[lsc]

>It's what separates Emperor Norton from a random homeless guy.

This, I think, is the key to the whole thing, and the disconnect between you and many of the others here.

I mean, yes, if you are the sort of person who values appearances, then yes, status is very important. that's kind of the point.

If you are the sort of person who doesn't value appearances over abilities, the story of emperor Norton is just the story of people making fun of a mentally ill homeless guy.

Of course, most of us in real life are between those two extremes; but I'm more in the latter camp than the former, and it sounds like you are probably more in the former than the latter. It's two different ways of looking at the world and two different ways of choosing leaders.