u/Plus-Opportunity-538

Prior to the internet publishing was a guarded wall and writing to reach the masses took resources and connections to achieve. There were many people who's thoughts never reached an audience in their lifetime or even after.

Assuming that you could give a magic electronic device that didn't have to worry about batteries that had one function, accessing modern day reddit, to any human being who died pre internet; who would it be?

One idea, a man barely able to publish during his lifetime and who never successfully reached an audience until he died. The patron saint of r/antiwork: Franz Kafka.

Malcolm probably was smart enough to become president but as the revival indicated they raised him such a way that never curbed his antisocial tendencies and insufferable attitudes. He became someone who clearly not in control of his emotions was easily baited into anger and frustration by others which combined with his lack of charisma would generally keep him out of roles like president. His actual strengths he was never allowed to lean into and maximize due to a misguided idea that giving him obstacles would foster his growth more than giving him support.

Francis has the charisma that Malcolm lacked but due to his history of getting into trouble they handicapped that gift by sending him to military school to beat that shit out of him. The military structure and rigor did not suit Francis but he found a cause to rebel against the injustices levied against him and his peers. Francis in defiance actually transformed his environment through his innate leadership skills successfully rebelling against military brass and ultimately escapes. Despite clearly seeing that he's able to use his abilities in righteous ways his parents continue to shut him out emotionally and financially. Their lack of support don't deter him from defiantly building his own life and opportunities, as notably he was able to turn around a business responsibly and start a family, but they hold him back from achieving more.

Reese ironically was perfect for military service but was not given the opportunity that Francis was given. In fact unlike Francis he was the perfect soldier as we find out when he actually enlisted himself. Reese was a ball of energy that needed direction and structure without that framework his tendencies lead to chaos and bullying. But given orders or a recipe to follow and he excels in fact even more than excelling as his cooking talent reveals he has the ability to innovate too. Reese's energies could either be directed like a river generating electricity or if not harnessed it could become a force for destruction like a tsunami. His parents instead reacted more to his acts of wanton destruction rather than seeing the potential to redirect that energy into something constructive and sadly the opportunities he gets he has to create for himself.

Dewey avoids all of this because he's able to watch and observe three other examples unfurl before his eyes. He learns to lay low and bide his time. He's nearly as gifted as Malcolm but harnesses it without drawing attention. His social acumen and scheming allows him to side step his parents controlling tendencies. And in the revival he's the only one capable of actually escaping the family doing exactly what Malcolm wanted to do without arousing the retribution that Malcolm called onto himself.

I'm old school so I am relegating this to the kids that had speaking roles in the original run. But Lois and Hal had the right ideas but often applied it to the wrong kid and frequently misread their strengths and weaknesses giving them the right kind of support but to the wrong kid.