Ruling Class

Hey, let's pile on Trudeau.

This all sounds very Medieval to me....divine right??

I'd like to think it couldn't happen here, but Chelsea Clinton probably would defy the Peter Principle in Canada, too - rising above her level of incompetence.

It couldn't happen here, except for a Tory PM's son becoming a TV host and a certain Librano PM from Shawinigan whose daughter married the head of Power Corp. Right?

Hans - what, never heard of John and John Quincy of the Massachusetts Adams family?

Could you please direct me to the post on American Stinker where he expresses this concern with regard to the Bush family, which has enjoyed power for generations?

The Clinton's are hardly aristocracy. Clinton grew up dirt poor, and now his daughter, having had the opportunity to engage in federal politics first hand, is now trying her hand at it. She still has a bunch of elections to win, so big whoop.

You guys, I mean, really. Do you even try to think outside of the tiny boxes you live in?

White privilege!

"...Clinton grew up dirt poor..."

Sure.

And Trudeau was brilliant

And Chretien talked to homeless people all the time

And Mulroney worked as a truck-driver

And Jack Layton was a man of the people

And 'bama is the world's greatest orator

Etc., etc., etc.

Bullshit heaped on top of horseshit. And no shortage of spreaders.

SYF.....I don't know about you,but I recognize BS,and the Pony is so covered in it,I can't pile on more without a crane.

According to Chelsea Clinton's Wikipaedia page:

"In 2011, Clinton began pursuing a doctoral degree in international relations from Oxford University, doing her work from New York where she is employed."

Even though Oxford is very prestigious, this sounds like a questionable degree program. My PhD required numerous meetings with faculty, almost on a daily basis. It required attendance at many seminars. It required teaching. A lot of what I learned came from discussions with other grad students.

It is possible, with email, teleconferencing, etc, to do all these things long distance. But I doubt that. Much of the contact with professors and other grad students was done on an ad hoc basis. Not something you could schedule in advance.

I suspect this PHD in 'international relations' is more like a gift from Oxford to Chelsea. It doesn't sound like a genuine PhD to me.

Presumably this is, in fact, how aristocracies do evolve. Rome was originally a smallish group of peasant farmers, but some became bigger than others, and worked assiduously to transmit both their relative wealth and their status to their progeny. Same with Venice, although Venice seems to have been a village of fishermen, originally. So too, probably, with Ireland. England is more complicated.

In any event, aristocracies arose and ended up not only as politically dominant but as owning most of the wealth of their countries.

My gosh, she's as butt ugly as her weasel butt faced mother.

It's bound to happen...sure as sh*t.
JT twerking.

I'm with John Lewis above.

People (eg Bill Clinton) work hard in life and save in part to leave something to their children. Should the State tax inheritance so that every child starts with a level playing field? If so, why work and save and leave anything to children? Heck, why have children?

Like many others, Chelsea Clinton enjoys the benefits of the American Dream. IMV, she should be judged as any other individual.

There's a certain hypocrisy in awarding the Clinton or Trudeau families the American Dream achievement when their politics are founded in the wealth distribution model. The level playing field through taxation is an idea they'd push for everyone but them no doubt.