Who are the elites?

[OldGreyEagle]

Pack, I told my wife you didnt know anything about a petard, she laughed and said he was the Capt of the Enterprise in Next Generation...

[packsaddle]

Ooooo...she has a mischievous streak...

I like that.(This message has been edited by packsaddle)

[OldGreyEagle]

Who are the elites?

 

Well, for many that NPR guy pretty well sums it up

 

Well, it seems the guy dosent work for NPR now, or wont be for very long as he has a new job, but his statements are what many (I think) reflect that what is meant when the term "Elite" is mentioned(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

[Beavah]

Yah, I'm still wonderin' if Jean Luc is an elite (Elite?) or not.

 

OK, I hate to be thick about this. Maybe some examples will help. Elite, or not elite... that is the question. We'll start with OGE's.

 

1) The NPR guy, Schiller, who in a private meeting said 'Well, if I take off my NPR hat and just offer my personal opinion, I think the Tea Partiers are a bunch of racists, and we need more well-educated citizens'. Or somethin' like that.

 

2) Glen Beck, who in a public broadcast said 'President Obama is a racist who hates white people' or perhaps Rush Limbaugh who said on the air 'Barack Obama is president of the United States today because of stupid, ignorant people who think like you do.' Or somethin' like that.

 

3) The liberal-leaning NYT columnist Paul Krugman, who holds a Nobel Prize in economics and writes about economic issues.

 

4) The conservative-leaning Mitch McConnell, an attorney with no business or economic experience, who frequently speaks about economic issues.

 

5) Nancy Pelosi, talkin' about military matters and international affairs.

 

6) George H.W. Bush, decorated veteran and genuine international affairs expert, talkin' about military matters and international affairs.

 

7) Da IPCC, speaking on matters of climate change.

 

8) Charlie Sheen, speaking on matters of climate change (or anything).

 

9) Arne Duncan, speaking on matters of education.

 

10) Sarah Palin, speaking on matters of education.

 

11) The executives of Goldman Sachs and AIG, speaking on finance and banking reform.

 

12) Barney Frank speaking on finance and banking reform.

 

 

Beavah

 

[Mr. Boyce]

In business, elites are the CEOs and the financial industry ringleaders who (a) preach a "free market", and then (b) externalize their losses onto the American taxpayer, and then © deliver massive bail-outs to their gang members.

 

In media, elites are those who went to fancy schools and work for national media. They know each other and party with each other, date each other, etc. The media elite usually are the ones that stir up concerns about "elites" because they own the pipeline: if they believe bigamy is a good idea, then it's stuffed into our ears how great bigamy is, and people eventually say, "bigamy's great." (example)

 

In academia, elites are a self-perpetuating group of amazingly lefty liberals. You don't get hired if you have a differing opinion (true!), or get nowhere unless you join the huddle. You bounce your ideas to media, and media repeats them back to you in a nice-feeling, self-confirming circle. The academic elites work all over the place, not confined to the leafy domains of the majors.

[packsaddle]

Well....those academic 'elites' are not running the show at this institution by any means at all. The faculty who are running academic programs, determining policy, or being interviewed by media as experts are quite conservative (sensu: Beavah, not tea party or neocon). There ARE faculty who have some of the characteristics you describe but they are mostly temporary fixtures here...malcontents and persons unlikely to be tenured. Or else they are viewed with little more than curiosity, perhaps as an irritant to be tolerated at meetings (I suffered through a recent pointless diatribe by one of them).

When I consider my alma mater and the other institutions in this region I see strong similarities to this one.

I think you need to look around a little more and try to avoid stereotypes.

[Lisabob]

Mr Boyce, you are not describing anything that remotely resembles my experience in academia. Apparently both Pack and I work in atypical institutions, based on your description. After more than a decade at this institution, I'd have to say I actually think we're quite a typical school in terms of the promise and problems faced by public universities these days - but we don't match your description well, at all.

 

 

I'll just go back to being (apparently) a dominating lefty liberal in my leafy discipline now. I'll let my numerous conservative colleagues know they won't be working here much longer unless they change their political stripes and get with the program. (apparently they didn't get the memo on this up until now) And maybe this afternoon, I and my other lefty colleagues will stage a pinko commie coup over at the dean's office, or something, just for fun.

 

 

 

 

[CalicoPenn]

"1) The NPR guy, Schiller, who in a private meeting said 'Well, if I take off my NPR hat and just offer my personal opinion, I think the Tea Partiers are a bunch of racists, and we need more well-educated citizens'. Or somethin' like that."

 

ok, since we're Boy Scouts, it seems to me we need to be fair to Mr. Schiller and also mention that the above quote isn't an actual quote (as is recognized by the "or somethin' like that",) and that the sentiment expressed and attributed to Mr. Schiller was the result of an editing hatchet job that fully took what was being said completely off the rails of context. When Mr. Schiller was talking about the tea party being full of racists, it is clear in the unedited tapes that he was repeating the sentiments of what two GOP donors to NPR (one apparently an ex-ambassador) said to him as opposed to delivering a personal opinion. That portion ends with what could be interpreted as agreement by Mr. Schiller with those views, but could also be viewed as just another way of stating what he was told.

 

Indeed, since Mr. Schiller makes clear his personal opinions, by prefacing with "in my personal opinion", and this preface wasn't there, it's reasonable to believe that Mr. Schiller was not personally referring to the tea party folks as racists.

 

As to the well-educated part - here, Mr. Schiller does admit to a personal opinion - that in his personal opinion, liberals seem more well educated and intelligent these days than conservatives. Agree or not, it certainly doesn't seem to be an inflammatory statement.

 

BTW - to give full credit where credit is due - the criticism of the editing job comes from a conservative website, the Blaze - which is associated with Glen Beck.