30 years ago a guy that worked as an international translator said to me, if people only knew how their political and business leaders act when they don't think anyone important is watching. They are all terrible people. Another friend deals with the Hollywood and Television elites; most of them are human trash. They can act nice when it suits them. And they'll happily be ruthless, vindictive and petty otherwise.

The nice thing now is ordinary people to get to see this.

> How do we have so many manbabies getting in charge of things?

> 30 years ago a guy that worked as an international translator said to me, if people only knew how their political and business leaders act when they don't think anyone important is watching.

> The nice thing now is ordinary people to get to see this.

Ordinary people like you and me are inherently no more virtuous and have said things that we would be ashamed of if seen publicly. The difference is that we, unlike the Tans and Musks of the world, don't have a reality-distortion-field of wealth - and even worse: adulation - that makes us feel we can express our worst and ugliest impulses.

Our mistake is in raising business leaders to demigod status in the first place. We shouldn't then be surprised when that goes to their heads.

I keep coming back to something Judge Posner got completely wrong. He thinks wealth people don't commit crimes because they value their reputation. Middle class don't because they value their money. And poor don't because they don't want to go to jail.

Which is backwards. Poor people's reputation is the most valuable thing they have.