Jonah Goldberg, son of Lucianne.
William Kristol, son of Irving.
Albert Gore, son of Albert.
John Podhoretz, son of Norman.
George W. Bush, son of George.
David Frum, son of Barbara.
What do they all have in common? Some might call it nepotism. Some might call it taking advantage of family wealth and connections. Or do you prefer Bill Kristol's language? They worked really hard to get where they are today, by being "well-born". (Do you have any idea how hard you have to work to be born into a wealthy or powerful family? Some of them may not do much else very well, but you can't take that away from them.)
How many people whom Kristol would not deem "well-born" would actually use that term to describe someone else? Even among those in the category, how many would choose that term?
Reminds me of William F. Buckley's ringing defense of legacy admissions -- that without them, kids who attended public schools would be competing for the same colleges as kids who went to Andover.
ReplyDeleteAndover was all-boys back in Buckley's day, right? And I just read that Kristol went to an all-boys public school. That sounds like the set-up of a gay joke, and if I were French it would likely turn into just that. But it does seem that some young men pick up a way of carrying themselves at their elite boarding schools, which seem a bit... affected. Looking at their pictures, I would swear they are related.
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Making that clickable - Kristol and Buckley.
ReplyDeleteAll-boys public school? Are you British?
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