Wither The Meritocracy

It not just that dynasties are bad for hairstyles.

Dynasties are bad for democracies. too.

We're talking about the whole range of dynastization here--not just wealthy political families (think Caroline Kennedy) or rich business elites. We're talking about mainstream corporate media elites, too--think about Luke Russert, who got hired by NBC News when his father (Tim) died. And Chris Wallace of Fox News--son of Mike Wallace? Yikes.

Glenn Greenwald got us thinking about all of these issues:

Bill Clinton yesterday was forced to deny speculation that he would be appointed to replace his wife in the U.S. Senate. Leading candidates for that seat still include John F. Kennedy's daughter (Caroline), Robert Kennedy's son (RFK, Jr.), and Mario Cuomo's son (Andrew). In Illinois, a leading contender to replace Barack Obama in the Senate is Jesse Jackson's son (Jesse, Jr.).
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The Senate alone -- to say nothing of the House -- is literally filled with people whose fathers or other close relatives previously held their seat or similar high office (those links identify at least 15 current U.S. Senators -- 15 -- with immediate family members who previously occupied high elected office).
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Virtually the entire neoconservative "intelligentsia" (using that term as loosely as it can possibly be used) is one big paean to nepotistic succession -- the Kristols, the Kagans, the Podhoretzes, Lucinanne Goldberg and her boy. Upon Tim Russert's death, NBC News excitedly hired his son, Luke. Mike Wallace's son hosts Fox's Sunday show. The most influential political opinion space in the country, The New York Times Op-Ed page, is, like the Times itself, teeming with family successions and connections. Inter-marriages between and among media stars and political figures -- and lobbyists, operatives and powerful political officials -- are now more common than arranged royal marriages were among 16th Century European monarchs.
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Now, help us out here. Didn't some people decide to get on some ships and leave merry old England awhile ago--was it something to do with monarchy and nepotism, maybe?

Really, how does democracy benefit from the creation of this nepotist class--where wealth, social mobility, information, and politics are all locked away in a hermetically sealed world?

A world to which we will never be given the keys?