The unrest in the Middle East gives Gregg Easterbrook hope:
Today China, India, the United States, Indonesia and Brazil, the world’s five largest nations, representing more than half of the global population, have abolished all forms of inherited rule. Much of the rest of the world has done or is doing the same. This is no guarantee of happiness, of course. Open systems can be chaotic (the United States), still lack personal freedom (China) or be poorly administered (Italy). But in the main, ending family rule has been good for societies that achieve this.
So the two Bushes don't count? And a president and a secretary of state don't count? And the Daleys don't count? And the Kennedys? And Cuomos? I could go on for ever. No, these offices aren't inherited as such. But America is a dynastic democracy if ever there was one. He continues:
Bahrain, where the current strongest protests are occurring, is ruled by an absolute monarch whose primary achievement in life was being handed a crown by his father. The sooner his family’s rule ends, the better. The sooner the whole concept of family rule fades into history, the better off the human family will be.
I agree. Maybe one day, Americans will as well.