Perhaps the clearest evidence of Americans’ comfort with aristocracy is their tacit acceptance of the persistent nepotism in modern culture. Nothing better reflects our love of pedigree than the public’s obsession with “nepo babies,” the children of Hollywood stars who ride on their parents’ coattails to become heirlets and starlets. From the Barrymores of early Hollywood to the Hustons; Henry Fonda’s offspring; Kirk and Michael Douglas; the Robert Downeys; Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson; Blythe Danner and Gwyneth Paltrow; Jerry and Ben Stiller—the nepo baby genealogy grows ever longer.

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Their talent is beside the point: they weren’t sifted from the unwashed masses of wannabe actors.…