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Title: In Praise of Nepotism: A Natural History
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Manufacturer: Doubleday
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| In Praise of Nepotism: A Natural History by Doubleday Silver spoon | Nepotism is an undue preference for a relative where fair and open competition should prevail. Kinship, per se, is not illegitimate. The Rothschilds and Joseph Kennedy had dynastic plans. The Rothschilds were at their zenith in the 1830's. They knew how to take advantage of a crisis.
The election of 2000 triggered Bellow's, (he is the son of a literary star), consideration of nepotism when Gore and Bush, two sons of politically distinguished families, opposed each other. Economists view nepotism as an obstacle to healthy change. In the case of what observers call the New Nepotism, it is noted that the American environment has become more competitive. Privileges of birth are combined with merit. Perhaps the new sort represents a trend toward class stratification. Sicily, the model for Mario Puzo's GODFATHER is a low trust society. The political scientist Edward Banfield has theorized that it suffers from amoral familism. The question arises as to whether the Mafia is a family or a criminal gang. Arguably Americans have a restricted view of kinship. Families are bound together through affection and trust. Marriage is an alliance of kinship and groups.
Kinship structures everyday actions in tribal societies. Nepotism is tolerated in many parts of the developing world. Confucius developed his ethics in response to a clan-based feudal system. It was an ethos of legitimate authority, filial piety. The basis of clan in China and in Africa is the ancestral cult. It was difficult to separate clan from civil service. The role of the eunuchs' in service to the Chinese monarchs came to be a solution to the pressure of the clans.
In Hindu society a man is born with a debt to his ancestors, a debt to the sages, and a debt to the Gods. Indian society is organized at the level of caste. Nepotism has always been practiced in India.
Athenian democracy arose in a familial context. The focus of Athenian life was the individual household. There was a patterm of late marriage and delayed inheritance. Patriarchal power was harsher in Rome than it was in Athens. The sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries was the golden age of nepotism. Napoleon had a primitive sense of kinship. America claims to be open to talents. Real and fictive kinship ties were of enormous importance to Puritan New England where education and discipline were stressed. The nepotism of the Adams family was inward and self-devouring. | | In Praise of Nepotism: A Natural History by Doubleday Interesting take on a little-examined subject | | It has been said that some things are so common that no one ever bothers to notice it. One of these things is probably nepotism; the topic of this book. Adam Bellow, son of the famous author Saul, looks at the practice, both accepted and expected, over the centuries in multiple societies. Through it all, the author argues the point that nepotism is one of the primary forces that holds societies together; and should not be looked down upon as it commonly is. The book also shows that the US is quite exceptional in its dedication to remove nepotism from public and business life. All in all, a great book to read. | | In Praise of Nepotism: A Natural History by Doubleday Great read but the conclusion is not morally right | I enjoy reading the book. The author writes in an engaging way and has a good grasp of the biological foundation of nepotism. The definition of nepotism can be slightly confusing. Nepotism in a broad sense refers to favoritism for relatives (genetic AND marital) and can be narrowly defined as favoritism for genetic relatives. The author, however, expands nepotism to refer to favoritism for non-relative friends as well, which is normally used and interpreted under a very different scenario (reciprocal altruism). So, one has to pay attention to the author's broadened definition.
I understand that it's part of human nature that most of us would do favors to our relatives. So, as the author cogently argues, the complete elimination of nepotism would result in a world without humanness. The author tries to find a fine line between "good" nepotism and "bad" nepotism, but readers are left wondering where the demarcation is. In fact, this is not a solution at all because, as long as nepotism is allowed, it will be abused, as history has shown repeatedly. Nepotism in the government is particularly damaging to a democratic society, because, practically, it diverges taxpayers' money to serving the relatives and cronies of people in power, and, morally, it sustains the injustice that people are born unequal. Hence, nepotism is exactly the evil we want to fight against in the government. Some would argue that nepotism, if used appropriately, would promote loyalty, trust, and thus working efficiency. This is a wrong argument. A democratic government is built for fairness; it is not meant for efficiency. Military systems are built for efficiency, but never has there any that is democratic. Even if there are "successful" cases of governmental nepotism in the US history, as the author highlights in the book, one may wonder whether there were nobody else in the nation who could have done an equally good or even better job when given the opportunties to serve.
Although nepotism may be allowable or even desirable in other situations for weaving together a harmonious family or society, it should nevertheless be absolutely avoided in the government. To do so, there are two solutions I can think of. One is to introduce an explicit policy for government officials to avoid nepotism as the US government has been doing, and the other is to establish a punitive system that can hold those who egregiously promote their own relatives or friends accountable for any bad consequence of their nepotism. The removal of nepotism will make our government one step closer toward the ideal of a government of, for, and by the people. The removal of nepotism in the government will also promote justice to advance our society to be truly meritocratic.
| | In Praise of Nepotism: A Natural History by Doubleday The B.S. of Silver Spoonery | Bellow's book is a fascinating read; partially because the subject is infuriatingly destructive to any business and partially because Bellow managed to trade on his father's name to get it published. It doesn't mean that I respect Jaimie Wyath or Arlo Guthrie any less -they've cut their own paths successfully with skill and self-reliance.
Listen: Nepotism is handing the reigns to family, buddies and cronies. Integrity is when nepotism gets avoided, which is what you may want to do here, unless you need a reason to boil over. | | In Praise of Nepotism: A Natural History by Doubleday An outstanding study | This is an outstanding study of a highly interesting subject. Before reading this I had a sense of nepotism playing a part in the world, but now I have a far stronger sense of how real this phenomenom is even today. One only has to take a look at present day popular culture to see the scions of the famous becoming all out of proportion to the average, famous themselves. Bellow provides an excellent historical analysis of nepotism in different periods and among different kinds of population. There is a strong suggestion that nepotism is a universal of human life and culture, given the fact that parents often care more about their children than they do about anything else in the world.
However one important point Bellow repeatedly makes is that ' being a close relative is not alone enough'. If one lacks the talent and ability then in time one loses the power and place.
I myself take a special interest in the passing of spiritual legacies generation to generation, and dynasties of great 'minds'. One interesting point which does not particularly relate to this book. None of the great philosopher as far as I know has a child who is a great philosophers. But in the world of Jewish spiritual life, and Torah learning, there are great dynasties like for instance the Soloveitchik family. Here the heritage and the education within the family are crucial. A parallel might be made in the world of music with the Bach family, with their one overwhelming genius, their two top flight composers and their hundreds of musicians through many generations.
This book should be of interest to everyone who cares about people, and about the way the world works. It is an outstanding study. | | In Praise of Nepotism: A Natural History by Doubleday Product Description | Certain to be one of the most controversial books of the year, In Praise of Nepotism is a learned, lively, and provocative look at a practice we all deplore — except when we’re involved in it ourselves.
Nepotism, the favored treatment of one’s relatives, is a custom with infinitely more practitioners than defenders — especially in this country, where it is considered antidemocratic and almost un-American. Nepotism offends our sense of fair play and our meritocratic creed that we are supposed to earn what we get — not have it handed to us on a proverbial silver platter. For more than two centuries, a campaign has been waged against it in the name of fairness and equality in the courts, the legislatures, and in the public and private arenas — a campaign that has been only partly successful. For, far from disappearing, the practice has become so resurgent in recent years that we can now speak of a “new nepotism.” In settings ranging from politics, business, and professional life to sports, the arts, and Hollywood, the children of famous and highly successful people have chosen to follow in their parents’ career footsteps in a fashion and in numbers impossible to ignore. George W. Bush, Al Gore, Jr., and Hillary and Chelsea Clinton are only the tip of the iceberg that is an accelerating trend toward dynasticism and family “branding” in the heart of the American elite. Many see this as a deplorable development, to which Adam Bellow replies, Not so fast.
In this timely work (surprisingly, the first book ever devoted to nepotism), Adam Bellow brings fresh perspectives and vast learning and research to bear on this misunderstood and stigmatized practice. Drawing on the insights of modern evolutionary theory, he shows how nepotism is rooted in our very biological nature, as the glue that binds together not only insect and animal societies but, for most of the world and for most of history, human societies as well. Drawing on the disciplines of biology, anthropology, history, and social and political theory, Bellow surveys the natural history of nepotism from its evolutionary origins to its practice in primitive tribes, clans, and kingdoms to its role in the great societies of the world. These include the ancient Chinese, the Greeks, the Romans, Europe in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and the democratic and capitalistic societies of the past two centuries, with extended consideration of the American experience. Along the way, he provides fascinating (and freshly considered) portraits of such famous and/or infamous figures as Abraham, Pericles, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Benjamin Franklin, and such families as the Borgias, the Rothschilds, the Adamses, the Roosevelts, the Kennedys, and the Bushes.
In his final chapter, Bellow argues that nepotism comes down to the bonds between children and parents, the transmission of family legacies, the cycle of generosity and gratitude that knits our whole society together. And since it is not going away anytime soon, he makes the case for dealing with nepotism openly and treating it as an art that can be practiced well or badly. In Praise of Nepotism is a book that will ruffle feathers, create controversy, and open and change minds. |
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