US. If the Constitution allowed to hand out titles of nobility, the overlap between those two groups would be almost perfect.

  23. 23.

    Cerberus

    @El Cid:

    Great quote.

    And yeah, I think the idea of a “meritocracy” in the Horatio Alger sense was the greatest tool of class rigidity for American plutocrats. By selling wealth as something that anyone could reach if they just tried hard enough, they could both claim that they somehow “earned” their high positions while simultaneously getting their “lessers” to guilt-trip themselves and assume that their class rigidity was due to personal failures rather than systemic issues.

    Just throw out an exceptional “rags to riches” story every so often that glosses over some random bit of luck (such as a run-in with a wealthy friend who was willing to invest in a new company, a lottery winning, the sudden death of a wealthy relative, etc…) and you’ll have the middle class and lower class fighting with each other and hating themselves instead of combining together to fight wealth consolidation in the hands of the wealthy.

    Brilliant.

  24. 24.

    Brian J

    @Lev:

    Since we’re making predictions, let me suggest that at least one, if not both, of the major parties will have a Hispanic on the ticket in the next two cycles. In 2012, I don’t see it being the Democrats, if only because there’s no particular reason for Biden to step down, but in 2016, it’ll either be a woman or a Hispanic, or maybe a Hispanic woman. The Republicans are much more likely to nominate one, if only because they are fighting against demographics, but the question is who. Finding a Hispanic Republican isn’t nearly as hard as finding a black one, but still, it’s not as if the bench is deep.

    That’s why I think it’s important to keep an eye on Marc Rubio in Florida. If he wins, there could even be pressure for him to run in 2012. Unlike Scott Brown, he actually appears to be a wing nut.

  26. 26.

    Sentient Puddle

    Are you talking about the right McMegan? Is McArdle the daughter of someone famous or something?

  29. 29.

    Mark S.

    Continuing with McMegan, expert on DC landlord tenant law:

    Among other oddities, DC law allows tenants to stay on forever in a month-to-month lease; the landlord can change the rent, but can’t terminate the lease except for very narrowly defined reasons.

    That, of course, is total bullshit:

    A tenancy from month to month, or from quarter to quarter, may be terminated by a 30 days notice in writing from the landlord to the tenant to quit

    Ugh, I was so happy the couple of months where I refused to click any link to McMegan. I’m going to have to go back to that.

  31. 31.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @arguingwithsignposts: Your friend, and her (?) cat, have my best loving wishes.

  35. 35.

    Xenos

    @El Cid: Having gone to a couple of not-quite-top tier prep schools, all I can say is that you have no idea how subtle yet totalizing the elitist bullshit that those institutions are paid to indoctrinate wealthy youth. The proliferation of expensive and elitist (and often not very good) private schools is a real problem for this country. Exhibit A is Tucker Carlson (St. Georges’). Exhibit B is Jay Severin (Milton). These schools exist in order to produce people like that.

  36. 36.

    Martin

    Whats’ the over/under on Trig Palin getting an op ed gig at WaPo before his 25th birthday?

  38. 38.

    birthmarker

    Yeah, it’s pretty brutal over at McMegan’s place. I swear John and DougJ are commenting there under pseudonyms.

    How does one who writes for a living get away with mistakes like this?

    It’s almost all condos, which we don’t want, and even thoughs are mostly being converted into rentals

    Proofread, woman!!

  40. 40.

    PaulW

    As long as the Gore daughters got jobs, everyone gets jobs.

    Except for those of us without the families in key locations. Which is about 27 – 32 million of us.

  42. 42.

    Mnemosyne

    @Brian J:

    In all fairness to Friedman, didn’t he actually work his way up? Granted, his wife was loaded, which probably helped him with any troubles, but still…

    That’s the really pernicious thing — sure, Friedman worked hard. So does the guy at McDonald’s. The difference between the two of them is the opportunities that were offered to them through their connections.

    I’ll give you an example from graduate school. I was in a good screenwriting program (not USC) and exactly one (1) person was able to get a staff writing job on a TV show right after graduation. Why? Because, unlike the rest of us, she didn’t have to work for a living, so she was able to do a full-time unpaid internship on a TV show for a full year.

    Does that mean she’s a horrible, untalented person? Of course not. She’s very talented. But it does mean that her unrelated advantages moved her career onto the fast track. Same with Friedman — the advantages he had that were unrelated to his career (his rich wife) gave him a leg up over the competition.

  43. 43.

    Keith

    does Tom Friedman have children, and how old are they

    If any of them are old enough to grow mustaches and/or clog toilets, then it is already too late.

  44. 44.

    Peter J

    Hopefully, when Friedman’s children grow up, they will want to go into something more respectable, like porn.

    Friedman has two daughters, both in their mid-twenties.

    I have a hunch that they both are flat chested.

  46. 46.

    Nutella

    Check out this interesting series of articles from another scion of the ruling class, with this very nice line:

    I laugh whenever I read one of Thomas Friedman’s “Gosh Golly, Globalism!” theses

  47. 47.

    Cacti

    I don’t understand how the Republican hoi polloi silence the cognitive dissonance of claiming they support “Meritocracy”

    -While hating men who succeeded on their own merits, like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama

    -And loving scions of privilege like George W. Bush and W. Mitt Romney

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