One of my favorite periods in history is the 17th century. You have The Thirty Years War and the English Civil War just in the first half of the century. The second half was not quite as exciting, but you have the founding and flourishing of the American colonies, the Glorious Revolution, the Battle of Vienna and the Salem Witch Trials. Then you have the laundry list of men in arts and letters that continue to cast a shadow over civilization. The 17th century was an exciting time to be alive.
The thing that always jumps out to me, particularly with regards to the evolution of the colonies in this period, is how much merit counted to the people of the age. We tend to think of this as being the age of royalty and inherited position, but merit was critical within the ruling class and within general society. Prince Rupert was on the wrong side of the English Civil War, but he was a talented general and outlived pretty much everyone. It mattered to his contemporaries, his peers and the people that he was a talented man.
Of course, when the American colonies split off, merit became the coin of the realm. A man could not have a career in politics without first having a career in something useful. Even the sons of the elite were expected to go into the military or the law before starting a life in politics. The result was that rich guys were common in government. The super rich of the 19th century ran for office, were governors and Congressman and participated directly in party politics. The rule was, you got rich so you could go into politics.
That is not the way things work today. In fact, it is quite the opposite. This story about Marco Rubio’s opponent for his Senate seat is a good example of the modern politician.
For Murphy, the newfound role as the Democrat’s Most Eligible Candidate is extraordinary; and not just because he’s only been a Democrat since 2011.
Murphy’s rise is extraordinary because of how little he seems to have accomplished to get here.
A child of divorce, Murphy spent his formative years living with his father, Thomas P. Murphy, Jr., who built a multimillion dollar construction empire from scratch. Thomas Murphy made sure his son attended private schools including an elite prep academy in the Northeast, The Lawrenceville School. The school’s alumni include five Governors, three Congressmen, a Senator, two Pulitzer Prize winners and a Nobel Laureate. The school has also produced an array of business titans in its storied history.
Patrick Erin Murphy circa 2010, however, did not seem destined to join their ranks.
A star athlete in high school and college, injuries kept him from pursuing that further, opting instead for a more functional degree in business administration from the University of Miami. His time at UM was marred by a drunken brawl at a South Beach night club that left him with a mugshot and a black eye. After graduating in 2006, he joined Deloitte & Touche as an audit assistant. He did not meet the minimum requirements to become a Certified Public Accountant in Florida, opting instead to apply for a license in Colorado, even though he did not live or work there. He applied in Colorado because the requirements were lower.
Before gaining approval in Colorado, Murphy took the licensing exam multiple times before passing it. Even with a CPA license in Colorado, his opportunities in Florida were limited because his license was not valid in the Sunshine State.
In other words, Patrick Murphy is a moron without a single accomplishment to his name, other than having won the lucky sperm contest. If his father had not been rich, Patrick Murphy would probably be wearing a blue vest down at the local Walmart. Of course, his opponent, Marco Rubio, is a feckless airhead as well. He has never had a job that did not come with a government check. The race for one of Florida’s two Senate seats will be a battle between pretty boy morons sponsored by billionaires.
This is not particularly unusual. The second in command for the Democrats in the House has never worked a day outside of government. Another House Democrat leader, Chris Van Hollen, went into politics right out of college. Like Patrick Murphy, Van Hollen is as dumb as a plank. If not for the family connections, he would be running a kiosk at the mall. That is the story all over the House and the Senate. Massachusetts has a Senator, who drove an ice cream truck, before getting into politics. His nickname is Mr. Frosty.
It is tempting to dismiss it all as the inevitable degeneracy of democracy. The word “kakistocracy” is common on the dissident right. That is not really what is happening. Instead, these nitwits we see in politics are basically actors hired by billionaires and corporate interests to stand in for them in the House and Senate. Chuck Schumer is a genius, but everyone in DC knows he is the Senator of Goldman Sachs. Marco Rubio is owned by Norman Brahman, the Florida billionaire. Paul Ryan is in his job because the money men behind the GOP know he will do what he is told.
The most obvious example is Barak Obama. He was stumbling around jobless until rich liberals in Chicago found him wandering the streets as a race hustler. Like casting directors or Hollywood agents, they discovered a talent they could make into a star. He was given the right back story, trained to play the role and taught how to read his lines from the teleprompter. Obama is a nice enough person and not the dumbest guy to occupy the White House, but he does not have a thought in his head. He does what he is told, like any other actor.
Our politics have become a play. We see the actors and hear some of the stage directions, but we never see the writers or the directors. The producers who fund these things are known, but no one really knows much about them. All the attention is on the stars and the supporting actors. If you have the right look and you can learn to say your lines convincingly, you can get rich being an actor playing a politician. Even the B-actors become millionaires. If you cannot do anything useful and you want to get rich, go into politics.
They just drove a wooden stake through the heart of the rule of law. It is dead. Instead of through the heart of a psychpathic vampire disguised as a crone in a pantsuit.
The Federal Bureau of Islam have brayed everything, finally.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/fbi-recommends-no-charges-against-clinton-in-email-probe-225102
Tocqueville on the American democracy before 1840…………………
“When I stepped ashore in the United States, I discovered with amazement to what extent merit was common among the government but rare among the rulers.
On close scrutiny of the defects and weaknesses of those who govern in America, the growing prosperity of the people is astonishing; but it should not be so. It is not the elected official who produces the prosperity of the American democracy but the fact that the official is elected. In the United States, men of moderate desires commit themselves to the twists and turns of politics….it often comes about that only those who feel inadequate in the conduct of their own business undertake to direct the fortunes of the state.
It is not always the ability to choose men of merit which democracy lacks but the desire and inclination to do so.
In the United States, where public officials promote no class interest, the general and continuous course of government is beneficial even though the rulers are often incompetent and sometimes despicable. Those who consider universal suffrage as a guarantee of the excellence of the choice made are under a complete delusion. Universal suffrage has other advantages but not that one.
The race of American statesmen has strangely shrunk in size over the last half-century.
The cracks were appearing. “Within the sphere of office drawn for them, the law generally leaves American officials a freer rein than ours. Sometimes the majority even allows them to stray from those rules. Thus habits are forming at the heart of freedom that one day could be fatal to its liberties.
I have made a distinction between two types of centralization; the one called governmental, the other administrative. The first exists solely in America; the second is almost unknown( there). In the United States, the majority, which often has despotic tastes and instincts, still lacks the most developed tools of tyranny. If the direction authority in American societies (took)…combined the right of total command with the capacity of total execution…freedom would soon be obliterated in the New World.”
Tocqueville was 26 when he put his remarkable eye on this country.
Going back to Obama’s childhood through college, it is more than likely he was discovered and groomed by “rich liberals” prior to Chicago.
Just a perfect post. We really have reached the point where we are ruled by a parade of clowns.
And….just in time, this news comes in (parade of clowns, indeed):
James Comey, FBI director is recommending *NO* charges for the Lizard Queen regarding her private email servers.
Like I said the other day, the fix is in and she’s gonna skate.
Can’t wait to hear what Trump hasnto say about this.
When I hear people complain about Trump’s lack of experience as a politician, I always ask “do you think that only professional politicians should run for office?” I never get an answer. I truly think that a lot of the problems in our country could be solved by electing people that have done more with their lives than run for office.
After the revolution, my proposal will be a limit on how many weeks one can collect a government check. You’d have to exempt the military and maybe old age pensions, but everything else would fall under the 15 year limit. In other words, you can collect a total 15 years pay from the government. That could be 5 years on welfare and then ten years in a government job. You could serve in Congress for 20 years, but you only get paid for the first 15.
The obvious flaw is the government contractor. Most Americans are unaware of the millions of people employed by companies that have one customer – the US government. I know of people working for government agencies on contract that have been in their role for over a decade. They have an office with their name on it at the government agency, but they are technically an employee of a contractor. Putting Chuck Schumer on the payroll of Goldman would be simple so the “people of New York” would outsource their job of Senator to Goldman.
That makes me laugh. Trump’s lack of experience as a politician! You should reply “And just what experience did Obozo have when he ran for office in 2008?”
What is wrong with people? Accomplishments, experience, character, matter so much more than the color of your skin. And now we are being asked to vote for a vagina. An old, stinky, shriveled up one at that! Never mind corruption issues, lack of accomplishments, being co-opted by a woman abuser, and not having a positive, imaginative bone in her wicked body.
That’d be 18th century not 17th, but just a little side point, nothing that blocks the flow of the essay….
LOL whut?
So much for speed reading without speed comprehending. Good to be called on it… [snort]
Australian Prime-Ministers Whitlam, Fraser, Keating, Gillard and Abbott were never anything other than career politicians. They never got F-You rich doing it but that day is coming no doubt. If you want to see some privilege politics, check out Japan’s Prime-Ministers / Big City Mayors. Hoo-Boy. No wonder the Japanese aren’t bothered to go to the ballot box.
These guys are all the Russian oligarch’s “tiny giraffes”. “Kiss me”…..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBOq-skoi1c
I would argue that “Mr. Frosty “did more promote the general welfare as an ice cream truck driver than he ever did in politics
An excellent summary of the degradation of democracy in America. De Tocqueville writ large. The electorate is to blame for putting self interest above the common good, above the national interests. Hence, California continually voting for do-nothings like Feinstein, Pelosi and Boxer; Massachusetts with Frank, Kennedy; Nevada with Reid. We don’t need no sticking professional politicians! And now NYC has DeBlasio and outright communist as mayor. And Sanders, an outright communist is running for POTUS!! ARE YOU FRICKING KIDDING ME??
But people don’t learn, don’t want to learn, are to stupid or self interested to learn or change. This crap will only change when the threshold of pain is exceeded and change is forced.
@ LetsPlay – The majority of voting Brits just expressed where their threshold of pain was crossed. Unfortunately in affluent western societies where running water, dependable electricity, food on the shelves and a good WiFi connection is always available, that threshold can easily be pushed up so long as everyone else only complains and doesn’t actually do anything about it.
The best example of not doing anything about it is the British millennials, ~ 60% of which didn’t bother to vote, and are now rallying and whining about Brexit results. Their way of dealing with real issues is to rant on Twitter and Facebook and give each other a thumps up. They fail to understand the basic concept of participating in their own democratic governments where they actually have the ability, and the right, to change it.
These are exactly the people the elites love to pander to and the future we can expect.
Your are right Karl: British yoof may understand the digital thumbs up but fail to grasp how to put an X in a box with the pencil supplied.
But it is worth noting how hard politicians push for the ‘young vote.’ As the young know very little (and having taught at college level, I have seen first hand their lack of knowledge of anything) they cannot compare what is said or promised now with anything that went before. What sounds so plausible to teenagers and even people in their twenties would be simply exposed as laughable by a little more life experience.
I am increasingly all for the voting age to start at 35. Either that or one has to demonstrate some grasp of the world, economies and human nature. Instead, our pols bang on about giving 16 year olds or younger the vote. As Z says, it won’t end well.
@ UKer – Unfortunately we are surrounded by an ill-informed population. A population which receives information from a media that’s intentionally designed for the intellect of people with a 3-minute attention span.
Yes and that is the reason liberals in America push for ex-convicts to be able to vote (they used to lose that right when they went to jail), illegal immigrants who are not citizens get signed up to vote and efforts to check any kind of legal status at voting stations is called “racist”, and of course, the old miracle of the dead making a brief appearance to cast their periodic vote and do their liberal duty once more … or twice … or thrice. No. It’s true.
“Yoof” ha ha. Makes me laugh. Ever seen the movie “My Cousin Vinny” with Joe Pesci. He confounds the Judge by using his New Yawk accent when saying “youths” but it comes out sounding like “yutes.” Hillarious.
KH & Ukr
You might enjoy this……
I’m a millennial and my generation sucks | New York Post
http://nypost.com/2016/07/04/im-a-millennial-and-my-generation-sucks/
I enjoy making sport of the youth as much as any old man, but I have sympathy for your plight. My hunch is the bottom falls out of the current arrangements just when your generation is looking to be in peak earning years. Whatever your defects, the world is going to punish you for the mistakes of your parents, in addition to your own mistakes.
@ thezman – In all fairness, the ‘older’ generation has done a horrible job or paving a future for these millenials. Globalism has gutted most of the opportunities they may have had as evidence in the youth unemployment across Europe. Upwards of 47% in Spain, 24% in France, 15% in the UK. Is it really any wonder the millennials are so upset?
A college education, once the springboard to advanced employment, is almost useless and leaves them just as unemployable as when they started, plus they are starting off with huge debt when they graduate. And yet we convinced them to avoid the trades because “…only a college education could guarantee a job and a future”.
While youth unemployment is the lowest in Germany at just under 7%, the levels of unemployment in our neighboring countries is completely unacceptable. Advancement in manufacturing through mechatronics, lower labor costs available in developing countries, the influx of foreign workers combined with and lack of enforcement against employers who are willing to hire them “black” (off the books) puts their future in jeopardy.
And where exactly is the EU with the solutions? No where. Which is why the Brits would rather go is alone than follow a path that has lead to where we, and the rest of Europe, are today.
As parents, we have a responsibility to provide our children a good start in life, or at least the best we can provide. And unfortunately, we have failed them miserably.
You can’t do anything about unemployment without stopping immigration. There is a reason why Western countries have a falling birthrate.
@ notsothoreau – I would agree with you that immigration should be controlled. But too many immigrants is not why people are out of work. The ratio of labor to output is an antiquated industrial model that no longer exists. Today that ratio is inverse; e.g. you need less people to produce more. Amazon recently replaced thousands of low-skilled workers with Kiva robots. Based on that fact alone, how can you support the argument that immigration somehow had an impact on the displaced Amazon employees?
https://www.therobotreport.com/news/amazon-has-30000-kiva-robots-at-work-alternatives-begin-to-compete
Obama was made by the Chicago jewish Liberal elite, their own words: http://ifamericansknew.org/us_ints/po-obamaj.html
“Mikva, a powerful figure in local and national Democratic politics for decades, was one of Sen. Obama’s early admirers, beginning in 1990 when he tried to hire the brilliant student and first black president of the Harvard Law Review for a coveted clerkship. (Obama turned him down, saying he was going to move to Chicago and run for public office. “I thought that showed a lot of chutzpah on his part,” Mikva says with a laugh.)”
“Since then, Mikva’s support for and nurturance of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has never wavered. He is one of many influential Chicago Jews who have been among Obama’s earliest and most ardent backers.”
“One longtime Jewish observer of the political scene, who did not want to be identified, said admiringly that “Jews made him. Wherever you look, there is a Jewish presence.”
Back in 2008 they probably wanted to get credit for Barry’s election. Wonder if they would care to take credit for the last 7.5 years now?
They ignore Bill Ayers, Bernadine Dorne and their socialist ilk, Rahm and Zeke Emmanuel, Valerie Jarrett, that marketing puke with the Hitler mustache (still on CNN) Dave Axelrod, The Rev. Wright and other race baiters, the Chicago Way, and the Dems at large. Talk about chutzpah.