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Elitism

amandaw

I find that this charge, leveled against political candidates and other public figures, is not talking about the kind of elitism that separates a snob from “regular Americans” (you know, the white ones [/sarcasm]). When media figures and others of high stature complain of a figure’s “elitism,” they don’t mean, “He thinks he’s better than you” — what they actually mean is, “He thinks he’s better than us.” They are upset because a public figure dares think himself important without paying due respects to the other members of the upper classes.

John McCain and Barack Obama are both elites. So are all the media figures crying about elitism. Whether they sip wine or chug beer, the both of them are far removed from the sort of life I lead, you lead, your neighbors lead, your coworkers lead, your families lead. It doesn’t make a goddamn drop of difference to any of us whether either of them turns his nose up at other figures in the same high class they already occupy. It just hurts the feelings of those higher figures who have toxic levels of self-importance.

They think they can determine what matters to me. I have news for them — they don’t have a fucking clue.

16 thoughts on Elitism

  1. These motherfucking mainstream media shitbag “journalists” are a disgrace to the notion of the Fourth Estate. They are nothing more than sycophantic kneepad-wearing suck-ups to power, looking for the next scrotum to deliver a tongue-bath to. They make me fucking sick, the way that they are so focused on their next free glass of cheap-ass box-wine chardonnay and a goddamn mini-quiche to realize that they are just conduits for sick-fuck right-wing government propaganda. Ugh. The Framers are turning in their graves.

  2. Spot-on. Thanks for summing this up so nicely- – I wish all voters could have such an understanding of what’s really going on when one elite calls another elite “elitist.”

  3. “They think they can determine what matters to me. I have news for them — they don’t have a fucking clue.”

    It’s not like Republicans have a monopoly on self-righteousness. It is an inherent characteristic of party politics.

  5. “When media figures and others of high stature complain of a figure’s “elitism,” they don’t mean, “He thinks he’s better than you” — what they actually mean is, “He thinks he’s better than us.” They are upset because a public figure dares think himself important without paying due respects to the other members of the upper classes.”

    No it doesn’t, it means that they haven’t paid due respect to the motions of pretending their opinions, tastes and ideals are the same as people who base their ideals on Hollywood movies, and who’ve probably never bought a newspaper or held a passport in their lives. Someone you’re describing is more often described as a ‘maverick’ (good) or a ‘fringe element’ (dangerous and probably communist).

  6. You’re missing my point. Cable news anchors and newspaper writers stand along with national politicians and major corp CEOs in the top 5% (1%, often) of the country. The former like to think that they, unlike the latter, can connect with the other 95%. My point is, they’re in the freakin’ top 5% already, they have no leg to stand on telling me that this OTHER 5%er is totally out of touch with my lie. Ya both are.

  7. … and the “Look, I understand regular people!” rituals, yes, are expected of political figures. But why? Does it help those regular people? Would you rather have equal pay or images of Michelle and Barack pushing a stroller around a park? I can tell you which I’d rather have. Those rituals serve no purpose to us 95%ers; all they do is make the 5% feel better about *THEMSELVES*.

    Shorter amandaw: Even their “caring” about us is really about them.

  8. Wow, amandaw…

    WORD

    That attitude sucks for everyone and all situations. It’s not just about sympathy for the non-elite. It’s about sympathy for anyone! Absolutely no one deserves to be a football between somebody else’s war to attack or preserve self-image. Racism, sexism, ablism, ageism, classism; none of these should be slung at a slur at other people when the argument’s really about something else. It’s hard enough to get a frank discussion about these topics. It’s even harder to truly lighten the burdens of these ‘ism on the individuals afflicted. Let’s not make it harder.

    Affecting a cheesy accent from a place that’s truly not your home, being seen to drink cheap beer of the masses, showing an accordance of belief in the erroneous morality of the petit bourgeois and their religious hangers-on, all of that enfranchises an ugly dynamic of appealing to the self-loathing of the lower classes. Instead of being elite, in the sense that anyone can become elite, we must cover that up such that the ones who are less might have a curdled film over their gelatinous discontent.

  10. I just wish I had the powers with the force republicans do, to be able to paint bush as a gentleman cowboy or obama as an elite but not mccain, damn, is that a jedi mind trick or a sith mind trick?

    amandaw-its all a dog and pony show for the “low info voter”, a lot of people actually do vote on their perception of this kind of shit, I have coworkers that still think of mccain as the dude in 2000 with his straight talk and he makes them feel better about themselves. the issues dont seem to matter much and somehow the repubs can get tens of millions of people to vote against their own interest, its amazing. that and a lot of people just assume what mccain is for platform wise based on being a republican, they dont change their opinion much and they sure as heck dont go and try and find the information. One nugget of anecdata, i was talking with 4 of my friends, all republicans, about what the republican party is now (its not all bad, there are factions within it i can agree with some of the time) and i brought up goldwater…none of them knew who goldwater was, they have their idea of what the republican party is, what it does and what it stands for and they just wont change it an iota, fascinating.

  11. Seriously. What on earth does this extremely rich aristocrat mean when she says Obama is an elitist?

    I think it’s rather obvious what she and other white folk mean when they call Obama ‘elitist’ or ‘arrogant’ or ‘cocky’–and it’s spelled U-P-P-I-T-Y.

  12. When people say he’s an elitist, what they’re really complaining about is that Obama doesn’t pretend he’s an average guy. He knows he’s at the top, and the fact that he doesn’t lower himself to make the jealous around him more comfortable really pisses some people off. Any time he walks into a room he reminds all the average people that he is, in fact, better than him. Thats why Rothschild calls him an elitist, because she knows that the only reason she’s in the society she’s in is because she inherited money. She isn’t elite. Most of the people in the media aren’t elite. Hell, most politicians aren’t elite.

    The problem that people who charge Obama with elitism have has nothing to do with what Obama “thinks.” Thats shorthand for what they fear, for what they perceive. Calling Obama an elitist is akin to saying “He’s better than us and he doesn’t even have the humility to pretend he isn’t so we don’t feel so inferior!” Its expressing outrage that someone would make them uncomfortable, that someone would make them feel small.

    The charges of elitism from his detractors are the other side of the messianic sense you get from some of his supporters. Obama is someone who sits comfortably in the 99th percentile, looking back at the mean from three standard deviations away. He’s a human outlier, and people can see that. Some people look at a person like that and decide they want him to save them, some look at him and become angry because he has something they want but can’t have.

  13. Anyone here read Sadly, No! In the past few days they covered the WaPo “news” item about how Obama not being obese could hurt him in the election. It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.

  14. The stupidest thing about this is that Barack Obama has more “regular guy” cred than just about anyone else in the Senate. (Possible exceptions include Jim Webb.) He wasn’t born rich, his family wasn’t rich, he didn’t marry rich, and although he’s rich now in relation to most of America, he’s practically middle-class compared to his colleagues in the Senate.

    And before book deals became a factor, most of the Obamas’ income was from Michelle’s job as a hospital administrator. Paid much better than the Illinois State Senate.

  15. Obama is not elite. There is a class of people in this country who are Black and come from pedigree and money. The Obamas do not belong to it. McCain is the grandson of an admiral and married an heiress. They have like 9 houses and he wears $500+ loafers and he flies in his own private jet. You should be careful about tossing bout statements like that to signify your point. Getting scholarships and being on welfare – and navigating your way through life successfully does not make you elite. It does mean you made use of every opportunity, worked hard, had some luck and wisdom to utilize good choices. But it doesn’t make you elite.

  16. One would hope that this country would be run by an intellectual elite that also possess some common sense and basic moral compass (ie, willingness to consider that all people “matter” enough to be included in policy considerations).

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