Louis Proyect
Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:35:15 -0700
On 8/30/10 5:21 PM, Jim Devine wrote: > Saying stuff like "My father always told me that all businessmen were > sons-of-bitches, but I never believed it till now" could come from > the fact that JFK was very rich (while his father was both a son of a > bitch and a businessman). Rich people can talk about their peers that > way without getting attacked or ignored the way plebes would be. It's > also possible that in this statement "old money" (JFK) is sneering at > "new money" (those who get their hands dirty, firing employees, > producing shoddy products, etc., rather than playing with stocks and > bonds and clipping coupons).
I think Doug made a very salient point during the 2008 campaign. Unlike FDR, Obama was not part of the ruling class. FDR was able to push through an agenda because he saw himself as a leader of this class, while Obama sees himself as a servant. This, btw, does not having anything to do with being Black. It is a function of his modest economic background, similar to Clinton who also functioned as a toady. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list pen-l@lists.csuchico.edu https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l