alt Hacker News> Her ancestors belonged to the nobility of the Free Imperial city of Bremen, allied to the Holy Roman Empire.
I've heard of people holding long grudges before but holy shit, that's quite a reach even for HN, that's over 200 years ago! :D
> Her ancestors belonged to the nobility of the Free Imperial city of Bremen, allied to the Holy Roman Empire.
I've heard of people holding long grudges before but holy shit, that's quite a reach even for HN, that's over 200 years ago! :D
The point is that, like everyone else at the helm of the European commission, she and her family going back a LONG way, are part of the very, very rich. She has a coat of arms, for example. And she's not even the only one in the European commission.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Leyen
It's a commentary on social mobility.
Oh, and actually her family has been rich for over 400 years for sure, and probably double that.
One thing I always found a big positive on America is that a lot of the "American elite" was born, perhaps not poor, but also not rich, and they are never part of a dynasty that has been rich since the dark ages. Trump's grandfather was at best middle class. Biden's parents were broke when Joe Biden was little. Obama comes from what is probably a broken home. The contrast with Europe is enormous. By contrast, it often looks, in Europe, that the only possible way to become rich is to marry into a rich family.