natrich.jpegBecause I didn't grow up with rich, famous New York
media figures for parents, who could use their connections to
insert me into a choice job in the media world, I've always been
in favor of banning people who do have such parents from holding
those good jobs. It would make the competition for them more
meritocratic, and (bonus) wouldn't affect me personally. Sure,
some of those legacy kids are smart and qualified for their
positions—but then again so are dozens of other, less connected
people. Prime example: Nathaniel Rich, son of Times demigod
columnist Frank Rich. Nat is an author and associate editor at
the Paris Review, and, by all accounts I've seen, intelligent
and capable. But still, I think we should ban him from writing
out of pure spite and envy. It just seems like the revolutionary
thing to do. In the clip below, Nat talks about how growing up
in the Rich family has affected his career. "I don't feel I need
to respond to it. People refer to me a lot worse ways (than as a
Rich boy)," he