l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 January 18, 2012 by Warner Todd Huston
I have to say, I am getting a bit sick and tired of this nonsensical lament
about how rotten it is that those running for president are “rich” people.
Stop it right now, America. The fact is that we’ve never really had a poor
man as president so talking about it as if it is news that rich people
often seek the presidency is stupid. Not only that, but today it is
impossible for a poor or even middle class man to run for president anyway,
so get this populist silliness out of your minds right this instant.
The latest in this onslaught of populist foolishness is the New York Times (
unsurprisingly) with an article full of serious tones on how hard it is
going to be for two Harvard educated, Richie-Riches like Obama and Romney to
win over those “blue collar Americans.”
“Both are Harvard-educated millionaires,” The Times begins sonorously. “
Both have been criticized as elitist and technocratic. Both have struggled
to handle the populist anger coursing through politics.”
Of course, much of that anger is fostered by the Old Media constantly
harping on that “anger” by writing daily stories indulging themes of class
warfare as if it is some sort of legitimate political discussion in this, a
capitalist-based society.
The worst part about this line of discussion is that it seems to suppose
that it is all somehow “news” that rich people run for president. Not only
have rich people always been the most common candidates for the White House
, but the simple fact of the matter is we’ve never had a dirt poor
president. Further, it is virtually impossible that we could — especially
today.
So, let’s just get over this silly discussion, shall we?
Now, we have had several presidents that weren’t in the upper quintile of
America’s rich, to be sure. But we’ve never had a president that could be
classified as without financial support when he took office. We also haven’
t even had a president who could have been considered lower class or even
middle class when he started his campaign.
Certainly not every president was a millionaire (even adjusted for the
economics of his day), but the largest portion were very rich. And those
that weren’t extremely rich in their day (like Lincoln, for instance) were
still far richer than the average American (like Lincoln, for instance).
Additionally, those that weren’t themselves rich had the sort of lives that
running for office did not negatively impinge on their own personal
livelihood.
Let’s take Woodrow Wilson, for instance. He was not wealthy, mind you, but
he also had few living expenses to worry about. As president of Princeton
and Governor of New Jersey he was given a place to live. When he became
president he then had the White House to live in. He had a series of books
from which he mad not inconsiderable sums and he was paid in a higher income
bracket for his work than the average American of his day. The lowest one
could consider Wilson is upper middle class, but his support system of
colleges and government positions often removed from him the need to pay
mortgages and other living expenses.
Calvin Coolidge was also not a rich man. But his father was and this helped
Calvin early in life go to college and become an attorney. He made a nice
living from his writing and owned some nice real estate free and clear of
debt. He was also at the least upper middle class if not well off.
You see, even our poorest presidents still owned land and businesses and
were far from penury while in office The worst of the lot seems to have been
McKinley and Grant. McKinley once went bankrupt during the depression of
1893 and Grant’s finances were in bad shape until, at the end of his life,
he wrote the well-received autobiography that made he and his family a tidy
sum.
But let’s ask how a poor or even middle class person could run for
president?
How many of you can afford to drop whatever it is you do for a living to go
traipsing about the country for two or three years or more in order to run a
nation-wide campaign for the White House? How many middle class (or poor)
people can afford to stop making a living to campaign and can afford to stop
worrying about their mortgage, their school loans, their water bill, their
car insurance — in short how many middle class folks can afford to run for
office and forget about their own personal and family expenses back home so
that they can spend enough time on the campaign trail to build a voter base
big enough to allow them to win both the primaries and a general election?
Let’s also not forget that if someone else come in to help the candidate’s
family and pay their expenses while he runs for office, everyone would be
crying about how that candidate was bought by whom ever it was that paid his
bills while he ran. Plus, it’s illegal anyway!
We need to remember that our presidents have usually been leading national
figures, anyway. Rarely do people become leading national figures from the
depths of the poor house! Usually they are people that have attained some
high station in life and America’s presidents have nearly all been someone
of national renown. Our presidents were not notorious, but notable and
success breeds riches in most cases. Let’s face it, people that rise to the
heights of national prominence usually have more than a few shekels to rub
together! They can afford to run for president and nearly all of our
presidents were in that fortunate situation.
And today? Today it takes even more money to run for president because
campaign finance laws are so Byzantine that self-funders are the first ones
that have the capability to step up to the plate. And thanks to whiners like
John McCain, we’ve set up a system were rich people are nearly the only
ones that can afford to run for president!
Also consider this: do we want a person that couldn’t even make enough
money for his family to be secure while he runs for office to become our
president? Do we want a guy that can’t even succeed at that minimum rate of
success living in the White House and guiding our nation?
Here is another thing to consider. Our founders meant the world of politics
to be one of public service. To do that one must have already made his nut
in life and had found himself with enough time on his hands and money in the
bank to serve the country instead of serving himself.
Do we want people that need to grub for money to be president? Wouldn’t we
be just as afraid that such a person would scramble to enrich himself while
in office so that once out of office he had enough to live on? Wouldn’t
this invite corruption?
Lastly, why is it so bad to want the best, brightest and most successful
people to be our leaders? There was a day when being successful was
something people admired. But that was before the media decided that
capitalism was evil and rich people had to be both pilloried and plundered
at the same time (and the logical end game of that meme is personified in
the anti-capitalist, anti-success, anti-American Barack Obama).
The whole point here is to ask only this question: if you don’t want evil
rich people to run for president, who can run for president and how do you
expect them to do it?
So, come on, people. Stop this incessant whining about rich people running
for office. It really is a stupid thing to focus on. | a**e
发帖数: 8800 | 2 Very strange logic.
If one guy, >40 years old, is poor, does not mean he has no ability to take
care of himself and his family? How can he prove that he can take this
country although he even cannot earn enough money for his family? Why we
should choose such a person to be a president?
A "rich" guy does not mean he can lead this country but at least he is
better than any "poor" guy to this position.
lament
people.
poor
,
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【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: January 18, 2012 by Warner Todd Huston
: I have to say, I am getting a bit sick and tired of this nonsensical lament
: about how rotten it is that those running for president are “rich” people.
: Stop it right now, America. The fact is that we’ve never really had a poor
: man as president so talking about it as if it is news that rich people
: often seek the presidency is stupid. Not only that, but today it is
: impossible for a poor or even middle class man to run for president anyway,
: so get this populist silliness out of your minds right this instant.
: The latest in this onslaught of populist foolishness is the New York Times (
: unsurprisingly) with an article full of serious tones on how hard it is
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