NotHardUp1
What? Me? Really?
That phrase has been raised a few times in the discussion of homosexuality and its origins, but this isn't about that.
www.jacksonville.com
As I was watching Firing Line with Margaret Hoover, the episode featured Leopoldo Lopez, an opposition leader in exile from Venezuela. Admittedly, I was at first smitten by his handsome face, but lingering only a few moments revealed him to be a remarkable man, were he to be as homely as Henry Kissinger.
Unsurprisingly, he is the scion of a powerful aristocratic family, a direct descendant of Venezuela's first president, and another in his direct line was Simon Bolivar's sister. Were he a poodle, he'd have a very fine pedigree indeed.
en.wikipedia.org
www.wilsoncenter.org
copenhagendemocracysummit.com
Reading further, I found it predictable that he was schooled in the U.S., graduating from Kenyon College and taking a master's degree from Harvard.
He founded a political party in his home country, and co-founded another. His drive to overturn the corrupt government there led to his eventual arrest as an opposition figure, on corruption charges that have been widely decried as bogus and pretexts for imprisoning him as a political threat. He eventually fled in 2020, wisely, while he was yet unassassinated.
Barring such Machiavellian actions, I predict he will be president of Venezuela before he sees his 70th birthday. He is extremely intelligent, has worked in the oil industry and academia, and is well connected with powerful elite in the U.S. -- all that before his pedigree is considered.
So, is his destiny due more to his ancestry, or simply the wealth and privilege that lineage afforded him? He was able to attend private schools in the U.S. where he was enjoying crew teams and swim teams and a golden youth while his peers were literally hungry back home during the terrible shortages that beset Venezuela from stereotypical South American corrupt government.
I ask because I am not convinced mere access to the levers of power makes one destined to rule. Knowing one's ancestors were elite, that may lead to only a sense of entitlement, but it may also motivate the drive to achieve that is very evident in Mr. Lopez.
How much credit do you ascribe to nature -- whatever made Simon Bolivar great and made his other ancestor the first president, and what do you ascribe to his nurture -- the privliges of wealth that gave him a stellar education, as well as the U.S. interests backing him for economic and political ends?
And, do you have any other examples of nurture vs. nature you'd like to toss in the ring?
Police take 2 Venezuela opposition leaders from homes
CARACAS, Venezuela — Two of Venezuela’s leading opposition figures were taken from their homes in the middle of the night by state security agents on Tuesday, in President Nicolas Maduro’s first move…
www.jacksonville.com
As I was watching Firing Line with Margaret Hoover, the episode featured Leopoldo Lopez, an opposition leader in exile from Venezuela. Admittedly, I was at first smitten by his handsome face, but lingering only a few moments revealed him to be a remarkable man, were he to be as homely as Henry Kissinger.
Leopoldo Lopez
Exiled Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez discusses threats to democracy around the world and combatting autocracy. He comments on challenging conditions in Venezuela under Maduro and the impact of Biden's policies in the region.
www.pbs.org
Unsurprisingly, he is the scion of a powerful aristocratic family, a direct descendant of Venezuela's first president, and another in his direct line was Simon Bolivar's sister. Were he a poodle, he'd have a very fine pedigree indeed.
Leopoldo López - Wikipedia
Leopoldo López
Leopoldo Lopez (Introducer) at Copenhagen Democracy Summit 2023
Activist and National Coordinator for Voluntad Popular
copenhagendemocracysummit.com
Reading further, I found it predictable that he was schooled in the U.S., graduating from Kenyon College and taking a master's degree from Harvard.
He founded a political party in his home country, and co-founded another. His drive to overturn the corrupt government there led to his eventual arrest as an opposition figure, on corruption charges that have been widely decried as bogus and pretexts for imprisoning him as a political threat. He eventually fled in 2020, wisely, while he was yet unassassinated.
Barring such Machiavellian actions, I predict he will be president of Venezuela before he sees his 70th birthday. He is extremely intelligent, has worked in the oil industry and academia, and is well connected with powerful elite in the U.S. -- all that before his pedigree is considered.
So, is his destiny due more to his ancestry, or simply the wealth and privilege that lineage afforded him? He was able to attend private schools in the U.S. where he was enjoying crew teams and swim teams and a golden youth while his peers were literally hungry back home during the terrible shortages that beset Venezuela from stereotypical South American corrupt government.
I ask because I am not convinced mere access to the levers of power makes one destined to rule. Knowing one's ancestors were elite, that may lead to only a sense of entitlement, but it may also motivate the drive to achieve that is very evident in Mr. Lopez.
How much credit do you ascribe to nature -- whatever made Simon Bolivar great and made his other ancestor the first president, and what do you ascribe to his nurture -- the privliges of wealth that gave him a stellar education, as well as the U.S. interests backing him for economic and political ends?
And, do you have any other examples of nurture vs. nature you'd like to toss in the ring?
