tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post156097493052812559..comments2024-03-12T22:31:46.500-04:00Comments on What Would Phoebe Do?: The referendum on meritocracyPhoebe Maltz Bovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996039330841139883noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-53480859276317147132012-09-05T23:44:07.575-04:002012-09-05T23:44:07.575-04:00Oh, and Britta, PG,
Expect a post at some point (...Oh, and Britta, PG,<br /><br />Expect a post at some point (soon?) about where YPIS falls on the left-right spectrum. Phoebe Maltz Bovyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17996039330841139883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-3509540531820284872012-09-05T19:07:15.755-04:002012-09-05T19:07:15.755-04:00PG,
Yup.
Britta,
Agree with almost all of that....PG,<br /><br />Yup.<br /><br />Britta,<br /><br />Agree with almost all of that. But there is some scrappiness oneupmanship from the Obama camp, albeit defensive post-rnc. Michelle Obama was seeking to show that her family unlike the Romney's did struggle. This is in part an empathy issue but also about showing that Barack in particular is more impressive as a person than Mitt. Which, well, true enough!Phoebe Maltz Bovyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17996039330841139883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-47991358634551778572012-09-05T18:57:02.961-04:002012-09-05T18:57:02.961-04:00I would think if you started with more and ended u...I would think if you started with more and ended up with less, you'd be even more likely to be a Democrat, because the Democratic party isn't the one saying that rich and successful people are the ones who work hard and poor people are just lazy and jealous. They're saying, at least the rich ones, 'even though I am now rich, I understand what it means to not be,' which is about empathy, a really different message than the one scrappiness one-upsmanship is about. By contrast, the Republican message is one of "if I could do this all by myself, why can't you?" <br /><br />Speaking of the reverse, JK Rowling, now a multi-gazillionaire with a castle in Scotland, was asked why she didn't move her money to some tax haven like all the other British gazillionaires, and she wrote <a href="http://timidheathen.tumblr.com/post/7043004518/jk-rowling-on-paying-taxes" rel="nofollow">this amazing piece</a> about how she was a single mom on the dole when she wrote HP, and she'd be a giant, ungrateful hypocrite if she didn't contribute her dues to society now that she was fortunate.Brittahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02224221011978374915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-71520922918128895042012-09-05T15:59:34.333-04:002012-09-05T15:59:34.333-04:00Duckworth said something similar to what I've ...Duckworth said something similar to what I've heard from a few friends, which is that the support from government in hard times has enabled them to become the successes they are today. E.g. from one of my high school classmates after watching the RNC: 'I'm kinda partial to "government", I suppose. It gave my family food stamps when we were younger and ensured that my Dad paid child support. It sent me to great public schools and provided me with a medical education. It allowed me to borrow $150,000 in low interest loans. Now the government pays for the mental health care of the kids I see (yay for good salaries) so that I can "pay it forward" to someone else in need. Is government perfect? Nope, but it's partly because "government" is "we the people" in all of our egoistic and flawed glory.'<br /><br />I think people who are currently facing hard times can sympathize with the Democrats' message that their situation isn't permanent, but in the meantime it's better for them to get help than to "let him die." Duckworth's family story was certainly of both ups and downs, not just the rise: her father started out doing reasonably well and then lost his job and had trouble finding work again.PGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09381347581328622706noreply@blogger.com