"Elites" - Who Are They and Why Are They to be Despised?

[uscitizen]

Congress is full of elites who do not have to live by the same rules and laws that we commoners do.

 

[B. Kidd]

K. Soros is an elite.

Don't argue with that. There are many who for convenience claim either side.

Glad you looked at elites 'from both sides now'.

 

[FactFinder]

Congress is full of elites who do not have to live by the same rules and laws that we commoners do.

They probaly could not even spell commoners as well as you.

 

[Si modo]

I'm a new guy who has no idea who you are or what you want to say......even though you started a thread. Spit it out already.

OK - fair enough.

This thread got started due to some guy I heard on Public Radio. He was talking about elitism and the tendency of people (mainly Republicans) in today's political world, to attempt to demonize their opponents by referring to them as "elitists" or "elites."

He said, isn't it interesting - here we have people who are generally very well off, people who live in gated communities, who own yachts, who occupy the fancy suites overlooking baseball parks and football stadiums, who are the CEO's of big corporations, i.e., generally Republicans, calling other people "elitists." He asked, does this seem somewhat ironic to anyone?

But then he went on to DEFINE elitism and, in so doing, he pointed out that there are various aspects of elitism that are quite different. For example, he noted that much of the Republican hatred for "elites" seemed to be aimed at intellectual people - the extremely well educated, college and university professors, scientists, etc. In other words, intellectual elitism.

There is another type of elitism, of course - economic elitism. He posited that when it comes to this type of elitism, it would seem to be mainly a Republican trait, rather than a Democratic one. I don't want this to turn into a "who has the wealth" debate - I'm just saying what this guy said. Whether he is right or not on that narrow issue isn't the point. The point has to do with how we should look at elitism.

Here is the really fascinating thing he said. He asked, WHY do people seem to have more hatred for the intellectually elite, than the economic elite? Good question. He had an answer. His theory is, that anyone, with a little hard work or, better yet, a little good luck (inheritance, lottery winner, etc.) can become an economic elite, whereas you either are an intellectual or you aren't, and no amount of luck is going to get you there if you aren't there already.

The majority of people seem to instinctivley know they are never going to be able to be an intellectual elite, whereas they always seem to see themselves as possible economic elites. Hence, the hatred for something they envy but see themselves as probably never being able to achieve, and the lack of hatred for something they see themselves as possibly being able to achieve at some time in the future.

Interesting, huh? It was to me anyway. Comments?

A lot of what the right wing believes is simply what they "imagine". You can see it in their policies. They aren't based on data or study. They are "common sense" and a "gut feeling". Then when they are wrong, they blame the educated for being "elitist". And they are nearly always wrong. You see it over and over again.

Evolution - between fossils, genetics, geology, and the other many sources of evidence, right wingers refuse to "believe" what is right there and available for them to learn.

Same thing with Climate Change.

Look at the economics. Trickle down doesn't work. When someone describes the policy out loud, normal people guffaw. When do Republicans say the words "supply and demand"? They insist there are the "job creators", like they are gods or something, just give them everything they need and they will "make jobs". They refuse to see the connection between "demand" and "jobs".

Successful economies, like ours in the past, followed a "Triple Helix" partnership of Universities, Government, and Business. Right wingers want to starve government until it's small enough to drown in a bathtub (Grover's words) and they think education is "just a piece of paper". And no matter how much they want to believe it, corporations are NOT people. They just aren't.

So you want a "serious" conversation? You won't get it from the right wing. I don't know how many right wingers right here on the USMB have described scientists as lazy, over educated, on the government dole, people who don't add anything the country, lack common sense and so on. But when you point out that a measly 6%, according to PEW Research, of scientists are Republican, they howl "LIAR". Point out that you can find "Scientific Organizations" of Blacks, of Gays, of Women, of Hispanics and so on, but not a single one of Conservatives or Republicans and the right wing will say, "That's because we don't inject politics into science". That, coming from people who want to teach "magical creation" as "science"? Seriously? Hilarious.

Deanie-do has no idea what the GOP nor what the 'right wing' thinks.

Unless he believes he can read minds. And, if he does, I am not surprised.

 

[Sunshine]

Congress is full of elites who do not have to live by the same rules and laws that we commoners do.

Yeah, I laugh when someone says 'we' need to give them a pay cut. The members themselves are the only ones who can vote on their pay, so 'we' can't do a damned thing about it!

 

[McDowell's]

Who are you?

I'm a new guy who has no idea who you are or what you want to say......even though you started a thread. Spit it out already.

OK - fair enough.

This thread got started due to some guy I heard on Public Radio. He was talking about elitism and the tendency of people (mainly Republicans) in today's political world, to attempt to demonize their opponents by referring to them as "elitists" or "elites."

He said, isn't it interesting - here we have people who are generally very well off, people who live in gated communities, who own yachts, who occupy the fancy suites overlooking baseball parks and football stadiums, who are the CEO's of big corporations, i.e., generally Republicans, calling other people "elitists." He asked, does this seem somewhat ironic to anyone?

But then he went on to DEFINE elitism and, in so doing, he pointed out that there are various aspects of elitism that are quite different. For example, he noted that much of the Republican hatred for "elites" seemed to be aimed at intellectual people - the extremely well educated, college and university professors, scientists, etc. In other words, intellectual elitism.

There is another type of elitism, of course - economic elitism. He posited that when it comes to this type of elitism, it would seem to be mainly a Republican trait, rather than a Democratic one. I don't want this to turn into a "who has the wealth" debate - I'm just saying what this guy said. Whether he is right or not on that narrow issue isn't the point. The point has to do with how we should look at elitism.

Here is the really fascinating thing he said. He asked, WHY do people seem to have more hatred for the intellectually elite, than the economic elite? Good question. He had an answer. His theory is, that anyone, with a little hard work or, better yet, a little good luck (inheritance, lottery winner, etc.) can become an economic elite, whereas you either are an intellectual or you aren't, and no amount of luck is going to get you there if you aren't there already.

The majority of people seem to instinctivley know they are never going to be able to be an intellectual elite, whereas they always seem to see themselves as possible economic elites. Hence, the hatred for something they envy but see themselves as probably never being able to achieve, and the lack of hatred for something they see themselves as possibly being able to achieve at some time in the future.

Interesting, huh? It was to me anyway. Comments?

Interesting in the fact the guy has no idea what's actually happening in the real world right now?

 

[FactFinder]

OK - fair enough.

This thread got started due to some guy I heard on Public Radio. He was talking about elitism and the tendency of people (mainly Republicans) in today's political world, to attempt to demonize their opponents by referring to them as "elitists" or "elites."

He said, isn't it interesting - here we have people who are generally very well off, people who live in gated communities, who own yachts, who occupy the fancy suites overlooking baseball parks and football stadiums, who are the CEO's of big corporations, i.e., generally Republicans, calling other people "elitists." He asked, does this seem somewhat ironic to anyone?

But then he went on to DEFINE elitism and, in so doing, he pointed out that there are various aspects of elitism that are quite different. For example, he noted that much of the Republican hatred for "elites" seemed to be aimed at intellectual people - the extremely well educated, college and university professors, scientists, etc. In other words, intellectual elitism.

There is another type of elitism, of course - economic elitism. He posited that when it comes to this type of elitism, it would seem to be mainly a Republican trait, rather than a Democratic one. I don't want this to turn into a "who has the wealth" debate - I'm just saying what this guy said. Whether he is right or not on that narrow issue isn't the point. The point has to do with how we should look at elitism.

Here is the really fascinating thing he said. He asked, WHY do people seem to have more hatred for the intellectually elite, than the economic elite? Good question. He had an answer. His theory is, that anyone, with a little hard work or, better yet, a little good luck (inheritance, lottery winner, etc.) can become an economic elite, whereas you either are an intellectual or you aren't, and no amount of luck is going to get you there if you aren't there already.

The majority of people seem to instinctivley know they are never going to be able to be an intellectual elite, whereas they always seem to see themselves as possible economic elites. Hence, the hatred for something they envy but see themselves as probably never being able to achieve, and the lack of hatred for something they see themselves as possibly being able to achieve at some time in the future.

Interesting, huh? It was to me anyway. Comments?

A lot of what the right wing believes is simply what they "imagine". You can see it in their policies. They aren't based on data or study. They are "common sense" and a "gut feeling". Then when they are wrong, they blame the educated for being "elitist". And they are nearly always wrong. You see it over and over again.

Evolution - between fossils, genetics, geology, and the other many sources of evidence, right wingers refuse to "believe" what is right there and available for them to learn.

Same thing with Climate Change.

Look at the economics. Trickle down doesn't work. When someone describes the policy out loud, normal people guffaw. When do Republicans say the words "supply and demand"? They insist there are the "job creators", like they are gods or something, just give them everything they need and they will "make jobs". They refuse to see the connection between "demand" and "jobs".

Successful economies, like ours in the past, followed a "Triple Helix" partnership of Universities, Government, and Business. Right wingers want to starve government until it's small enough to drown in a bathtub (Grover's words) and they think education is "just a piece of paper". And no matter how much they want to believe it, corporations are NOT people. They just aren't.

So you want a "serious" conversation? You won't get it from the right wing. I don't know how many right wingers right here on the USMB have described scientists as lazy, over educated, on the government dole, people who don't add anything the country, lack common sense and so on. But when you point out that a measly 6%, according to PEW Research, of scientists are Republican, they howl "LIAR". Point out that you can find "Scientific Organizations" of Blacks, of Gays, of Women, of Hispanics and so on, but not a single one of Conservatives or Republicans and the right wing will say, "That's because we don't inject politics into science". That, coming from people who want to teach "magical creation" as "science"? Seriously? Hilarious.

Deanie-do has no idea what the GOP nor what the 'right wing' thinks.

Unless he believes he can read minds. And, if he does, I am not surprised.

I don't think there is any mind reading necessary. One need only to read these boards to reflect on the 'mental illness'.

 

[Si modo]

A lot of what the right wing believes is simply what they "imagine". You can see it in their policies. They aren't based on data or study. They are "common sense" and a "gut feeling". Then when they are wrong, they blame the educated for being "elitist". And they are nearly always wrong. You see it over and over again.

Evolution - between fossils, genetics, geology, and the other many sources of evidence, right wingers refuse to "believe" what is right there and available for them to learn.

Same thing with Climate Change.

Look at the economics. Trickle down doesn't work. When someone describes the policy out loud, normal people guffaw. When do Republicans say the words "supply and demand"? They insist there are the "job creators", like they are gods or something, just give them everything they need and they will "make jobs". They refuse to see the connection between "demand" and "jobs".

Successful economies, like ours in the past, followed a "Triple Helix" partnership of Universities, Government, and Business. Right wingers want to starve government until it's small enough to drown in a bathtub (Grover's words) and they think education is "just a piece of paper". And no matter how much they want to believe it, corporations are NOT people. They just aren't.

So you want a "serious" conversation? You won't get it from the right wing. I don't know how many right wingers right here on the USMB have described scientists as lazy, over educated, on the government dole, people who don't add anything the country, lack common sense and so on. But when you point out that a measly 6%, according to PEW Research, of scientists are Republican, they howl "LIAR". Point out that you can find "Scientific Organizations" of Blacks, of Gays, of Women, of Hispanics and so on, but not a single one of Conservatives or Republicans and the right wing will say, "That's because we don't inject politics into science". That, coming from people who want to teach "magical creation" as "science"? Seriously? Hilarious.

Deanie-do has no idea what the GOP nor what the 'right wing' thinks.

Unless he believes he can read minds. And, if he does, I am not surprised.

I don't think there is any mind reading necessary. One need only to read these boards to reflect on the 'mental illness'.

Ah, a mind reader, too.

Delusions abound.

And you walk among us..........

That's some scary shit right there.

 

[rdean]

A lot of what the right wing believes is simply what they "imagine". You can see it in their policies. They aren't based on data or study. They are "common sense" and a "gut feeling". Then when they are wrong, they blame the educated for being "elitist". And they are nearly always wrong. You see it over and over again.

Evolution - between fossils, genetics, geology, and the other many sources of evidence, right wingers refuse to "believe" what is right there and available for them to learn.

Same thing with Climate Change.

Look at the economics. Trickle down doesn't work. When someone describes the policy out loud, normal people guffaw. When do Republicans say the words "supply and demand"? They insist there are the "job creators", like they are gods or something, just give them everything they need and they will "make jobs". They refuse to see the connection between "demand" and "jobs".

Successful economies, like ours in the past, followed a "Triple Helix" partnership of Universities, Government, and Business. Right wingers want to starve government until it's small enough to drown in a bathtub (Grover's words) and they think education is "just a piece of paper". And no matter how much they want to believe it, corporations are NOT people. They just aren't.

So you want a "serious" conversation? You won't get it from the right wing. I don't know how many right wingers right here on the USMB have described scientists as lazy, over educated, on the government dole, people who don't add anything the country, lack common sense and so on. But when you point out that a measly 6%, according to PEW Research, of scientists are Republican, they howl "LIAR". Point out that you can find "Scientific Organizations" of Blacks, of Gays, of Women, of Hispanics and so on, but not a single one of Conservatives or Republicans and the right wing will say, "That's because we don't inject politics into science". That, coming from people who want to teach "magical creation" as "science"? Seriously? Hilarious.

Deanie-do has no idea what the GOP nor what the 'right wing' thinks.

Unless he believes he can read minds. And, if he does, I am not surprised.

I don't think there is any mind reading necessary. One need only to read these boards to reflect on the 'mental illness'.

Absolutely, most of what I wrote is simply paraphrasing what right wingers on this board say. About science, about economics. I didn't even cover their strange social policies.

 

[FactFinder]

Deanie-do has no idea what the GOP nor what the 'right wing' thinks.

Unless he believes he can read minds. And, if he does, I am not surprised.

I don't think there is any mind reading necessary. One need only to read these boards to reflect on the 'mental illness'.

Ah, a mind reader, too.

Delusions abound.

And you walk among us..........

That's some scary shit right there.

Glad I got your attention.

 

[Sunshine]

Deanie-do has no idea what the GOP nor what the 'right wing' thinks.

Unless he believes he can read minds. And, if he does, I am not surprised.

I don't think there is any mind reading necessary. One need only to read these boards to reflect on the 'mental illness'.

Ah, a mind reader, too.

Delusions abound.

And you walk among us..........

That's some scary shit right there.

You intellectual elite you!

 

[Lakhota]

The 4 Billionaire 'Vultures' Trying to Pick Our Next President | News & Politics | AlterNet

 

[FactFinder]

Who Are They and Why Are They to be Despised?

In case anyone has not stated it yet, because they are greed mongering, paranoid a'holes.

 

[SmarterThanHick]

Right wingers worship the rich but despise the educated. Someone like Bush, rich enough for his father to pull strings to get his son into Harvard where his grades were C minus. See? They love him for being rich, identify with him for being dumb. There you have it. The "elitist" divide.

This is really spot on. I find the entire thing amazing how we vilify smart politicians and promote the "average joe" politician. Why? Do you want your doctor or lawyer or company's CEO to be the "average joe" American? Or do you want the smartest professional best positioned for the job?

 

[syrenn]

Who are you?

I'm a new guy who has no idea who you are or what you want to say......even though you started a thread. Spit it out already.

OK - fair enough.

This thread got started due to some guy I heard on Public Radio. He was talking about elitism and the tendency of people (mainly Republicans) in today's political world, to attempt to demonize their opponents by referring to them as "elitists" or "elites."

He said, isn't it interesting - here we have people who are generally very well off, people who live in gated communities, who own yachts, who occupy the fancy suites overlooking baseball parks and football stadiums, who are the CEO's of big corporations, i.e., generally Republicans, calling other people "elitists." He asked, does this seem somewhat ironic to anyone?

But then he went on to DEFINE elitism and, in so doing, he pointed out that there are various aspects of elitism that are quite different. For example, he noted that much of the Republican hatred for "elites" seemed to be aimed at intellectual people - the extremely well educated, college and university professors, scientists, etc. In other words, intellectual elitism.

There is another type of elitism, of course - economic elitism. He posited that when it comes to this type of elitism, it would seem to be mainly a Republican trait, rather than a Democratic one. I don't want this to turn into a "who has the wealth" debate - I'm just saying what this guy said. Whether he is right or not on that narrow issue isn't the point. The point has to do with how we should look at elitism.

Here is the really fascinating thing he said. He asked, WHY do people seem to have more hatred for the intellectually elite, than the economic elite? Good question. He had an answer. His theory is, that anyone, with a little hard work or, better yet, a little good luck (inheritance, lottery winner, etc.) can become an economic elite, whereas you either are an intellectual or you aren't, and no amount of luck is going to get you there if you aren't there already.

The majority of people seem to instinctivley know they are never going to be able to be an intellectual elite, whereas they always seem to see themselves as possible economic elites. Hence, the hatred for something they envy but see themselves as probably never being able to achieve, and the lack of hatred for something they see themselves as possibly being able to achieve at some time in the future.

Interesting, huh? It was to me anyway. Comments?

And you are just coming to understand all of this now? Where have you been all of your life?

 

[uscitizen]

Virtually all entertainers are elites and do not live by the same rules/laws we do.

Mega preachers and their inner circles, the CEO good ol boys club, etc.

 

[FactFinder]

I'm a new guy who has no idea who you are or what you want to say......even though you started a thread. Spit it out already.

OK - fair enough.

This thread got started due to some guy I heard on Public Radio. He was talking about elitism and the tendency of people (mainly Republicans) in today's political world, to attempt to demonize their opponents by referring to them as "elitists" or "elites."

He said, isn't it interesting - here we have people who are generally very well off, people who live in gated communities, who own yachts, who occupy the fancy suites overlooking baseball parks and football stadiums, who are the CEO's of big corporations, i.e., generally Republicans, calling other people "elitists." He asked, does this seem somewhat ironic to anyone?

But then he went on to DEFINE elitism and, in so doing, he pointed out that there are various aspects of elitism that are quite different. For example, he noted that much of the Republican hatred for "elites" seemed to be aimed at intellectual people - the extremely well educated, college and university professors, scientists, etc. In other words, intellectual elitism.

There is another type of elitism, of course - economic elitism. He posited that when it comes to this type of elitism, it would seem to be mainly a Republican trait, rather than a Democratic one. I don't want this to turn into a "who has the wealth" debate - I'm just saying what this guy said. Whether he is right or not on that narrow issue isn't the point. The point has to do with how we should look at elitism.

Here is the really fascinating thing he said. He asked, WHY do people seem to have more hatred for the intellectually elite, than the economic elite? Good question. He had an answer. His theory is, that anyone, with a little hard work or, better yet, a little good luck (inheritance, lottery winner, etc.) can become an economic elite, whereas you either are an intellectual or you aren't, and no amount of luck is going to get you there if you aren't there already.

The majority of people seem to instinctivley know they are never going to be able to be an intellectual elite, whereas they always seem to see themselves as possible economic elites. Hence, the hatred for something they envy but see themselves as probably never being able to achieve, and the lack of hatred for something they see themselves as possibly being able to achieve at some time in the future.

Interesting, huh? It was to me anyway. Comments?

And you are just coming to understand all of this now? Where have you been all of your life?

sadly...I concur.

 

[Political Junky]

Scott Brown's campaign is calling Elizabeth Warren elite. That's odd since she is from a middle class family and went to public schools, whereas Brown went to private schools.

 

[skipper]

Right wingers worship the rich but despise the educated. Someone like Bush, rich enough for his father to pull strings to get his son into Harvard where his grades were C minus. See? They love him for being rich, identify with him for being dumb. There you have it. The "elitist" divide.

This is really spot on. I find the entire thing amazing how we vilify smart politicians and promote the "average joe" politician. Why? Do you want your doctor or lawyer or company's CEO to be the "average joe" American? Or do you want the smartest professional best positioned for the job?

Never thought I'd see a comparison but this disdain for the educated seems like a Right Wing version of the Cultural Revolution.

 

[Mr. Shaman]

Please...........oh please, George..............teach us.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBzYSUI5_GM]Bill Maher on elites - YouTube[/ame]​