Yesterday was the last day to apply for a nomination to the service academies, and it got me thinking about something I learned going from Wayne County to the United States Naval Academy:
The unfortunate bias of “legacy.”
When I arrived for “Induction Day,” I was full of a lot of ideas about what service at Annapolis might be like. Honor, courage, commitment - these were exciting to me. Growing up in Red Creek, they meant something real and tangible.
These notions were quickly disabused by a “legacy” peer of mine, who told me his family’s history at USNA & the “secret:”
“It’s all a game,” he told me. “Do the least amount possible. Never any more. When I leave here, I’m set for life.”
This was a familiar refrain from many of the privileged class I’d run into at Annapolis & beyond. Those whose family histories solidified a place not just at an institution like the Naval Academy, but at a revered strata of socioeconomic class.
As I’ve embarked on the campaign trial, I’ve heard the same sentiment from people who believe party positions, nominations, elections are their family’s right:
Get the title, and you’re set for life.
There are some who like to talk about a “meritocracy” — which too often becomes a dog whistle for “ensuring the status quo” or “person with the most money.” If our education and political systems were really a meritocracy, family names wouldn’t matter. Access to wealth wouldn’t matter. But this isn’t a meritocracy — and that’s all too obvious to those of us who have grown up left behind by government.
“Legacy” leaves behind millions of young people in this country and thousands in my home district of NY-24. It keeps the door closed on access to opportunities in education, the workforce, and our government. And for no reason other than a particularly privileged family tree.
This is why politics is broken.
When who is related to who is a proxy for good governance, we fail.
When who has access to the most money is a proxy for good governance, we fail.
When the word “Congressman” is a status symbol instead of an expectation, we fail.
Take a look at FEC fundraising reports and our singular focus on them as an indicator of campaigns. Does this serve us well — or does it reward the same kind of “legacy” thinking? Early money doesn’t make you the best candidate. All it proves is access to wealth and socioeconomic status.
My family’s legacy has never been political connections or campaign donations. Growing up in the second-poorest village in the most rural part of my Congressional district, our legacy is service.
That’s what this election in #NY24 is about. Who will represent & serve ALL of us? Who will do the work not for a title, but to serve the people? Who is talking with constituents they will serve about ideas and legislation from a position of lived experiences?
I’m not running because of my last name or the privilege of access to wealth.
I’m running to serve.
Roger Misso is a rural Democrat and candidate for Congress in New York’s 24th Congressional District (NY-24). He is a husband, father, and veteran — a former naval flight officer and victim advocate for military sexual assault survivors. He has advocated for veterans and small business in Central New York. He is running to become just the second rural Wayne County kid in history — and the first in 192 years — to represent New Yorkers in Congress.
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