There's a phenomenon that I notice once in a while, and I contemplate it: I don't think there's a term for it. (Googled it, but got information about other things, so maybe this isn't a "thing," officially.)
It's when someone thinks they are good at something because someone close to them is good at it.
examples:
* I got the impression that Hillary Clinton thinks she is better at politics than she is, because she is married to Bill Clinton.
Like -- he's good at it, so she is too.
* Very similar dynamic I notice with Donald Trump's sons: they think they have relevant thoughts to share about governance and policy ideas, because their dad can get in front of a microphone and cause a tempest in a teapot by running his mouth.
my view: Mrs. Clinton is not that good at campaigning. And Don Jr. and Eric are not good at political debate or having anything intelligent to say about current issues or proposals.
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I think there are two causes for this phenomenon:
One is, the relatives (whether it's a wife or sons or whatever) feel love for the person who is good at the thing, and they help the person who's good at it, so after a while ego slips in and says, "I help him a lot, we are all a team and I am good at campaigning and discussing issues, too."
No -- not so much.
And the other thing is, this phenomenon can happen if the job, or task, does not require specialized knowledge, or appears not to require specialized knowledge and skill.
For example, if you have a production plant and you have maintenance people who have the skills to fix the chiller when it stops working, these people's spouses and kids probably don't say, "Hey, I also know how to fix the chiller!"
Because fixing a chiller is mechanical, and physical, and if it isn't fixed right it isn't going to work right -- one cannot bullshit one's way through.
Politics and campaigning -- done well -- does need some knowledge and talent, but the lack of those isn't as obvious as with the chiller.
You can fake it, by just speaking into the microphone and, well -- these days, simply trashing people.
Everybody can talk on a microphone -- everybody can wave at crowds and read a speech or whatever. The Trump brothers can act contemptuous in front of a camera. And to do this, they don't need special classes or experience or talent, or knowledge of how to use tools and how to fix chillers.
In other words, in politics, you can just completely blow smoke and not accomplish anything. While on the other hand, we are not going to call Hillary Clinton or Eric Trump to fix a chiller.
We wouldn't even call their relatives who are good at politics and entertainment -- Bill Clinton and Donald Trump -- to fix a chiller.
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I was playing the situation-comedy That Girl (1966 - 1971) from You Tube, and there's an episode in Season 5 which illustrates this phenomenon so well!
Ann Marie (played by Marlo Thomas) is an actress trying to make it in New York.
Her boyfriend (and in the fifth season, fiancé) Donald Hollinger (played by Ted Bessell) is a reporter for a magazine called NewsView. (Fictional publication -- it would have been like TIME or Newsweek.)
Ann is at a modeling job and after they're done taking pictures she hears the guys in charge talking about a fashion designer from Europe who is coming in at Kennedy Airport and they want to cover the story and get an interview, but they don't have anyone to send.
Ann would like to earn money, so she volunteers to go and cover the story. I think she says something like, "My fiancé works for NewsView magazine, so I have some knowledge of reporting."
...Something like that, so they give her the job with a really low amount of money (she doesn't do the math, she just takes it) and they're only going to pay her at all if they like the story she writes.
(Yikes.)
And they know Ann is engaged to Donald the NewsView writer, so they figure she will get help from him.
So she tells Donald about it, she's all excited, and he points out the money isn't good, and he has a little moment of "Why did they ask you to write a story on this? -- you're - uh - not a reporter" but he doesn't act jealous or anything, that she's got a job in his career area, and he agrees to help her. He writes questions for her to use if she gets the interview, etc.
Well -- it's so funny -- because --
First, he volunteers to help her with the interview questions, then first thing you know he's writing the story from her notes, at the typewriter in her apartment -- and she's asleep on the couch!
Secondly, we gradually become aware, as Donald starts to figure out, these two magazine guys who made this deal with Ann were counting on Don writing the story, and he is one of the best magazine writers in the city! - So they're pulling a fast one -- getting his talent and experience for the price of her desperation to make a little money. (And it is very little.)
In the process of events, Ann briefly gets into a deluded frame of mind where she thinks she is a good writer, even though Donald wrote the article.
When he points this out, she gets mad and they have a little disagreement, sitcom-style.
("Now you have to be a writer? I thought you were an actress!")
He goes to the root of the problem -- the two guys who made the deal with Ann -- and says, "I'm going to ask you a question, and you're going to answer truthfully, or I'm going to punch you."
Donald is not the kind of man who is frequently offering to punch people, so it's pretty surprising and funny.
And the point I took from the whole thing is -- That's what I've been talking about! Ann is being like Hillary Clinton and the Trump boys: because her boyfriend is a writer, now suddenly she's a writer. ...
------------------------- Oh! -- found it, it's Season 5, Episode 10 -- title, "Stop the Presses, I Want to Get Off".
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