Beavah Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 And not surprisingly, the elites HOWL! Yah, I hear this sort of thing from folks sometimes. I expect I'm just out of the loop on modern vernacular. Could someone explain who the "elites" are? As close as I can tell from context it often seems to refer to "anyone with more education than I have." That confuses me, since I thought education was a good thing, that folks should aspire to. Sometimes it seems to be a throw-away synonym for "liberal twit" or somesuch. That confuses me too, since if yeh are going to denigrate them or their position, why would you call them elite? Sometimes it seems to refer to social or political leaders. That confuses me, too, because as oft as not those folks are conservatives and Republicans, and da way SP used the term that doesn't seem to fit. Can someone help out an old furry fellah? Beavah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packsaddle Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 I can't say for sure but I think the 'elites' are at a club not too far from here. It's called 'The ELITE Club' and it has lots of neon lights and (this is weird) no windows. The sign says women get free membership. I guess men have to pay but since I'm not one of the members, I don't know how much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertrat77 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Beavah, that's a tough one. Near as I can tell from debating my oldest when she was in college, elites are people who love all the bennies of of being an American citizen and living in a capitalist society, yet pride themselves on denigrating America and big business. Oh yes, and people that work with their hands are inferior--I think that is another "elitist" viewpoint. Hard to say. All I know is that I'm definitely not elite, either by my own reckoning or anyone else's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAKWIB Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 This probably doesn't completely answer Beavah's question, but I did a little google homework and this popped up. http://www.auburn.edu/~johnspm/gloss/elite_theory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axeman Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 a l33T haX0R 12 50m30N3 WH0 ha2 9R3at t3CHn1CAL 5k1Ll, 0fT3N An ACAD3m1c Und3raCH13V3r, An Analyt1CaL TH1NK3r w1T a80V3 Av3Ra93 1Nt3ll193nc3. HaX0R2 rUL32! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoutfish Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 It's not that we think they are elite over us...it's that THEY have an attitude and self opinion that they are an elite set of being next to us. The peole who think they are too good, too special or we are beneath them due to economic, regional, or blodlines. Totally forgot her whole name, but remeber the hotel queen? Leona someething or another. She was qouted as saying : "Taxes are for the little people." She was an elitist! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eamonn Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Who are the elites? Very often there seems to be a need to give a name, title, tag to a group that we might not be in agreement with. My feeling is that the elites are maybe up there with: "Them rich people" "Them know it alls" "Attorneys" "National" "Right wing twits" "Left wing twits" "The idiots in Washington" "Over paid ...." fill in the blank. Anyone who went to Berkly, Oxford or Cambridge. Moderators! And of course anyone born in England! Ea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGreyEagle Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Leona Helmsley The Elite? Those who have no problem telling the great unwashed how to behave while not quite doing themselves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisabob Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 I always have fun with my American Gov't students (mostly freshmen) when we talk about who should be making policy decisions and what the role of the "ordinary" citizen should be in that process. Many of them make the argument that only people who know what they're talking about should be involved in making policy decisions - in other words, the "elite." Then they tend to proceed to bashing the current "elite." And typically they define "elite" to exclude themselves, and most of their fellow students, too. In a country where only about 24% of adults have college degrees, I quite enjoy pointing out to them that by virtue of being in my classroom, they're all on their way to becoming the "elite." Something to think about at their next kegger party! Kind of scary, isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherminator505 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 The elites are the ones who get the obscenely large government rebates as their reward for selling us foreign oil, shipping jobs overseas and providing the same sort of financial "services" that brought us the Great Recession of 2008 while the rest of us continue to fight over the leftover crumbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoPenn Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 In the US, the "elite" is a label used by the conservative right wing media, and often, conservative right-wing politicians, for any person, any organization, or any broad grouping of people (ie "liberals", "gays", "Washington Democrats", "unions") that they disagree with as a way to convince their followers of the rightness of their position without having to actually work to develop and express a cogent set of facts to back up their assertions. This doesn't neccessarily mean the conservative right wing media/politicians are lazy, rather, I tend to believe it means their followers are lazy and really don't care for or need any explanation other than "the liberal elite think health care for all is a good idea" to decide that universal health care is a bad idea. Why make an actual case for your position when your followers can be convinced with one meaningless statement. Either one must have a fine tuned sense of irony, or be completely oblivious to irony, to state or believe that someone else is "elite". Somehow Democratic Senators are "elite" but Republican Senators are "one of us". Somehow union members making $60K per year are "elite" but commentators making a million or so per year calling union members "elite" aren't. Somehow, billionaire George Soros is "elite" but the billionaire Koch brothers are not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagledad Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 >>In the US, the "elite" is a label used by the conservative right wing media, and often, conservative right-wing politicians, for any person, any organization, or any broad grouping of people (ie "liberals", "gays", "Washington Democrats", "unions") that they disagree with as a way to convince their followers of the rightness of their position without having to actually work to develop and express a cogent set of facts to back up their assertions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeptic Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Wait a minute; I thought the "Elites" were a late 50's or early 60's duwop group. You mean it isn't? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle007 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Elites and any other group that people are put into are no better or worse than me. They put their pants on one leg at a time as I do and they wipe their backside as I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vol_scouter Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Eagledad makes some good observations. Calicopenn's attitude is that of an elitist - my thoughts, ideas, and viewpoints are more intellectual than conservatives. This is despite both sides having very thoughtful and intellectual proponents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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