This letter is associated with the following article:
Letters
Wednesday, December 3, 2008 12:00 AM

Nepotistic succession in the political class

A large, and rapidly growing, percentage of high elected officials are part of politically powerful families. What accounts for this anti-democratic dynamic?
Glenn Greenwald

Read other letters about this article

  • Wednesday, December 3, 2008 05:19 PM

    Money Talks

    The foundation of this phenomenon has always been intergenerational aggrandizement. When Gustavas Myers wrote in the 30's, it was assumed heredity and tax laws made the "great fortunes" obsolete. Dismantling those laws is the underpinning of the power obtained by elite eugenics. Perhaps Adams was not so wrong after all that giving them titles, instead of power, was a wiser trade off.

    —The5thW Read The5thW's other letters

    Flag
Read other letters about this article

Most Active Letters Threads

740

The commendably missing element from Obama's speech

There was no pretense that human rights is our goal, or the likely outcome, in escalating the war
Glenn Greenwald Read article
380

America's regression

It's almost impossible to find a nation with as many torture advocates as the U.S. has.
Glenn Greenwald Read article
375

Do Obama officials know what his Afghanistan plan is?

What explains the completely contradictory statements from key aides on a central plank of the war strategy?
Glenn Greenwald Read article
301

Palin: Birthers have "fair question" about Obama

Of Obama birth, the ex-governor says, "the public is still, rightfully, making it an issue" (Updated)
Alex Koppelman Read article
211

The poster boy for progressive self-delusion

Read Hayden's 2008 Obama endorsement to remember the way the left sold our centrist president to itself
Joan Walsh Read article

View all »

Letters Help

Currently in Salon