Reply #5: Great post [View All]

[ninkasi]

I tend to believe that people who are raised with both money and power have never really had to adapt to reality, anyway. The exception is when the families of the wealthy make a conscious effort to make sure their children are made aware of life as it's lived for everybody else. Some, while not born to wealth, quickly learn how to claw their way to becoming wealthy, and gladly leave all of the pesky problems of dealing with reality behind.

Bush is an example of somebody born to a wealthy and connected East Coast family, and has never had to face any truly frightening consequences in his life. If he partied in school, and his idea of participating in sports was to wave pompoms and be a cheerleader, no problem. He didn't have to worry about a sports scholarship. There was a war, but his poppy got him a cushy post with the TANG, and he couldn't even bother to fulfill those demands. How many other national guard members can ignore orders to report to a particular base, or have a drug test, when the country is at war?

Making it in business, well, he couldn't really do that either, but poppy's rich buddies always gave him a parachute, an he walked away with even more money. As far as leading this nation, he loves the position, the power, and all that goes with it, but can't be bothered to really work to make his administration successful. That's too distracting from his vacations, long weekends, fundraisers, and exercise schedules. He is a failure, and always has been. No wonder reality is not appealing to him.

Unfortunately for the rest of us, though, we don't have the luxury of living in reality, because it's the only way we can survive. With money and connections, as Dubya has learned, you can easily evade reality, and retreat behind the curtain of delusion. All it takes is billions of dollars and politically connected family friends. You, too, then, can be a war leader, even if your worthless hide has never been exposed to the dangers that title can bring.