As much as I have been against affirmative action throughout my life (it usually doesn't do me any favors), I am equally or maybe even more strongly against nepotism, which admittedly isn't the exact opposite. Actually, both affirmative action and nepotism lack an essential component that I think is required for selecting candidates and giving coveted positions to those seeking it: merit, and putting in the work to get the position and being the best candidate. Nepo babies seem to this generation's proof that the world isn't fair, the best person doesn't always win. It's better to be related to someone who's done something with their lives than actually be someone who's done something with their lives.
One of the best TV shows out there, Succession, just had its series finale this past week and was the main theme of the show was about nepo babies, where 3 children (or 4, if you count Connor, whom everybody usually forgets, even his father) are vying for the successor position at the multimedia conglomerate that their father built, but the 3 kids have forever lived in the lap of luxury and silver spoons, never having to fight for what they want but instead believing they have a birthright to it. This is the kind of thinking that destroyed kingdoms from Asia (China) to Europe (the Romans, the monarchies, the Russians), pretty much everywhere in the world except the United States, this crazy idea that just because someone is born to the leader/ruler of a country that their children should naturally be the next ruler/leader. Why did that myth originate in the first place and why does it still persist into modern day? It's like some weird cult message or superstition that it's true, when often times it's not true at all, or worse, the child of a great person is a terrible candidate BECAUSE their parent was such a strong leader; pressure to the same as that parent, entitlement, knowing before you've earned it that you're going to get it.... all seem like pretty bad ideas to give a child before they've developed their own sense of the world. Sure, family bonds are important and you want to give your son or daughter the best life you can, but that doesn't even necessarily mean give them the keys to the corporation, kingdom, whatever organization you've created. The best life could be to just go live your life around the world without having to take over this thing they didn't have any part in except for the fact they're related to you. It's bad for both the child and the thing you built by installing this random person in as the leader. If there's anything MJ and I agree on about childbirth, it's that our child could be any number of different personalities, and we shouldn't force that child to become something that he or she is not. There's an old saying in Asian cultures, the first generation goes out in the world and tries to succeed; the second generation messes up everything that the first generation did; the third generation makes amends for what the third generation does. I'd rather skip that step of the second generation, thank you very much. Human history has shown that nepotism doesn't work; why do people keep insisting on it as a guiding principle in jobs/promotions/ British royalty line of succession? Is there no other way?
I have the privilege of not working for anyone (as far as I know) who is a nepo-baby, but I'm sure somewhere up the food chain, one of my clients (mostly corporations) has at least someone in the system who is appointed that position just because he or she is the president's kid, or relative, or whatever. Heck, I lived in a country that for 8 years was led by Nepo-baby George W. Bush. Now sometimes nepo-babies can be good at their jobs, but I think that's just coincidence and not at all because they were related to anyone, it's just that's who they were. I can only imagine what it's like working under incompetent people who acted like they were my boss or my superior, but knowing they only got the job because of family connections. I of course am not completely innocent of getting certain benefits due to who my parents are; I was able to become a US citizen before I was 18 and never had to worry about immigration issues; I never worried too much about going to college and paying for tuition; I live in a steady 2-parent household with food always on the table and safety and security. I NEVER, however, used my parents as a resource for finding a job or in my career, and in fact their lack of connections in society or in the fields that I was interested in getting a job in likely put me at a disadvantage, since so many people have an advantage because their parents or their uncle or a cousin, somebody knew somebody who knew something. That's the unique challenge a lot of immigrants have in the U.S., just not knowing enough people, and this vague concept of "networking" as an active skill is likely totally eclipsed by the natural network of one's relatives who know someone who can help get them a job. It's really an unfair system, and if we want to talk about systemic racism and/or certain groups of people being left behind by society, we should look immediately to the nepotism that still exists today. It's hard to imagine any laws that can ban it, but at least make it a societal norm to denounce it, reform it, and maybe there will be some changes. Until then, there are a lot of corporations and businesses in the world today that look exactly like Waystar Royco in Succession, with bumbling idiots at the helm with no actual abilities whatsoever, and I'd be okay with that being the legacy of the TV show when we look back on it. (Even though the show was really good in other qualities because Jessie Armstrong, the showrunner, is not a nepo baby and earned his right to be the head guy).
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