Krugman started off the new year swinging, didn't he. Jerkocracy. Is that the new word?

[kpete]

Privilege, Pathology and Power

..........


..........those empowered by money-driven politics include a disproportionate number of spoiled egomaniacs. Which brings me to the current election cycle.

The most obvious illustration of the point I’ve been making is the man now leading the Republican field. Donald Trump would probably have been a blowhard and a bully whatever his social station. But his billions have insulated him from the external checks that limit most people’s ability to act out their narcissistic tendencies; nobody has ever been in a position to tell him, “You’re fired!” And the result is the face you keep seeing on your TV.

.............

Just to be clear, the biggest reason to oppose the power of money in politics is the way it lets the wealthy rig the system and distort policy priorities. And the biggest reason billionaires hate Mr. Obama is what he did to their taxes, not their feelings. The fact that some of those buying influence are also horrible people is secondary.

But it’s not trivial. Oligarchy, rule by the few, also tends to become rule by the monstrously self-centered. Narcisstocracy? Jerkigarchy? Anyway, it’s an ugly spectacle, and it’s probably going to get even uglier over the course of the year ahead.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/01/opinion/privilege-pathology-and-power.html?ref=opinion

[FlatBaroque]

1. you don't buy, or steal elections in order to do good things n/t

[stopwastingmymoney]

2. K n R for Krugman nt

[jalan48]

3. Bernie talks about the oligarchy problem in almost every speech.

Has Hillary even uttered the word?

[Cary]

5. A cult of personality will never save you.

Only you can save you.

[woofless]

4. There's a blurb at the end of editorial stating

David Brooks is off today. I've got news for ya' NYT. David Brooks is off EVERY day.

[lindysalsagal]

6. The huge popularity of tRump is the surprise. There have always been egomaniacs.

The difference is we'd have liked to be able to dismiss them as dangerous to our delicate 21st century economy and environment. It seems that some americans still think the earth is flat, the sun circles the earth, that ancient imaginary gods need humans to exact revenge on other humans in their names, and that we need ugly tribal leaders to feel adequate.

It's stone-age psychology in the 21st century, and tRump has leveraged it brilliantly to feed his insatiable ego.

[Cary]

8. No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people

It's nothing new.

[tblue37]

7. self-delete: posted to wrong thread

[Hekate]

9. KnR for Paul Krugman, coming out swinging for 2016

Jerkocracy indeed

[eridani]

10. More

Are there other cases? Yes indeed, even if the egomania doesn’t rise to Adelson levels. I find myself thinking, for example, of the hedge-fund billionaire Paul Singer, another big power in the G.O.P., who published an investor’s letter declaring that inflation was running rampant — he could tell from the prices of Hamptons real estate and high-end art. Economists got some laughs out of the incident, but think of the self-absorption required to write something like that without realizing how it would sound to non-billionaires.

Or think of the various billionaires who, a few years ago, were declaring with straight faces, and no sign of self-awareness, that President Obama was holding back the economy by suggesting that some businesspeople had misbehaved. You see, he was hurting their feelings.

Just to be clear, the biggest reason to oppose the power of money in politics is the way it lets the wealthy rig the system and distort policy priorities. And the biggest reason billionaires hate Mr. Obama is what he did to their taxes, not their feelings. The fact that some of those buying influence are also horrible people is secondary.

But it’s not trivial. Oligarchy, rule by the few, also tends to become rule by the monstrously self-centered. Narcisstocracy? Jerkigarchy? Anyway, it’s an ugly spectacle, and it’s probably going to get even uglier over the course of the year ahead.