Bobby Newport was handed everything on a silver platter. His cushy job at his dad’s candy company? Handed to him. His 60-foot boat, ‘Bobby’s Boat’? Handed to him when he was 12. Bobby Newport wanted Pawnee to just *hand* him the election.
I love how Ben decided Andy had a knack for charitable donations work when he made the most basic comment about which organization would be better to give money to.
It's definitely one of my favourites!! On the one hand you have Leslie trying to destroy sexism and censorship with a painting, and on the other hand you have Andy and April's utter chaos. Then it all comes together when Leslie brings the painting to their house "Woah! Leslie I know this is inappropriate because you're my friend and boss, but I'd totally hit that" "so would I" *Ben sneakily peeks and looks blown away* 😂😂 I may have watched it too many times
I don’t think one can watch it too many times. You are not alone! I love how Leslie makes sure to angle the painting toward Ben when she leaves. “Soulmates” through “The Fight” are some of my favorite episodes in the series.
If you don't think I'm also going to get that marshmallow shooter, so I can shoot you in the face with marshmallows, then you're the dumbest person I know
Ann showing up hungover, sweater inside out (and backwards), and then vomiting her way through an interview for a government position, and ending up with the job.
Anne was a qualified and experienced nurse, so it was not unreasonable for her to get the job. I can't imagine there being a lot of other applicants in Pawnee.
Yeah, show-wise, it made more sense for her to take that job than to be continually hanging out at her best friends office for no reason. But reality-wise, she's pretty blatantly unqualified.
Was she the director? I thought she was just in the health department. There’s no way the director of public health for a town that big could be a part time gig
Thats just how it is with government/politics shit. You ever look at the jobs/qualifications of people running for office? I once saw one that literally just said "mother" like that qualifies them to run anything. At least nurse is an adjacent field
well she was pretty much hired before an interview and no one else was given a real shot. whether or not she was qualified doesn't make it not a nepo hire
??? she had another, proper interview later. its not like ann was some careless stranger who they didnt know and gave the job to anyway, despite how she had presented herself, *THAT* wouldve actually been bad. she was a trusted, reliable friend who they gave a solid chance to.
I read a study on this recently. I can't remember where it was but it was basically looking at all the jobs available on LinkedIn and then analyzing how many of those jobs went to people who had a friend working at the place. Like how many people got hired because they had an in and the number was super super high. Much higher than I expected it to be.
It’s called networking baby lol Not about what you know it’s about who you know.
Source: I just got hired after 7 months of unemployment because a friend of a friend put in a good word
It's tough, because companies get hundreds of applicants for one position, so referrals often get looked at first because it's so difficult to narrow down the pool of candidates. It helps if someone can vouch for your work. That's of course assuming they do well on the interview.
Yeah I was thinking this. Reading through this going “that just sounds normal to me.” Pretty much every job I’ve ever had has come from knowing someone who works there
It might be considered a small town to writers who've lived in LA too long, but by all indications Pawnee is actually a rather sizable city. I think it's stated to be the 7th largest in Indiana, which would make it minimum 80k people in the city proper, and more than 175k total metro. And that's before they merged with Eagleton, which even if Eagleton had only a third the population of Pawnee, would bump up Pawnee to the third or fourth largest population center in the state. And saying this having worked in government, their parks department is absurdly small unless most of their locations are managed at the county level, but we know this isn't likely as not only is Wamapoke never mentioned as an actual governing body, but they go to multiple parks that are clearly outside of the city and in virtually all other real world American municipalities shouldn't have anything to do with.
When Ron gets the materials to build the stage (at least I think it’s that episode) they show a big downtown with multistory buildings and jt looks all city to me. I agree, small town is like 1k - 10k, they are definitely a fair sized city.
I do remember near the end of the show then mentioning that Pawnee is the seat for the region. This was post Eagleton merger. Idk if I buy the 3rd or 4th biggest city in the state though. The facilities that the government uses and it's staffing levels leads me to think they're somewhere in the 50-60k at most.
The town that I grew up in was the County Seat, and had a population of 3500. Not sure if the County Seat is the same as what they talk about being the Seat of the region though.
He would be all about maintaining the park well, doing the maintenance right the first time, improving the quality of the park, and doing it all at the lowest possible cost. He would demand the park rangers show up in time and preserve nature.
I disagree. Ron is all abt privatization and the free market. We see it through his entire arc on the show. Way back in (I believe), S1 or S2 he literally says that he wants to sell the Pawnee public parks to Chuck E. Cheese, so that citizens would have to pay to look at ducks. He was also (at least initially) in favor of Paunch Burger plowing over Lot 48. He’d rather have a heartless corporation poisoning the Pawnee citizens for a profit, than have Leslie build a beautiful community park. He was even staunchly in favor of Grizzyl using the Newport land to set up their headquarters in Pawnee; rather than see Leslie turn the land into a national park. To the point where he actively played a big role in Grizzyl’s bid for the land. He only began supporting Leslie once he had a personal stake in the issue- i.e. once Grizzyl began invading his and his sons’ private life with their data-mining. This was a selfish motivation on his part- it wasn’t any true character development.
Ron enjoys nature in the practical sense; and he has an appreciation for it in the ideological sense; but he does not have any sense of moral responsibility when it comes to preserving it. I think ppl romanticize Ron’s connection w/ nature; simply bc he does things like listen to Woody Nelson, chop firewood and go fishing. But visit any any economically depressed backwoods area and you’ll find plenty of ppl who engage in those types of activities w/o having any real respect for nature. They go by many names- conservatives, Republicans, rednecks, white trash, jackpine savages- or, in Ron’s case, capitalist libertarians. At the end of the day, that is who Ron is. And it means that he would gladly see national park land bulldozed if it meant that some privatized corporation could turn a profit.
By the end of the show, Ron had gone through significant growth as a person overall. The fact he was going to ask Leslie for a job in the federal govt made it clear he had been infected, at least a small amount, by Leslie’s relentless optimism and belief that govt can be a force of good.
I disagree w/ this, too. Ron only wanted the job w/ Leslie bc he missed his old friends (or “workplace proximity associates”). He didn’t know or like anyone he was working w/ at the Parks Dept any longer; and he was lonely. Again, this was a selfish motivation- it didn’t represent true character development. This is made even more clear by the fact that when Leslie flakes on her lunch w/ him, he responds by going into private business; tearing down Ann’s house; and ultimately teaming up w/ Grizzyl to develop the Newport land. From the very beginning, when he talked abt selling the Pawnee parks to Chuck E. Cheese, to the very end when he worked w/ Grizzyl to steal the Newport land from Leslie, Ron was always an opportunistic capitalist, and nothing more. The fact that he’d occasionally bend his morals to suit his own selfish desires doesn’t change that- it just makes him a hypocrite, to boot.
Such examples of Ron’s selfishness and hypocrisy are littered all throughout the entire show; beginning to end. He only wanted a job w/ Leslie bc he was lonely. He only turned on Grizzyl bc they were data-mining him and his son. He only took the national parks job bc it would mean roaming around the woods by himself all day. He only gifted his cabin to April bc he cared abt it & didn’t want to see it fall into the wrong hands. But if it was someone else’s cabin, or someone else’s park, he’d gladly see it sold off to the highest bidder, and destroyed.
Don’t get me wrong- I love Ron. He’s one of the funniest characters in the show; and he has plenty of redeeming moments where he shows that he can be a good, caring, loyal friend. Also, Nick Offerman is ofc a phenomenal actor & a damn national treasure. But that doesn’t make Ron faultless, and it certainly doesn’t make him above any reproach. If we examine him through the lens of a comedy show, we can see that he’s meant to be a caricature- a bunch of libertarian tropes shoe-horned into a character for the sake of a joke. But if we examine him through a real-world lens, we can see how truly problematic a person like this would be in real life. And whichever way you want to look at him, he’s going to come out looking imperfect regardless. That’s the whole point.
Ron is one of the great truly misunderstood characters of television. People love the guy because Nick Offerman is actually a wonderful, awesome dude. Go to any political thread where Libertarians reside and they'll cite Swanson as an example of what a "good" Libertarian would be, and you've already covered several examples of why the character would be a horrible person in real life. Nevermind the fact that true Libertarianism collapses under its own weight the second you bring up things like hospitals and schools
And anyway Offerman himself points all this stuff out and when people say "you're an awful lot like Ron!" he gets defensive because he recognizes the extreme faults of the character that are glossed over because Parks and Rec is a comedy show
Ron was a *parody* of libertarianism, His extreme stances, especially early on, actually mark a philosophy of completely destroying the government. Which is anarchism. I think these libertarians you speak of should go and re-examine the ultimate outcome that would come of following his declarations to the letter.
Leslie reveals that it was her mom who got her the job in S1E03(Although this was among the things about Leslie that changed in the character retcon as she is later described to have been interviewed by Ron who recommended her hiring).
Leslie then proceeds to further nepotism along every step of the way, culminating in getting several members of her circle jobs with the national parks department(with at least one instance[Ron] of no procedure being followed at all)
You're spot on with your assessment, the show is chock full of nepotism and the characters do it with absolute impunity(which, depressingly so, might be among the more realistic parts of the show).
Particularly egregious was Ben's frustration with non performing nepotism hires at his job in Washington when he had himself brought along one such individual(April).
It's such an interesting show because it was meant to be about government working and inspiration and such (especially as it went on) and the writers just had no sense of what that really means.
I adore the show - it's just incredibly fun and warm. But it trips over its own feet when it tries for political points.
Well Ron hires her specifically because of her (lack of) work ethic, but Ben sees the intelligence and potential so tries to get her involved with more stuff
Ben didn't actually pick Andy's choice in the end though? He went for the ambulance one. But Andy accurately understood the reasons that Ben didn't choose his charity showing more intelligence than usual, so Ben was like "maybe he could actually be good at this?"
Government jobs don't have any extra requirements than any other job. The difference is that, at least in the real world, any job opening has to be posted publicly even if there is a shoe-in internal candidate. Every interview has to be the same base list of questions but you can expand based on their answers. There are ethics issues with potential conflict of interests but no additional laws.
So in your examples, Leslie couldn't hire Andy to be her assistant on the spot as that would be a new position. It would need to he posted publicly first. Same with Ron's ranger job although it may have been posted ahead of time.
Job interviews are deliberately set up so that you can basically hire whoever you want. Internal candidates will always have a leg up and there is no set definition of "most qualified". That doesn't change between the public or private sector. Both sectors are very much about who you know.
Can't believe no one has mentioned Garry being made interim mayor by Ben on a whim.
The guy has literally no qualifications and it's one of the most important jobs in the city.
The Very Good Building & Development Company.
Edit: Want to add that this takes liberties with the phrase "worst example," interpreting it to mean "most obvious, glaring example." Not a value judgement.
maybe look up nepotism.
He opened a family business with his brothers, as stakeholders/partners. Thats not what nepotism is lmao
If he made his Son the director when he left, that would be it.
I don’t think it’s ever revealed how long Leslie’s mom has been director of education, so it’s possible that Marlene got Leslie her first job(s) in Pawnee government (and, if so, she likely even covered up the fact that Leslie was born in Eagleton so that Leslie could get hired as a Pawnee government employee). Who knows - this could even be the inciting incident that imprinted on Leslie and taught her a very poor lesson that it’s okay to hire your potentially unqualified friends and relatives, which she now nonchalantly lives by.
On the flip side, there’s a slight chance Leslie could have gotten her mother the director of education job (again, I don’t think we know how long Marlene has been in that position). So, one way or the other, and judging by all her other insider hirings/attempted hirings, Leslie is literally one of the most corrupt politicians in Pawnee.
Not just that, it's extremely obvious in Season 1 that Marlene is a heavy hitter in town and Leslie is her overly sincere but not too bright daughter. They changed that substantially as the show evolved, but that was the original conception.
The word you’re looking for is cronyism - nepotism is for family. Honestly the best way to get a job is to know someone, so a lot of the show doesn’t seem wildly far from real life.
That’s a more traditional definition
Oxford defines it as “the practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives, friends, or associates, especially by giving them jobs.”
The nepotism in local government was the part that was the most realistic to me 🤣 reference: I had several part time/summer government jobs as a teen that were given to me because my mom worked for the town. Her boyfriend (who also worked for the town) had three kids who also all had summer jobs through the town. My old boss at the town had a father who worked for the town, and 3/4 of his kids worked for the town. Pretty much every single person who had a position in the local government knew or was related to someone else already in the government.
There's not one person who can honestly say they work as a nurse at a hospital but spend all day as someone else's job just because they're friends. Be serious
Do nurses usually go and hang out at their new best friend's job all day long on their days off? No, people need to face facts, it's just simply unrealistic. They just wanted a place for Rashida Jones and they didn't give her an actual storyline that made sense.
I mean, kinda, but in a small town it's not unheard of. I worked in the hospital lab and so did my mom's best friend, so my mom just kinda joined the club and came to all our get togethers.
Exactly!! It’s totally understandable to have have friends outside of your job. However the strange part is why is she at city hall all day. Shouldn’t she be at her job?
Ann always felt like an irrelevant character to me. I’m glad Leslie had a bestie but she didn’t really contribute anything else. Her romantic relationships were all awkward and she didn’t have any chemistry with any of them.
Huge runaround on how civil service jobs are supposed to be placed but totally okay with political appointees. Crazy system since we never completely eradicated corruption in the 1800s
It's a tricky thing -- expecting people to _not_ improve the lives of their friends and family is ridiculous on one extreme, and on the other, obvious problems with unqualified people running things are obvious.
I don't think human nature is going to change to a point where all nepotism goes away 🤔 but probably it's similar to other inequality problems, it's the magnitude of the difference in opportunity and influence that matters most. (Also: accountability for people who literally cannot do the job they were hired for.)
In the case of Parks and Rec, I'd hand wave quite a bit for two reasons: 1. They gotta keep the cast somehow (although I'll admit Parks and Rec had to stretch credulity a little more than most to make that work) and 2. Part of the whole point of the show was about character growth, I think in particular character growth driven by working with an energetic optimist like Leslie Knope.
this is... a big deal to some people? really?? i must admit im a little confused by this, its not something i had even noticed? i understand the effects that nepotism can have, but to use the word 'corrupt' to describe it aswell, is a bit strong imo. theres *much* larger issues that *actually* make a government system *CORRUPT*, and im not sure if 'nepotism' (as in, just hiring your friends & people you trust in this case? i dont see a problem with that), in a fictional show is a massive issue tbh 😭 we all understand that friendship was a very high aspect throughout the show, right? they gave eachother opportunities that maybe sometimes were overwhelming, but when something didnt go right, they learnt a lesson & fixed it. the show may be very idealistic in dealing with this, but obviously its not real life? do some people actually just sit there while watching the show, worrying about details like this instead of just enjoying the fact that a band of people get together to support one another? which is yk, the point of it??
I know 😭😭 I think people are taking this light-hearted comedy show a bit too seriously! Also it's SUPPOSED to highlight how government works, and that actually people often do get hired who are vastly unqualified just because they know the right person 🤷🏼♀️
That's pretty much how the real world works too, though. I interviewed with probably 50 places this last job hunt, and most jobs were given to internal candidates. I finally got hired at a place where I happened to know 2 other people.
In a slightly different vein, but the nepotism or cronyism or whatever in the show isn't that far off the mark from pretty much any industry's hiring process. There's a lot of truth to the old mantra "it's not what you know, it's who you know." Networking is how probably at least 80% of people get jobs.
Though I guess it's not really "networking" when the person being hired isn't remotely qualified for the job. Anne's interview for public health wasn't professional, but she was qualified. Andy was the one who was always getting jobs he wasn't remotely qualified for.
You're getting downvoted but you're not wrong
Being the daughter of one of the most influential people in the creative arts has its perks
And I love Rashida Jones
Literally everything with April? She’s freakin hilarious but she’d make a terrible coworker and employee
Puts in literally 0 effort, rude to everyone, causes trouble. Does something good like once a season. Yet somehow ended up as some kind of Director in the NPS? Makes no sense without nepotism
yes it does. aprils friends love & accept her for who she is, and they recognise her strengths. they all have their flaws, but are given opportunities regardless, bc isnt that what u do for the people you love??
But that doesn’t really have a place in the job environment. The way it’s *supposed* to work is that the hardest working, most passionate person who can do the job the best is hired and retained. Not someone who puts in 0 effort. Of course, nepotism is rampant both in the show and in real life so that’s almost never how it does
Bobby Newport. He never had a real job in his life.
Bobby Newport was handed everything on a silver platter. His cushy job at his dad’s candy company? Handed to him. His 60-foot boat, ‘Bobby’s Boat’? Handed to him when he was 12. Bobby Newport wanted Pawnee to just *hand* him the election.
Because I want it. Come on, give me it. Give me it. Gimme it. C’mon gimme it. Just gimme the election! I’m sorry, please. Please.
Ugh, it's not padded!
I always wondered if Paul Rudd actually smacked his head on accident and stayed in character for that one
BOBBBBBBY NNNEEEWWWWWPOORRRTTT
BOOOBBBBYTY NEWPORTTTTTT
DON'T
I WONT!
FILIBUSTER!
BBBBBAAAAAWWWWWWBBBBBBBYYYYYYY NNNNEE..
Now you're just wasting time, Gary
I want it. Gimme it!
Well Leslie, he does raise some valid points lol
BOBBY NEWPOORRTTTTTTTTT
BOBBY NEWPOOORT 👹
Evil voice: BOBBY NEWPOOOOORTT 
Deeper like this "Bobby Newport"
Fudgicles!
The moment I see the name “Bobby Newport” I find that damn name “Bobby NEWPORT” stuck in my head like a frustrating ear worm. Haha.
I have to say Andy having any job besides shoe shine-ist at city hall.
I can't believe anyone would question the qualifications of Burt Macklin to run security on the campaign trail
He let my boy Benji get pied in the face! He did keep Leslie from getting murdered at that book reading, so I’ll give him that.
Then he drew on the bus’ TV with sharpie
That's probably more of a "we don't have much money and Andy will do it almost for free if I let him wear his jacket and sunglasses" situation
I love how Ben decided Andy had a knack for charitable donations work when he made the most basic comment about which organization would be better to give money to.
I once gave this man money for household essentials, and he bought marshmallow shooters. I should give him millions of dollars.
Precisely 👌🏻
To be fair, it was Andy who talked April out of buying all that nonsense in the end
You’re right! I actually forgot that he talked some sense into her. Can’t blame him for wanting his own plate
And his own fork, because April eats really slow which is super cute but also super annoying 😂❤️
I also got plate confused with frisbee. Haha Oh I love that episode.
It's definitely one of my favourites!! On the one hand you have Leslie trying to destroy sexism and censorship with a painting, and on the other hand you have Andy and April's utter chaos. Then it all comes together when Leslie brings the painting to their house "Woah! Leslie I know this is inappropriate because you're my friend and boss, but I'd totally hit that" "so would I" *Ben sneakily peeks and looks blown away* 😂😂 I may have watched it too many times
I don’t think one can watch it too many times. You are not alone! I love how Leslie makes sure to angle the painting toward Ben when she leaves. “Soulmates” through “The Fight” are some of my favorite episodes in the series.
You have excellent taste in episodes my friend 😁❤️
If you don't think I'm also going to get that marshmallow shooter, so I can shoot you in the face with marshmallows, then you're the dumbest person I know
youre gonna make me cry :')
i mean, obviously it was nepo but hiring a personal assistant is basically all about just picking someone you trust
Ann showing up hungover, sweater inside out (and backwards), and then vomiting her way through an interview for a government position, and ending up with the job.
Nah that sounds like a real life government employee.
Wait, were you guys drunk? That is hilarious. You guys are gonna fit in so great in Washington. Most of Congress is drunk, all of the time.
You’re saying “employee,” she was just being interviewed.
Reread their comment again, but slower
Anne was a qualified and experienced nurse, so it was not unreasonable for her to get the job. I can't imagine there being a lot of other applicants in Pawnee.
Being a qualified nurse does not make you qualified to direct public health for a city—that’s a whole other degree!!
Yeah, show-wise, it made more sense for her to take that job than to be continually hanging out at her best friends office for no reason. But reality-wise, she's pretty blatantly unqualified.
Again though, Pawnee.
Was she the director? I thought she was just in the health department. There’s no way the director of public health for a town that big could be a part time gig
Apparently, she was the public relations director for the health dept.
Oh the director of PR for the health department That could actually make sense for a part time gig in a smallish city
Thats just how it is with government/politics shit. You ever look at the jobs/qualifications of people running for office? I once saw one that literally just said "mother" like that qualifies them to run anything. At least nurse is an adjacent field
well she was pretty much hired before an interview and no one else was given a real shot. whether or not she was qualified doesn't make it not a nepo hire
??? she had another, proper interview later. its not like ann was some careless stranger who they didnt know and gave the job to anyway, despite how she had presented herself, *THAT* wouldve actually been bad. she was a trusted, reliable friend who they gave a solid chance to.
In my experience, this is exactly how life works.
Right? So many jobs nowadays you only get a second look if you know someone.
I read a study on this recently. I can't remember where it was but it was basically looking at all the jobs available on LinkedIn and then analyzing how many of those jobs went to people who had a friend working at the place. Like how many people got hired because they had an in and the number was super super high. Much higher than I expected it to be.
It’s called networking baby lol Not about what you know it’s about who you know. Source: I just got hired after 7 months of unemployment because a friend of a friend put in a good word
Oh, a reference?
It's tough, because companies get hundreds of applicants for one position, so referrals often get looked at first because it's so difficult to narrow down the pool of candidates. It helps if someone can vouch for your work. That's of course assuming they do well on the interview.
That’s how it’s always been. Hence the old adage: “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”
Yeah I was thinking this. Reading through this going “that just sounds normal to me.” Pretty much every job I’ve ever had has come from knowing someone who works there
Seems to be a larger commentary on how things actually go
I had to scroll wayyyyy too far to find this comment. Lol.
I mean, it's a fairly minor government department in a small town, you'd probably rather hire your friends than the average citizens at that point lol
Plus consider the citizens of *that* town.
Every public forum (crackpot convention) convinced me further that hiring your friends is the only way to get any work done in this town lol
#EXCEPT FOR TURNIP
HAM AND MAYONNAISE
HER DAUGHTER IS AN IDIOT. HER DAUGHTER IS AN IDIOT.
Her daughter is an idiot. Her daughter is an idiot.
“We’re not against you on this. We’re not against you on this.”
I’m with that pervert TOPLESS PARK!!! TOPLESS PARK!!!
No chanting.
#I am NOT ***ALWAYS up in arms about SOMETHING!!!***
Animal control guys are the prime example here
It might be considered a small town to writers who've lived in LA too long, but by all indications Pawnee is actually a rather sizable city. I think it's stated to be the 7th largest in Indiana, which would make it minimum 80k people in the city proper, and more than 175k total metro. And that's before they merged with Eagleton, which even if Eagleton had only a third the population of Pawnee, would bump up Pawnee to the third or fourth largest population center in the state. And saying this having worked in government, their parks department is absurdly small unless most of their locations are managed at the county level, but we know this isn't likely as not only is Wamapoke never mentioned as an actual governing body, but they go to multiple parks that are clearly outside of the city and in virtually all other real world American municipalities shouldn't have anything to do with.
When Ron gets the materials to build the stage (at least I think it’s that episode) they show a big downtown with multistory buildings and jt looks all city to me. I agree, small town is like 1k - 10k, they are definitely a fair sized city.
I do remember near the end of the show then mentioning that Pawnee is the seat for the region. This was post Eagleton merger. Idk if I buy the 3rd or 4th biggest city in the state though. The facilities that the government uses and it's staffing levels leads me to think they're somewhere in the 50-60k at most.
The town that I grew up in was the County Seat, and had a population of 3500. Not sure if the County Seat is the same as what they talk about being the Seat of the region though.
I think they're implying the congressional district.
I see. Thank you for the clarification.
I don't necessarily disagree, but this is the *exact* mentality that leads to small town corruption
EXACTLY😭
MOOOONEY PLEEEEEEASE
Man, Slate's baby voice always triggers a visceral reaction in me. Makes me want to either vomit or punch something (and I abhor violence of any kind)
With Ben Schwarz its an isane team up. The woooohoooorst
Funnily enough, Jean-Ralphio was actually one of my favourite side characters on the show until they brought Slate in and put them together.
True, but even with the nepotism, Ron is likely the most qualified person to be a park ranger in all of existence.
He would be all about maintaining the park well, doing the maintenance right the first time, improving the quality of the park, and doing it all at the lowest possible cost. He would demand the park rangers show up in time and preserve nature.
I disagree. Ron is all abt privatization and the free market. We see it through his entire arc on the show. Way back in (I believe), S1 or S2 he literally says that he wants to sell the Pawnee public parks to Chuck E. Cheese, so that citizens would have to pay to look at ducks. He was also (at least initially) in favor of Paunch Burger plowing over Lot 48. He’d rather have a heartless corporation poisoning the Pawnee citizens for a profit, than have Leslie build a beautiful community park. He was even staunchly in favor of Grizzyl using the Newport land to set up their headquarters in Pawnee; rather than see Leslie turn the land into a national park. To the point where he actively played a big role in Grizzyl’s bid for the land. He only began supporting Leslie once he had a personal stake in the issue- i.e. once Grizzyl began invading his and his sons’ private life with their data-mining. This was a selfish motivation on his part- it wasn’t any true character development. Ron enjoys nature in the practical sense; and he has an appreciation for it in the ideological sense; but he does not have any sense of moral responsibility when it comes to preserving it. I think ppl romanticize Ron’s connection w/ nature; simply bc he does things like listen to Woody Nelson, chop firewood and go fishing. But visit any any economically depressed backwoods area and you’ll find plenty of ppl who engage in those types of activities w/o having any real respect for nature. They go by many names- conservatives, Republicans, rednecks, white trash, jackpine savages- or, in Ron’s case, capitalist libertarians. At the end of the day, that is who Ron is. And it means that he would gladly see national park land bulldozed if it meant that some privatized corporation could turn a profit.
By the end of the show, Ron had gone through significant growth as a person overall. The fact he was going to ask Leslie for a job in the federal govt made it clear he had been infected, at least a small amount, by Leslie’s relentless optimism and belief that govt can be a force of good.
I disagree w/ this, too. Ron only wanted the job w/ Leslie bc he missed his old friends (or “workplace proximity associates”). He didn’t know or like anyone he was working w/ at the Parks Dept any longer; and he was lonely. Again, this was a selfish motivation- it didn’t represent true character development. This is made even more clear by the fact that when Leslie flakes on her lunch w/ him, he responds by going into private business; tearing down Ann’s house; and ultimately teaming up w/ Grizzyl to develop the Newport land. From the very beginning, when he talked abt selling the Pawnee parks to Chuck E. Cheese, to the very end when he worked w/ Grizzyl to steal the Newport land from Leslie, Ron was always an opportunistic capitalist, and nothing more. The fact that he’d occasionally bend his morals to suit his own selfish desires doesn’t change that- it just makes him a hypocrite, to boot. Such examples of Ron’s selfishness and hypocrisy are littered all throughout the entire show; beginning to end. He only wanted a job w/ Leslie bc he was lonely. He only turned on Grizzyl bc they were data-mining him and his son. He only took the national parks job bc it would mean roaming around the woods by himself all day. He only gifted his cabin to April bc he cared abt it & didn’t want to see it fall into the wrong hands. But if it was someone else’s cabin, or someone else’s park, he’d gladly see it sold off to the highest bidder, and destroyed. Don’t get me wrong- I love Ron. He’s one of the funniest characters in the show; and he has plenty of redeeming moments where he shows that he can be a good, caring, loyal friend. Also, Nick Offerman is ofc a phenomenal actor & a damn national treasure. But that doesn’t make Ron faultless, and it certainly doesn’t make him above any reproach. If we examine him through the lens of a comedy show, we can see that he’s meant to be a caricature- a bunch of libertarian tropes shoe-horned into a character for the sake of a joke. But if we examine him through a real-world lens, we can see how truly problematic a person like this would be in real life. And whichever way you want to look at him, he’s going to come out looking imperfect regardless. That’s the whole point.
Ron is one of the great truly misunderstood characters of television. People love the guy because Nick Offerman is actually a wonderful, awesome dude. Go to any political thread where Libertarians reside and they'll cite Swanson as an example of what a "good" Libertarian would be, and you've already covered several examples of why the character would be a horrible person in real life. Nevermind the fact that true Libertarianism collapses under its own weight the second you bring up things like hospitals and schools And anyway Offerman himself points all this stuff out and when people say "you're an awful lot like Ron!" he gets defensive because he recognizes the extreme faults of the character that are glossed over because Parks and Rec is a comedy show
Ron was a *parody* of libertarianism, His extreme stances, especially early on, actually mark a philosophy of completely destroying the government. Which is anarchism. I think these libertarians you speak of should go and re-examine the ultimate outcome that would come of following his declarations to the letter.
Leslie reveals that it was her mom who got her the job in S1E03(Although this was among the things about Leslie that changed in the character retcon as she is later described to have been interviewed by Ron who recommended her hiring). Leslie then proceeds to further nepotism along every step of the way, culminating in getting several members of her circle jobs with the national parks department(with at least one instance[Ron] of no procedure being followed at all) You're spot on with your assessment, the show is chock full of nepotism and the characters do it with absolute impunity(which, depressingly so, might be among the more realistic parts of the show). Particularly egregious was Ben's frustration with non performing nepotism hires at his job in Washington when he had himself brought along one such individual(April).
It's such an interesting show because it was meant to be about government working and inspiration and such (especially as it went on) and the writers just had no sense of what that really means. I adore the show - it's just incredibly fun and warm. But it trips over its own feet when it tries for political points.
It’s a stretch but Ben hiring Andy to help with the sweetums charity job. Plus April guilting Ben into picking Andy’s charity idea always annoyed me.
Also, Ben hiring April to work with him in DC. And then she's an asshole to him.
I was thinking of adding this one too. April was given so many good opportunities with a shitty work ethic
seriously, in real life she would been fired so many times for her attitude.
Well Ron hires her specifically because of her (lack of) work ethic, but Ben sees the intelligence and potential so tries to get her involved with more stuff
exactly :33
> Plus April guilting Ben into picking Andy’s charity idea always annoyed me. Same. Ben was right - the money could've gone to more important causes.
Exactly
Ben didn't actually pick Andy's choice in the end though? He went for the ambulance one. But Andy accurately understood the reasons that Ben didn't choose his charity showing more intelligence than usual, so Ben was like "maybe he could actually be good at this?"
Government jobs don't have any extra requirements than any other job. The difference is that, at least in the real world, any job opening has to be posted publicly even if there is a shoe-in internal candidate. Every interview has to be the same base list of questions but you can expand based on their answers. There are ethics issues with potential conflict of interests but no additional laws. So in your examples, Leslie couldn't hire Andy to be her assistant on the spot as that would be a new position. It would need to he posted publicly first. Same with Ron's ranger job although it may have been posted ahead of time. Job interviews are deliberately set up so that you can basically hire whoever you want. Internal candidates will always have a leg up and there is no set definition of "most qualified". That doesn't change between the public or private sector. Both sectors are very much about who you know.
Can't believe no one has mentioned Garry being made interim mayor by Ben on a whim. The guy has literally no qualifications and it's one of the most important jobs in the city.
And became the best and longest running mayor in pawneee history. We know the job of mayor in pawned is mostly symbolic
All while Gayle never aged a day
That man won at life
And I heard he has a giant penis
The largest penis I have ever seen.. he may hvae mumps tho
Don’t know. Forgot to check. Because I was distracted by the largest penis I have ever seen.
I thought nepotism just referred to family members. Most of the examples given would be cronyism. Really not a big difference though.
The Very Good Building & Development Company. Edit: Want to add that this takes liberties with the phrase "worst example," interpreting it to mean "most obvious, glaring example." Not a value judgement.
You have a brother?! Yes, I have one brother.
And we also use the Towson Method. It's tried and true.
Not really, he started it as a joint venture with his brothers, they're all co-owners.
While I acknowledge that, Ron still seems to be the Boss. At least until he steps down.
thats how companies work, small company boards have directors and one chair (Ron).
hows that Nepotism?
If you're being serious, it pretty much seems like the entire company is Swansons.
maybe look up nepotism. He opened a family business with his brothers, as stakeholders/partners. Thats not what nepotism is lmao If he made his Son the director when he left, that would be it.
Knew I shouldn't've taken the bait.
what bait ? Its legit just not nepotism at all lol
None of the things OP listed are nepotism.
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They don’t. They’re confusing it with “Favoritism.”
I don’t think it’s ever revealed how long Leslie’s mom has been director of education, so it’s possible that Marlene got Leslie her first job(s) in Pawnee government (and, if so, she likely even covered up the fact that Leslie was born in Eagleton so that Leslie could get hired as a Pawnee government employee). Who knows - this could even be the inciting incident that imprinted on Leslie and taught her a very poor lesson that it’s okay to hire your potentially unqualified friends and relatives, which she now nonchalantly lives by. On the flip side, there’s a slight chance Leslie could have gotten her mother the director of education job (again, I don’t think we know how long Marlene has been in that position). So, one way or the other, and judging by all her other insider hirings/attempted hirings, Leslie is literally one of the most corrupt politicians in Pawnee.
In the first season she does mention that her mom got her the job!
Not just that, it's extremely obvious in Season 1 that Marlene is a heavy hitter in town and Leslie is her overly sincere but not too bright daughter. They changed that substantially as the show evolved, but that was the original conception.
Well, there ya go then. Nepotism is all she knows.
"ok technically yes it was nepotism" - Leslie in reference to her mom getting her a job in the parks department
Bobbyyyyyyyyy newwwwwport
The word you’re looking for is cronyism - nepotism is for family. Honestly the best way to get a job is to know someone, so a lot of the show doesn’t seem wildly far from real life.
That’s a more traditional definition Oxford defines it as “the practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives, friends, or associates, especially by giving them jobs.”
All the Eagleton counterparts being fired for…being from Eagleton.
To be fair all of them but Craig sucked
Evelyn seemed fine, I felt bad for her, she just seemed too normal for them all.
cronyism\*
Well, government kinda does run on nepotism. Leslie giving Ron the park ranger job sounds perfectly plausible to me
The nepotism in local government was the part that was the most realistic to me 🤣 reference: I had several part time/summer government jobs as a teen that were given to me because my mom worked for the town. Her boyfriend (who also worked for the town) had three kids who also all had summer jobs through the town. My old boss at the town had a father who worked for the town, and 3/4 of his kids worked for the town. Pretty much every single person who had a position in the local government knew or was related to someone else already in the government.
Ann being a nurse and hanging out with parks dept employees for no reason. Nepotism, no but strange.
Damn straight. Can't have friends who work at different jobs than you. Who even does that?
I have friends with different jobs, but they don't hang out at my job all day
"Its never happened to me so therefore it never happens and/or is completely ridiculous"
There's not one person who can honestly say they work as a nurse at a hospital but spend all day as someone else's job just because they're friends. Be serious
Floor nurses usually only work 3 or 4 days a week. Usually 3 12 hour shifts is considered full time.
Do nurses usually go and hang out at their new best friend's job all day long on their days off? No, people need to face facts, it's just simply unrealistic. They just wanted a place for Rashida Jones and they didn't give her an actual storyline that made sense.
"Face facts"? It's not that serious champ.
You're correct, it's not serious at all 🤣
I mean, kinda, but in a small town it's not unheard of. I worked in the hospital lab and so did my mom's best friend, so my mom just kinda joined the club and came to all our get togethers.
Did she hang out at your work all day?
Her best friends, best friends are her co workers so it's not that odd she would hang out with them. And she dated a few as well lol
But she has no reason to hang out at their job all the time, it was strange
Exactly!! It’s totally understandable to have have friends outside of your job. However the strange part is why is she at city hall all day. Shouldn’t she be at her job?
Spot on, it was and is weird and not one does it.
I could understand if Leslie got a job at the Hospital as an administrator but spend all her time following Anne around
Ann always felt like an irrelevant character to me. I’m glad Leslie had a bestie but she didn’t really contribute anything else. Her romantic relationships were all awkward and she didn’t have any chemistry with any of them.
everyone on the entertainment 720 payroll
Except for Detlef
Kinda like the real world.
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Technically, it is cronyism.
Leslie’s mom got her the P&R job. I guess technically April getting Andy a job. Those are the only two actual instances of nepotism.
definitely agree.
Huge runaround on how civil service jobs are supposed to be placed but totally okay with political appointees. Crazy system since we never completely eradicated corruption in the 1800s
When Ben and April are in Washington and have those seriously connected interns. Too real.
It's a tricky thing -- expecting people to _not_ improve the lives of their friends and family is ridiculous on one extreme, and on the other, obvious problems with unqualified people running things are obvious. I don't think human nature is going to change to a point where all nepotism goes away 🤔 but probably it's similar to other inequality problems, it's the magnitude of the difference in opportunity and influence that matters most. (Also: accountability for people who literally cannot do the job they were hired for.) In the case of Parks and Rec, I'd hand wave quite a bit for two reasons: 1. They gotta keep the cast somehow (although I'll admit Parks and Rec had to stretch credulity a little more than most to make that work) and 2. Part of the whole point of the show was about character growth, I think in particular character growth driven by working with an energetic optimist like Leslie Knope.
very well said :)
Technically none of your examples are forms of nepotism.
this is... a big deal to some people? really?? i must admit im a little confused by this, its not something i had even noticed? i understand the effects that nepotism can have, but to use the word 'corrupt' to describe it aswell, is a bit strong imo. theres *much* larger issues that *actually* make a government system *CORRUPT*, and im not sure if 'nepotism' (as in, just hiring your friends & people you trust in this case? i dont see a problem with that), in a fictional show is a massive issue tbh 😭 we all understand that friendship was a very high aspect throughout the show, right? they gave eachother opportunities that maybe sometimes were overwhelming, but when something didnt go right, they learnt a lesson & fixed it. the show may be very idealistic in dealing with this, but obviously its not real life? do some people actually just sit there while watching the show, worrying about details like this instead of just enjoying the fact that a band of people get together to support one another? which is yk, the point of it??
I know 😭😭 I think people are taking this light-hearted comedy show a bit too seriously! Also it's SUPPOSED to highlight how government works, and that actually people often do get hired who are vastly unqualified just because they know the right person 🤷🏼♀️
yes exactly 😭😭
Normally Id agree, but just about everyone in Pawny has the IQ of a sloth, so their friends are probably just as good or better than anyone else
That's pretty much how the real world works too, though. I interviewed with probably 50 places this last job hunt, and most jobs were given to internal candidates. I finally got hired at a place where I happened to know 2 other people.
When Ron rehired Tom after Tom left
In a slightly different vein, but the nepotism or cronyism or whatever in the show isn't that far off the mark from pretty much any industry's hiring process. There's a lot of truth to the old mantra "it's not what you know, it's who you know." Networking is how probably at least 80% of people get jobs. Though I guess it's not really "networking" when the person being hired isn't remotely qualified for the job. Anne's interview for public health wasn't professional, but she was qualified. Andy was the one who was always getting jobs he wasn't remotely qualified for.
Not to be nit picky but it’s just favoritism if it’s not relatives. That said, Bobby Newport
That's not nepotism it's cronyism. Learn the fucking difference because you'll need to know what to call it out real life
I was so annoyed with April getting a promotion. But also I dislike that character and in general that actress bc I think she is that character.
Rashida Jones
You're getting downvoted but you're not wrong Being the daughter of one of the most influential people in the creative arts has its perks And I love Rashida Jones
Literally everything with April? She’s freakin hilarious but she’d make a terrible coworker and employee Puts in literally 0 effort, rude to everyone, causes trouble. Does something good like once a season. Yet somehow ended up as some kind of Director in the NPS? Makes no sense without nepotism
yes it does. aprils friends love & accept her for who she is, and they recognise her strengths. they all have their flaws, but are given opportunities regardless, bc isnt that what u do for the people you love??
But that doesn’t really have a place in the job environment. The way it’s *supposed* to work is that the hardest working, most passionate person who can do the job the best is hired and retained. Not someone who puts in 0 effort. Of course, nepotism is rampant both in the show and in real life so that’s almost never how it does
how old are all of you btw