What An Elitist Is?
By gewcew23
@gewcew23 (8007)
United States
July 7, 2008 8:27am CST
During this election cycle alot of term have been thrown around but one term that has been used wrongly more than others is the term elitist. Being an elitist has nothing to do with income. Just because Obama was raised by a single mother does not make him a common man. Just because Cindy McCain is a wealthy woman does not make her an elitist. Elitist is an attitude about your fellow man. Elitist look down upon those that they think are less intellegent.
Elitist look down upon gun owner as backwards rub. They look down upon those that believe that the Bible is perfect. They look down on people that do not drive a hybrid, or use mass transportation. They look down upon those that believe English should be the offical language of the USA.
Here is a scenario to help you out. A professor at a local university has a clog pipe at his house. Even though he has a PHD in European literature he does not no the frist thing about pipes. So he calls a plumber, who has never gone to college, but makes more money in one day than our professor. The professor looks down upon this rub because the plumber has one of those Christian fishes on the back of his truck. The professor mocking ask the plumber what kind of college did he go to, to learn how to become a plumber. The plumber tell the professor that he learn his trade in the Navy on an aircraft carrier. This just goes to fortify the professors belief that his is truly the better person in the room.
My question is even though the plumber makes more money than the professor who is the elitist?
1 person likes this
6 responses
@Gargoyle0134 (1257)
• United States
7 Jul 08
To me, an elitist is a person that thinks they are beter than other people and think they are entitled to more than others.
It isn't always dependent on education. People wiht no conscience that think they are neter than you and can take your stuff that you have worked hard for are entitled and elitist! I say..give them a key to the "Grandious Ward" of the nearest mental ward.
3 people like this
@steeltownfan5828 (252)
• United States
7 Jul 08
I don't think that people are flatly elitist, and I don't think that there is anyone who isn't, at least tiny bit. There are some things (a favorite color or band or something like that) that you can argue a bit about, but not really mean anything by it and know that they are not a lesser person because they like different things.
But take this for example: I'm a high school student. I have a 4.0 GPA, and if I know people that just aren't as gifted as myself or my friends and don't do quite as well because of it, but they give everything they have, that's fine. They'll be able to go to college somewhere, find a good job somewhere, and make a decent living. They tried, and had a good deal of success because of it. But if there's someone that doesn't apply themselves, has an 0.67 GPA when they could easily have a 3.0 at the very least, then ends up working at a gas station, I don't feel bad at all for that person. In fact, I won't lie to myself or anyone else, I DO think I'm better than that person, because I did something with myself.
And I think everyone has something like that, where you think that you're better than another for at least one thing. So nobody is totally elitist, and everybody is a little bit.
@Yestheypayme2dothis (7874)
• United States
7 Jul 08
The professor is the elitest. However, I don't believe that thinking English should be the official language of the USA makes a person an elitest. English is the official language in at least 28 states. We need one language that each person is required to use in communication. The USA has people from many countries. We cannot put all those languages on official document. We should not have to. Our country is complicated enough. You come to the USA, you learn English. I picked up a can of peas in which more was in Spanish than English including the expiration date. It was made in the USA. If I cannot find important data on a can of peas in English that was made in the USA, I will never buy it. I tried to order Chinese food from a Chinese restaurant and asked that no staples be used to close the paper container. Never liked staples in my food. The woman had no idea what I was talking about. She did not know what a staple was either. The only English she seemed to know was the name of the items on the menu. Does that mean she knows anything about what we consider to be food safety in the USA? I don't know. Does this make me an elitest? I don't think so, but if it does, so be it.
2 people like this
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
8 Jul 08
The biggest point of your example is that income has nothing to do with elitism. There are poor people who are elitist in that they consider themselves better and more deserving than wealthier Americans. As an educated person, I've actually been looked down on by people who live in rougher areas as they feel they are superior by their ability to live in an area where muggings, drive byes, and other violent crimes happen.
As a black conservative Colin Powell was treated as less than a black man by other black Americans based solely on his political affiliation even before the Bush presidency. The people with elitist attitudes towards him spanned the full range of income levels and education. Many even said that if he were ever president he would be the first "Brown" president, not black.
In the end, it's all about attitude. Anybody can find some way to call themselves better than others and harbor elitist attitudes against those different than them.
1 person likes this
@Wolfechu (1193)
• United States
7 Jul 08
To my understanding, it's not a bad thing. It doesn't even necessarily have anything to do with intelligence, more just a sense of superiority. It's only a bad thing if it's unjustified arrogance; arrogance when you are better at something...
The plumber analogy falls down because any professor worth his salt would acknowledge superiority of someone else in another field; no-one claims to know everything.
I'd take, say, my entertainment from people who strive to do something thought-provoking any day. Otherwise all there'd be to watch on TV would be reality TV shows with idiot members of the public falling over, listening to the latest factory-assembled boybands, and reading Mills & Boon. ;)
