> We elect leaders - people with skills, knowledge, and expertise.

I admire your optimism but saying it doesn't make it so.

We elect people able to convince others they should be elected. Often that means they possess the ability to convince others they have the skills, knowledge, and expertise you describe.

If you think that's the same thing as actually having skills, knowledge, and expertise, well, I have bad news for you...

Optimism would be believing people on the street are as capable as Us senators.

That's because most US senators have been senators longer than most people have been alive.

Most random people off the street would be as capable as a US senator if they spent decades doing it.

People aren’t even good at the menial jobs they do have.

Yes, that's something they have in common with most of Congress.

Do our current elected leaders understand discounted cash flows or opportunity cost? I'm not seeing evidence our current process results in people skill, knowledge, and expertise, especially given the over representation of people from entertainment.

Yes. across parties senators typically have prestigious law degrees and piles of accomplishments.

I’m not saying that makes them great. But if you want to see the pool of average citizens walk into a Walmart or DMV outside the Bay Area.

Yes. They just don’t talk about it because the voters don’t understand and feel insulted when they hear politicians talk about stuff they don’t understand.

Literally laughed out loud about this. You might have missed some of the things that prominent leaders with "skill, knowledge, and expertise" have been doing:

https://www.kennedy.senate.gov/public/2025/9/kennedy-calls-f...

https://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/26/politics/james-inhofe-sno...

Or an even older one: https://rollcall.com/2018/02/16/flashback-friday-a-series-of...

We are definitely not sending our brightest.

- literally a Kennedy - has BA from Harvard - has law degree

That’s not an ordinary person even if we think his health views are dumb.

  got into Harvard

What, like it's hard?

(Cannot resist the legally blonde reference)

Isn’t literally a Kennedy a point against proving merit? Do you think many professors would fail a Bush, Clinton, Bezos, Zuckerberg, etc? Do such bloodlines even have to apply for admittance to prestigious institutions?

It is weird that you included Zuckerberg in that list -- Mark, I presume. I'm pretty sure it was not from a famous nor super wealthy family. Although, he did attend a prestigious high school, so his parents are probably upper middle class in US parlance. And Hillary Clinton is brilliant. Look at GW Bush's kids by comparison.

Edit: I meant to say: And Chelsea Clinton is brilliant.

Yes, Kennedys, Bushes, and Zuckerberg's are imuch smarter and more capable than a randomly selected person from Walmart. I'll stand by that.

I absolutely hate the fact that I agree with you, but I think this is actually correct.

Those advanced concepts are what gets used to dupe people into letting themselves be ripped off.