Nepotism & America's Unofficial Aristocracy

Why have so many Americans supported a belligerent, caustic personality like Donald Trump?  Why are Evangelicals and other conservatives so eager to reelect a man with such questionable character and such a checkered past?  Why do they prefer him, and vocally so, to the alternative offered by the Democrats?

Much like the situation back in 2016, this election is clarifying many voters' primary grievance--Americans are sick of the status quo. 

And what is that status quo?  Our hidden aristocracy.

Perhaps hidden is the wrong word.  Maybe unofficial is a better word for it.  

This nation was founded upon the idea that all men are created equal.  Our revolutionary forefathers rejected the monarchy and the aristocratic society that surrounded it, eliminating class distinctions in their new land of opportunity and promise.  No longer would a person's last name be enough to grant him office or opportunity.  No longer would a House of Lords exert influence on public policy.  No longer would members of the upper crust of society be given power and influence simply because of their lineage.

Or so the history books tell us.  

The history books also tell us of families like the Adams and the Roosevelts.  Your grandparents can tell you about families like the Kennedys.  Your own memory can tell you about the Bushes and the Clintons. 

This is why America rejected Hillary Clinton.  This is why Americans are wary of Joe Biden and his privileged, infamous son.

The history of the United States, like that of essentially every other nation that has ever existed, is full of nepotism.  Nepotism is not an inherently unethical idea.  In fact, it is often a very beneficial practice.  If you trust a certain individual, you would hope that his sons, nephews, etc. are trustworthy, as well.  The close relations of trustworthy public servants should be exactly the kind of people that you would want to employ or elect, but all good things are liable to corruption, and this is disproportionately true in the civil sphere.

Nepotism becomes an issue when people are given positions and opportunities despite their lack of trustworthiness. 

Nepotism becomes an issue when politicians use their power to enrich their own families.

Nepotism becomes an issue when an individual's crimes and incompetence are excused because of who his father is.

This is what enrages so many of this nation's voters and why they have taken such a strange bed-fellow.  They would rather vote for a millionaire-turned-politician than a politician-turned-millionaire.  They would rather place their confidence in a family of rich & powerful businessmen who have entered the political arena than deal with Joe Biden and his profligate son.  Furthermore, they are sick of the mass media outlets who continue to cover up the indiscretions of the Clintons, Bidens, and other powerful families whose money and public policy they enjoy.

Americans have had enough of our unofficial aristocracy.