Elitism is a sense that the hoi polloi are simply incapable of governing themselves, let alone a nation, and that a small group of “experts” have to take control of everything they do.

Check out 20/20 Stossel’s Guide To Politics – part 1 demonstrates this very concept quite nicely; people will form their own very effective ways of living and working if the “experts” would just leave them alone.

The rest of the 5 part series is worth watching as well.

Elitism is a sense that the hoi polloi are simply incapable of governing themselves, let alone a nation, and that a small group of “experts” have to take control of everything they do. That goes far beyond mere matters of state. Elitists see people getting more obese and believe that government has to intervene to remove food choices from individuals, as one rather timely example, as in New York City. They believe that removing personal choices will keep people from making bad decisions, because they — in all their wisdom — will make the right choices for them.

This describes perfectly the policy direction of the Democratic Party, and perhaps even a part of the Republican Party as well. That’s why the charge of elitism sticks so well to Democratic candidates in national elections. Their humble origins are immaterial to the concept of elitism. Candidates who want to grow the federal government in order to increase its nanny-state power are by definition elitists, because they believe individuals cannot make choices for themselves.

Well said, Ed. And, it is this attitude that will be a major reason that Obama and possibly the rest of the Democrats lose this coming November.

I know it’s Off Topic, but the McCain and Obama campaigns are taking the day to observe the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks…
[...]
I guess “Never Forget” has been forgotten?
 
SilverStar830 on September 11, 2008 at 8:41 AM

 
Not in my neck of the woods, it hasn’t. I work at a defense installation. We had a fire alarm this morning. After we all evacuated the building, I was standing out in the parking lot talking with my co-workers. One of them speculated that this might not have been a drill, that perhaps someone thought it would be cute to call in a bomb threat on the anniversary of 9/11/01. It came out that the woman I was standing next to, who just started working here a couple of weeks ago, is a 9/11 survivor. She was working at the Pentagon. Her boss was killed in the attack. I didn’t press her for details.

highhopes on September 11, 2008 at 9:33 AM

Thanks. I do know of Hilldale. That name comes up a lot as being one of the top conservative schools in the country. Frankly, I’d even settle for politically neutral. But is a sad day when the Ivys are something to worry about. And we are there.

JiangxiDad on September 11, 2008 at 9:42 AM

I have spent my entire adult life in and around academics. I went to a small, liberal arts religiously-affiliated college for undergraduate school, a prestigious university for grad school, and taught and worked at large state schools. My husband also works in academe with a similar mix of experiences.

Big state schools are great for many reasons, including the fact that many of the students’ peers are working their way through college and/or returning after having worked, but they are not a shield from elitism. Don’t forget that UC Berkeley, UMichigan-Ann Arbor, UW-Madison, IU-Bloomington, are big state schools.

Small, denominational colleges can be a great environment, but – and I say this with all due respect – they can be perceived as insular. I’ve served on grad admissions committees and know that (in science anyway) students from these schools have an uphill battle of perceptions about their undergraduate experience. Some of it is elitism, but some of the criticism is valid, imho.

The elite schools – MIT, UChicago, Stanfords, etc – tend to attract the best and brightest products of the academic system. They can “afford” to have top conservatives on their faculty because they are robust enough to accommodate some dissent, but are still overwhelmingly populated by liberal elitists. Students there can find pockets of conservatism.

My advice to you when deciding on a college for your kids is to look at where the graduates go on to work, see if they have an ROTC program, look at graduate school placement, research the board of trustees, etc. The college where my husband is now has a very liberal faculty body, but the students (top math and engineering) go on to work for military-industrial companies, Wall Street, think tanks, CIA, etc – it doesn’t matter what their professors think. And, because it is a prestigious institution, they get into the top grad programs. The students get exposed to the typical mix of “diversity programs,” social justice events, etc, but because they are focussed on academics, it doesn’t warp them after graduation.

Being exposed to liberal elitism as an undergraduate can be a useful experience, as long as the students’ options after graduation are not limited.

ps. Based on my experiences, I have found liberalism and elitism to be interwoven in academe. Liberals (the majority) do not listen to conservative opinions. They spend their time lecturing to conservatives and trying to “educate” them about their misguided opinions. They look down on conservatives as defective. They look for simple explanations (religion, military background, social class, gender, race) for the “defects” they find. That’s elitism – assuming that someone who has arrived at a different set of beliefs is defective.

I want someone to explain how we common folk, who are too stupid to make decisions in our own lives, are smart enough to choose the people to make decisions for us all.

The Monster on September 11, 2008 at 10:45 AM

We’re not smart enough to choose (according to them), which is why the Liberal-elite MSM is trying so hard to make the choice for us.

I want someone to explain how we common folk, who are too stupid to make decisions in our own lives, are smart enough to choose the people to make decisions for us all.

The Monster on September 11, 2008 at 10:45 AM

Don’t worry, you won’t have to make that decision too much longer either.

I know these people… I have some in my family and when they are not in public, their disdain for conservatives, blue-collar and particularly white southerners is worn like a crest on their Che’ T-Shirts. In their minds they ‘re smarter and therefore better people and they should be making more money, their political ideology should be enforced, not discussed, and to question their ideology is to question their intellect.

It’s pretty pathetic.

tru2tx on September 11, 2008 at 11:49 AM

One thing that interests me is that McCain never talks about the years he was trying to raise a Family on Military pay…

Yeah, as a squadron CO he had housing and such, but he sure was not a Gazzilionaire during those years…

Maybe eliminating earmarks and making them responsive to the people who elect them and not the fatcats who support their lifestyle will make a difference.

That’s one of the reasons they are so afraid of McCain/Palin.

Your post is very thoughtful and well said, also.

It’s obvious that the more non-Ivy League colleges you attend, the more elitist you become.

I *think* I have that right, don’t I?

To use a “5th grade” expression: It takes one to know one.

JimK on September 11, 2008 at 8:53 AM

Couldn’t say it better.

Both are found in abundance when examining Barack Obama.