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Just How Nepotistic Are We?

How bad is America’s nepotism problem? Can data science help us gauge its depth? It can — and what the data shows is that something has gone haywire.[...] There are plenty of countries that are worse. Over the past 50 years, being the son of a leader of North Korea increased your probability of being a leader of North Korea by a factor of infinity An infinite advantage to having a powerful father has been common in human history.

Ooh we can find out how bad it is without data science:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seth_Stephens-Davidowitz

Stephens-Davidowitz was born on September 15, 1982, in Englewood, New Jersey[1] into a Jewish family,[8] son of Esther Davidowitz and Mitchell Stephens.[9]

Mitchell Stephens (born August 16, 1949) is an American professor of journalism and mass communications at New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute.

  • The_Walkening [none/use name]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Right? It's a fucking goldmine. I love it.

    Has any modern family dominated a meritocracy the way that the Bushes dominate politics? I could not find one. The Mannings, in football, probably come closest. But while Archie Manning, the father of two Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks, Peyton and Eli, was a solid N.F.L. player, he was hardly the football equivalent of a president.

      • The_Walkening [none/use name]
        ·
        3 years ago

        That and "the football equivalent of a president" - is both

        • terrible phrasing (you can easily misinterpret that as footballs themselves having leaders)

        • ridiculous comparison because football already has a President of the NFL. That's the closest comparison - and it would maybe reinforce his point because Roger Goodel's dad was a Senator