Question for the day

[davywavy]

Elitism only has a bad reputation amongst those who do not have either the wherewithal and/or the ambition to join said elite.

Discuss.

Comments

[ksirafai.livejournal.com]

No, elitism has universally impressive connotations on one level or another - it's generally thought to be something that's superior. If superiority is to be scorned (see any and all comments along the lines of 'global cultures' and 'equality and diversity') then yes, elitism is bad.

On the other hand, there _are_ people who are more intelligent, richer, luckier, prettier - call it what you will. And they will be envied and they will tend to find peers of a similar social standing and that's how our world works nowadays.

I'm not sure anyone ever lets anything but jealousy, fear and hatred define their feelings; I know, at least, it's hard to deny those motivations. Everyone's scared of everyone else, so wants to make sure that somewhere they're on top. This is, of course, a little harder when you're a 15-year-old single mother, or a shelf-stacker at Tescos.