Define: Elitist

[CavLancer]

I'll have my go:

Someone who is filthy rich, that is to say is richer than me, has more opportunity, and talks down. Someone who has a job when I need one to feed my family.

 

[GoodEnoughForMe]

Leftists and "Americans" who live in California and New York.

 

[CavLancer]

Oh noes! I was born in NYC sooo...I'm an elitist!

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I'll have my go:

Someone who is filthy rich, that is to say is richer than me, has more opportunity, and talks down. Someone who has a job when I need one to feed my family.

Would it be elitist of me to point out the spelling error in the thread title?

When I think of "elitists" in my own RL experiences, I think of rich people (ie. doctors, lawyers, politicians) who probably vote for right-wing parties (there are two in my province, the Conservatives and the Wild Rose), and wouldn't be caught dead on public transit if they could possibly help it, or dealing honorably with "the little people."

Obviously I have specific people in mind with this as I do know of doctors, lawyers, and politicians who are not snobs... but sadly those don't seem to be the norm around here.

I guess in the basic sense, an elitist is someone who considers him/herself better than other people because of some kind of self-satisfied attitude. An example would be someone who wins a competition and goes around with an arrogant attitude and belittles the competition. Gracious winners earn my respect. Ungracious braggarts don't.

Leftists and "Americans" who live in California and New York.

Define "Leftist." I've seen that term thrown around a lot during the past year, I've been called one, and it's always used as an insult. In the past I only ever heard it on the news, when a reporter mentioned something about "leftist guerillas" in some part of the world where there was fighting going on.

Are people in California and New York not Americans (assuming they have their citizenship)?

 

[CavLancer]

Sounds rational regarding elitists, and thanks much for not pointing out the spelling mistake.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Sounds rational regarding elitists, and thanks much for not pointing out the spelling mistake.

You're welcome. Typos happen, and it's easy enough to ask a moderator to fix it.

 

[Angst]

"Poor people are poor because of a natural order."

"Rural people are inherently stupid."

"White males aren't negatively affected by identity issues."*

"Ivory tower liberals don't know about the real world."

*The solution to white male problems is feminism, they work to fix the structures that hurt either gender. I'm berating a certain subculture of feminists here which I don't appreciate much.

 

[Phrossack]

These days, "elitist" is typically an insult by conservatives towards liberals. It no longer really seems to apply to classism or income--many conservatives who use the word use it against people with less money and power than they do.

 

[Tahuti]

These days, "elitist" is typically an insult by conservatives towards liberals. It no longer really seems to apply to classism or income--many conservatives who use the word use it against people with less money and power than they do.

I disagree, "the establishment" (i.e. "elitist") is used by both the likes of Noam Chomsky as well as Donald Trump to describe the same group of people (the media-financial-industrial complex). They of course differ on who should replace them.

There is truly an "elite". The question is whether you wish to follow them, or replace them. You cannot really think it away unless we decentralise humanity to the point such is no longer viable.

 

[warpus]

Eliteist is not a word and as such does not have a definition.

 

[Bootstoots]

These days, "elitist" is typically an insult by conservatives towards liberals. It no longer really seems to apply to classism or income--many conservatives who use the word use it against people with less money and power than they do.

It's used as such by conservatives for cynical reasons as you point out, but there are reasons that the insult works. When the media and academic classes are nearly unanimous in their support for one candidate, the other is going to be successful at claiming elitism even if their policies are objectively worse for lower social classes. Policy wonks are elitists by definition, while real estate moguls-turned-reality stars do not necessarily convey elitism even if they are objectively members of the elite.

In American politics, whether somebody is an elitist is broadly defined by how well they give the appearance of treating non-college-educated people like they matter. Those who cannot do a convincing job of this are branded elitists. It's not just a Democrat thing: people like Paul Ryan and Jeb Bush also come across as elitists, and the hatred that many Republicans had for their party establishment stemmed largely from this. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush both did good jobs of appearing not to be elitists even though both are products of the Ivy League and the latter came from an established political family too.

There's also a more in-depth definition that comes from the political model I've made up, with an elitist vs. populist axis along with the usual left vs. right one. I don't have the time to explain that axis in detail but will come back and explain it later.

 

[warpus]

Ah I see the spelling of the word we are supposed to define has now changed. Okay, let's see

Elitist - Somebody who is full of themselves and thinks they are a know it all. No political connotation unless the context calls for me.

 

[cardgame]

Political connotation only: Someone who knows more than you and doesn't apologize for it.

 

[Tahuti]

Political connotation only: Someone who knows more than you and doesn't apologize for it.

Well, if you truly know more than others - and not just to be a know-it-all busibody - why should you apologise for it to anyone?

 

[Bootstoots]

You don't need to apologize for it, you just need to present your knowledge in ways that make it appear that you don't think you're better than other people just for knowing what you do.

 

[CavLancer]

Ah I see the spelling of the word we are supposed to define has now changed. Okay, let's see

Elitist - Somebody who is full of themselves and thinks they are a know it all. No political connotation unless the context calls for me.

Nope, ignorance. Thanks to whoever fixed it.

 

[christos200]

Elitists are leftists who think people are stupid racists for making decisions they do not like and believe that their liberalism is the only right ideology and all those who oppose it are either bigots or rich people.

 

[Bootstoots]

No, that's simply wrong. I don't know of anyone who uses the concept of "elitism" like that, except for a few of the people in the current US left who are trying to discredit the concept in order to score political points. I don't think you want to ally with them on this, christos.

 

[civman110]

Elitist - The liberal establishment, liberal Hollywood, liberal academia, and their corporate presstitute media that lied shamelessly all election about Hillary's chances.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Elitist - The liberal establishment.

LOL...when you are hijacking a word to use it as a slur it doesn't matter what it means, all that matters is specifying who you hate and want to call names.