I'm heartened by the fact that Chelsea Clinton now intends to run for some sort of political office someday. It a country founded on the principles of meritocracy, I'm glad that nepotism has no place in American politics. I'm also a staunch supporter of any of the Bush grandchildren running for office in Texas, Florida, or wherever. Especially if they can speak Spanish. I'm also glad to see that in our meritocracy, being married to someone politically connected is not advantageous to political success.
This is not true in other countries where nepotism still thrives. Angela Merkel, for example, grew up the daughter of a Lutheran minister in East Germany. Due to her fathers immense political connections with West Germany, (then a separate country and enemy), Angela breezed though college in one of the easiest disciplines (Chemistry) eventually matriculating to earn a Ph. D. in Quantum Chemistry.
(Only one U.S. President has ever had a Ph. D, Woodrow Wilson, and he earned that degree over one hundred years ago. As such, America has been blessed by over 100 years of Presidents failing to earn the highest degree that our educational institutions have to offer. But we have had plenty of lawyers).
But Angela Merkel is not alone. Many other countries have leaders with outstanding educational credentials. Manmohan Singh from India, for example, took the "easy" route in his educational studies first at Cambridge and then Oxford, where he earned a Ph. D. in Economics. No wonder the Indian economy has performed so poorly in the last two decades.(I'm kidding). He was the leader of India while we had George Bush.
And let us not forget that other Asian country that has had stagnant economic growth for the past ten years (again, I'm kidding): China. Xi Jinping, its currently leader, started his working career on a farm in China at the age of 16, then went on to earn an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering and later a doctorate degree in Marxist philosophy and ideology. After seeing our current slate of candidates for President, I don't see anyone matching up to this Chinese leader in intellect or gravitas. But they likely will have been married to someone famous. Or starred in a popular TV show. Or can speak Spanish and say the right things to Christian fundamentalists. Makes me sick.
And I'm just getting started. Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian leader that Benjamin Netanyahu (who incidentally isn't included on this list because because he only has a Master's degree in Management from M.I.T.) loves to hate, Ph. D. in Constitutional Law from Scotland's Caledonian University in 1995.
Elio Di Rupo, Belgium, both a masters and Ph. D. in Chemistry.
Mohamed Morsi, Egypt, Ph. D. in Material Science Engineering from U.S.C. He even held an assistant professorship at Cal. State Northridge up to 1985. Not crazy about his politics, and its not like he lasted long in power but shit, notice a trend here?
Morsi and Rouhani aren't the only muslim leaders with Ph. Ds. Turkey's Abdullah Gul, also has a Ph. D. in economics. Indeed, Turkey's economy was also performing very well until the whole Iraq mess that we started, and the Syrian mess that the Iraq mess with interference from the Russian's started got investors skiddish. Speaking of Russia, lets not forget Putin, who allegedly has a some sort of doctorate of law from a University in St. Petersburg. But as you can tell, I'm discounting the contributions of a law degree to economic prosperity...lol
That leaves honorable mention awards to Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, Iceland, who has a Ph.d in political science (almost as bad as law..lol) and Dr. Mulatu Teshome president of Ethiopia.
No awards go to the United States in this category.
(Only one U.S. President has ever had a Ph. D, Woodrow Wilson, and he earned that degree over one hundred years ago. As such, America has been blessed by over 100 years of Presidents failing to earn the highest degree that our educational institutions have to offer. But we have had plenty of lawyers).
But Angela Merkel is not alone. Many other countries have leaders with outstanding educational credentials. Manmohan Singh from India, for example, took the "easy" route in his educational studies first at Cambridge and then Oxford, where he earned a Ph. D. in Economics. No wonder the Indian economy has performed so poorly in the last two decades.(I'm kidding). He was the leader of India while we had George Bush.
And let us not forget that other Asian country that has had stagnant economic growth for the past ten years (again, I'm kidding): China. Xi Jinping, its currently leader, started his working career on a farm in China at the age of 16, then went on to earn an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering and later a doctorate degree in Marxist philosophy and ideology. After seeing our current slate of candidates for President, I don't see anyone matching up to this Chinese leader in intellect or gravitas. But they likely will have been married to someone famous. Or starred in a popular TV show. Or can speak Spanish and say the right things to Christian fundamentalists. Makes me sick.
And I'm just getting started. Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian leader that Benjamin Netanyahu (who incidentally isn't included on this list because because he only has a Master's degree in Management from M.I.T.) loves to hate, Ph. D. in Constitutional Law from Scotland's Caledonian University in 1995.
Elio Di Rupo, Belgium, both a masters and Ph. D. in Chemistry.
Mohamed Morsi, Egypt, Ph. D. in Material Science Engineering from U.S.C. He even held an assistant professorship at Cal. State Northridge up to 1985. Not crazy about his politics, and its not like he lasted long in power but shit, notice a trend here?
Morsi and Rouhani aren't the only muslim leaders with Ph. Ds. Turkey's Abdullah Gul, also has a Ph. D. in economics. Indeed, Turkey's economy was also performing very well until the whole Iraq mess that we started, and the Syrian mess that the Iraq mess with interference from the Russian's started got investors skiddish. Speaking of Russia, lets not forget Putin, who allegedly has a some sort of doctorate of law from a University in St. Petersburg. But as you can tell, I'm discounting the contributions of a law degree to economic prosperity...lol
That leaves honorable mention awards to Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, Iceland, who has a Ph.d in political science (almost as bad as law..lol) and Dr. Mulatu Teshome president of Ethiopia.
No awards go to the United States in this category.
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