The definition of "elitist" in Con-speak(republicant english, I suppose)

When a conservative calls somebody an elitist, he means that that person can actually read and write. Those two abilities are no-nos in con-world.

Very true.

I disagree.  There are many conservative elitists who are completely out of touch with the majority of Americans.  In fact, one could argue that conservatives epitomize elitism as they believe they know more, know right, and know morals better than most Americans, and thus should be allowed to define themselves as the moral and political standard.

[For the record, and in light of some of the recent press announcements, I held back saying "no morals" in my sentence above.  It took a lot of self-control, to the point where I finally said the heck with it and gave in to the temptation in this aside. Which seems either appropriate or ironic, depending on your point of view.]  :)

Ditto what Roy said! :-)

Why...I bet you don't even drive an Amerkin car!  LOL

I own a 2001 Pontiac Aztek...it was an American Brand....and I'm looking at a Chevy HHR to replace it. So THERE!

AAAhhh...the Aztek! I wonder how many Amerkin parts are on it?  LOL

Now, that one I can't help---I try as hard as I can to infilitrate by looking innicernt.

Kim, you are a soul mate of my ways of thinking to, so eloquently put as well, refreshing, thank you!

Also, inotherwords, liberal Elitists are the way human beings are supposed to act and be!

Can we just pretend I wrote this and forwarded it to you in an email and you copied and pasted it here?

So...we're....umm......psychicly inclined? You thought it and I wrote it? Sounds like something us evil liberal elitists would do!

You are definitely MY kind of "Elitist"!

Liberal elistest are anyone that dosen't agree with the right wing agenda of, get the most out of everybody you can.  Leave them poor, so you can be rich.

Kim, thanks for eloquent article.

We see eye to eye.

Well Kim,

I don't know if you are an elitist or not, I read back through a page or two of your comments and a liberal you are for sure, you're use of the word Republicants would indicate disdain for people who think differently than you which could be interpreted as snobbery and on into elitism.

I doubt that your list above fully encompass all of your beliefs rather than the ones you wish to highlight, the most admirable of your beliefs.

''Republicants would indicate disdain for people who think differently than you which could be interpreted as snobbery and on into elitism.''

Man, under your defination, most of the republibots that I know ''are'' elitist.  They believe that the conservative way is the ''only'' way.  And yes, I do have disdain for the right in this country.  Their way is, if I can't have my way, I'll make sure your way fails so I can say, ''see, I told you it wouldn't work''.

Dr.

Yah I know, it seems to be the way a lot of people conduct themselves, You too I see.

The term "liberal elitist" was invented by conservatives in order to distract people from the real issues. Who cares if I shop at Whole Foods and I would rather go to a museum or read a book instead of goin' moose-huntin' and snow mobilin'? That does not mean that I care about this country any less than the "country folk." 

Holly,

There are plenty of terms invented by "liberal elitists" to pidgin hole and stereotype  conservatives, most all of them I have seen posted are negative.

"country folk."

There are plenty of conservatives living in the city, I are one, I just have drive a bit further to shoot a moose.

 

Actually Dan, liberals didn't make up the "country folk" persona. That was the republicants trying to keep the rural areas under their thumb and always trying to show how we "lberal elite city folk" are out to get people who own firearms and hunt....too bad there are many liberals who also own guns and hunt and that ruins the argurment, but then, cons usually don't look for facts, just ways to stir up fear of people who are different than their audience.

I didn't mean the term country folk as an insult Dan E. I grew up in Middleburg, FL, an area so rural that I doubt you've even heard of it. My conservative Republican mother uses the term country folk to describe her family. I lived in the country until I was 22 but unlike many of my neighbors I made an effort to broaden my horizons. I read books and made trips to museums and for some reason  I was looked down upon for that even though I minded my own business and never criticized anyone for how they chose to spend their time.

"I didn't mean the term country folk as an insult Dan E. I grew up in Middleburg, FL, an area so rural that I doubt you've even heard of it."

I didn't take it that way Holly, I was just trying to be funny and no I've never heard of Middleburg, Fl., just like you have probably not hear of the town I was born in Wenatchee Wa. or Bridgeport Wa where I spent a part of my youth.

My path was a bit different than yours in that as a young man I thought I was liberal then as I expanded my horizons I realized that I was conservative.

kim,

You got any sources that establishes the Republicans with developing the term "country folk" just to keep them down? Or is it just your conspiratorial nature and hate for Republicans in general?

Dan, I didn't say that. I said liberals didn't make up the "country folk" persona. That doesn't mean I automatically meant another party used it as either a good or bad term. In my life, as most liberals, we believe in many more shades than just black and white or good and bad. I said that the republicants use the theory of us(rural, southern, god-fearing, homogenous) vs. them(city or Northern, heathens, black/white/hispanic/asian, open non christian people and some of us actually like each other!). Drive a wedge between the 2 and keep that wedge hot and scary--this scenario has been used by dictators since the beginning of "younger" cultures. Hitler used it, Milosevic used it and Bush used it(well, prolly more Rove than Shrub).

BTW, not only do I know where Wenatchee is, I have a friend who's family runs the newspaper--one of the last family owned newspapers in this country.

I was born in Chicago and grew up with one set of grandparents that were farmers, spent summers on my uncles' farm in Fairfield Iowa and saw, as I and the areas grew older, the ways that more rural folk were groomed to believe the lies(specially in regards to civil rights and Title IX legislation)--I saw the poverty in southern Illinois, but heard the southern politicians and preachers talking about all those black folks in Chicago getting welfare driving around in their Cadillacs....another lie that Reagan had a great time throwing around as he gave more and more of the money to his corporate friends and away from schools, states, rural areas that needed the funds. Same goes on today. Then you go further south and you have schools barely scraping by....but those good churchpeople blame the teachers and the inability to "pray in school" as the problem....not that thier schools and employment suffer because of the inability of our legislatures to make rich folk(including corporations) pay their fair share for thier use of the commons. We have very good schools where I live, but I live in "Yuppieville". The home across the street from me sold for $800,000 (obviously a bit larger than our 1800 sq. ft. ranch). We moved from Joliet which it just depends on what neighborhood you live in if you have good schools or not. Now, the combined financial amount of my husband and I is 6 figures, but neither of us make 6 figures by his/herself. I am not just a liberal but a union leader--I'm starting a retiree chapter in my county and already have a great many dues paying members because we know what it takes to do more than just exist in a job. We are falling farther and farther behind in education and the ability to compete within the world as we follow the social conservative's view of the world. They are more worried about making sure women pay for having sex(by making it difficult to receive birth control, not even talking about abortion) than they are at making sure children are, as a whole, educated at least as well as in other first world countries.

I'm with you, Kim.  I, too, am a liberal elitist because of all those things you cite.  Funny, my family encompasses the "American Dream" which Republicans love to tout as their ideal - came from uneducated immigrants, worked hard to do well in school and put myself through college, obey and have respect for the law, am personally responsible in my private and public lives, etc. 

I think if you value education, do not make the gathering of riches bar everything your primary goal, and care about others, you basically qualify for the label.  Which makes everyone who does not consider themselves a 'liberal elitist' supportive of the opposite, IMO.

Yay, I'm one too - I hope !!!

And Peter, remember that your article was the inspiration for this one!

I was?  I am so super honored !!!

It's funny.  In my lifetime I've seen the Republican party move from the party of Eastern Old Money to Know Nothingism.  It had to do with the Southern Strategy.  After the passage of the Civil Rights Act in the 60s the GOP converted all the southern Democrats who opposed it.  As a result the Republican base became more blue collar.   The educated wealthy people became less important in the party's official message.  The party courted Christian fundamentalists, people who were upset with the changes in society that began in the 50s and 60s, and people who wanted no government.

Before WWII, the GOP was the elitist party.

Makes you wonder how people like William F. Buckley would fit in these days, Nippy.  I bet he'd change parties.

Nippy, the republicants still are the elitist party. I love it when they start complaining about all the actors and celebrities that are getting into the Democratic Party and the government...and I agree with them -- look at Reagan and Ahhnold(and yes, I used his first name cuz I didn't feel like spelling the last one)!

I'm with you on everything except Lady GaGa. :)

I suppose my below-the-poverty-line former-retail-slave self is also an elitist to a lot of people. I'm not quite sure how this works, but it's often implied that having a college education and retaining what I learned there, and earlier, makes me an elitist. While I don't fight the label, I'm curious as to exactly how my knowing certain things -- such as how to use the term "pigeonhole," for example -- applies to the equation.

Damn if we can't all agree on this. I mean did I become "elitist" because I chose to expand my knowledge of liturature and music instead of just listening to AM pop radio (hey I was 5 in '62) or when I joined the "Elite" fighting force of the U.S. Marine Corps (just as Saigon was falling) I always thought to be elite was to be the best.

Joe, I just want to thank you for your service to our country.

You're welcome Ann. I guess some how my elitest immirgrant grandparents and American born parents (althought my dad was born in Boston he was brought up in Potugal and his family returned when he was 18) raised me right.

i'm only an elitist when it comes to the cleanliness of restuarants and hotel rooms.

Thanks for posting.

The elites of the Democrat party are great when it comes to talking about helping those less endowed than they are.  However, the elites of the Democrat party will not be the ones to help those less endowed than themselves.  They will find ways to force others to do that for them.  The elites will continue to wine, dine and take trips on other people's money, not their own, as the Dems did over the 4th of July break.  Being elite isn't something neither party has a monopoly on, they have elites in both parties.  However, where Democrats believe that others with a large bankroll should fund those less fortunate with higher taxes,  the Republicans believe that people should be responsible for themselves. 

I once saw our Republican Senator flying about on Southwest Airlines and it was the cheapest airline to fly at the time.  I doubt that our Senator could be described as "elite". 

Sorry Barbara, but you view doesn't add up to the facts. The "elites" of the Democratic party are usually the ones that are also more involved at home:

The Kennedy's are/were very well known for their charitable work and donations.

Warren Buffet and Bill Gates are both very well known for their philantropathy.

But, even closer to home...there was a conservative publisher that died a couple of years ago from Leukemia....I think his name was Pico? Any way, he used to debate Thom Hartmann on Thom's show. When he got sick, he found out who really put their money...and bone marrow...where their mouth was.

This conservative came on Thom's show and stated that the liberals that knew him from the radio show had donated money, bone marrow, any thing they could think of to help him. His conservative followers? didn't offer even half as much.

Yes, we do walk the walk.

 

Barbara makes some good points and those are supported by facts.

I think it more important to realize that we Americans as a whole are the most charitable and caring people on the planet.

Both liberal and conservative!

Kim, you and several others who have commented are my soul mates in political beliefs.

How eloquently you described me, too.  I am indeed very liberal.  My 8 master's degrees and almost-complete Ph.D. must make me an elitist; if I can figure out how, it'll be quite a surprise.  I guess the open-mindedness that comes with all those studies is the elite thing?

It's great to know there are still many of us up and around, since the radical right outshouts anything tht makes sense to us!

But, Joanne, that's part of it---the more well rounded an education is, the more a person is apt to follow a liberal perspective.

Of course!  I think we're saying identical things with different words, Kim.

But Kim,
Our institutions of high learning are populated by primarily liberals. it is not how well rounded a persons education that leads a person to liberalism but rather the propaganda espoused by liberal professors.

Many of them like Ward Churchill, extremely radical in their philosophy, and many retaliating against students who exhibit a different (conservative) view point.

There is a great documentary I have posted on Gather concerning this issue, if you are really interested in the truth you can see it HERE

In our instructions of higher learning "conservative" speakers are often shouted down or must be attended by body guards for safety.

Dan E, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I have a number of post-graduate degrees, and I've encountered many, many very conservative professors. Many are liberal. Most are apolitical, at least in the classroom. It's the nature of learning that leads to liberalism, I think. As we come to recognize a variety of philosophies and ideas, we sort them out and make conclusions.

"It's the nature of learning that leads to liberalism, I think."

How so Joanne?

I would pose the same question to Kim.

The more we learn, the more compassionate we become, due to increased understanding of people and of life. Compassion is a hallmark of liberalism. In addition, it's hard to think we know better than others as we become increasingly educated, because we understand how very much we do not know!

So is it a failure of liberalism that self professed conservatives are more giving of both their time and money as independent research shows?

"In Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism (Basic Books), Arthur C. Brooks finds that religious conservatives are far more charitable than secular liberals, and that those who support the idea that government should redistribute income are among the least likely to dig into their own wallets to help others."

Does it matter if liberals are more compassionate if that compassion is not acted upon?

I don't know about this study's accuracy. I know very few people, liberal or conservative, who do not give both their time and their money. Few liberals, however, have as much of either as conservatives, in y experience.

Joanne,

The point is, is that your belief that the more educated a person becomes that they are more likely to be liberal is not based upon any fact, it's your opinion.

It's based on my experience and observations. Call it opinion if you wish.

uh~well than count me in too~liberal elitist checking in~

perfectly stated~

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977396365

common ground

Excellent post and only dumb danny showed up to smear.

Is it tea party time again?

Hey, I just saw something about the t-baggers flocking to DC in the fall. This is going to be funny. Either a bunch of uneducated hicks will show up or nobody will. It will surprise me if anyone with half a brain shows, because they know that the tax rates that we are now under is still bu$h$. It's all the chaw spitting, gun worshiping morons that hate anything a black man could do and they will never admit any progress under Obama. Like sen. jeff sessions (r) said that he thought the kkk was a good organization, until he found out that some of their members smoked pot. Brilliant!!!!

So true.

You are so right...or is that left?
Good article.

The term “elite” is defined in Merriam-Webster as “a minority group or stratum that exerts influence, authority, or decisive power.” The term elitist is first concerned with those who are adherents of elitism “belief in and advocacy of leadership or rule by an elite.” From this I think the term “liberal elitist” is self explanatory; those who think that either they (being of liberal mindset), or a small group of like minded people should be in charge of things.

Taken in that manner, the term is generally innocent enough. But there is also an implied meaning of “elite” as in one who controls but avoids control themselves. (Or one who influences but avoids being influenced.) Take Al Gore; sure he talks a lot about Global Warming, but has he ever seriously reduced his own carbon footprint? Take congress; all this talk about the health care crisis and you almost forget that congress has their own personal insurance plan and would never be covered under any legislation they would pass, as they aren’t covered under Social Security because their plan is better.

Even in that adjusted definition, “liberal” is merely an adjective and there are elite of many colors and stripes out there. I wonder if Rush would be an “elite” according to this definition; wouldn’t that be ironic.