There's an interview in this week's Spiegel with the American sociologist Richard Sennett and I quote...
Spiegel: In your book you write about your experience with the Boston upper class: it looks like in the McCarthy era the old-money families were more liberal than the liberal middle class itself.
Sennett: Of course, fact is, that they were so safe. From this point of view the fate of the Bush family is tragic. The grand father, Prescott Bush, was a member of true top class. He was a liberal, he read, travelled, he was very educated. His son, the first Bush-clan president, is an insecure person. He grew up in this venerable environment and he's been trying to prove all the time since, he's an average American.
Spiegel: and his son?
Sennett: he is actually a typical American. He does not travel, he does not read. Within three generations the family slipped from the elite level down to the level of masses. They are as rich as they have always been, but their culture has just imploded. George W. Bush went to the best schools of the country, but they have not left a single trace in his personality. George W. Bush sees himself today as a Texan. not anymore as somebody, who came in from the east. For me he represents a special kind of American decadence. It gives you an impression, you dont need to make any effort. Everything you need, is there. You dont need to know more than the rest. Self-complacency can be a form of decandence, and Bush has it.... |
