When being the Best is Wrong


	When being the Best is Wrong

abailart

8-22-2008 2:42 AM

987 views

tags:

elite, elitism, language, mediocrity

3 Comments |

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8-22-2008 7:00 AM

Silkweaver

In an era when mediocrity is a high virtue, this is entirely understandable and sad...

8-22-2008 10:33 AM

BartendingBear

Makes for a great explanation of Bush's popularity in many quarters. How can a man who speaks like a Texas bumpkin be "elite"?

8-26-2008 3:51 PM

masbury

Isn't it really just a new shade of good old anti-intellectualism?

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/fcbee564-ad49-4703-85aa-0188d7eeb15a/F82EF5D7-3C0D-4336-8154-60730AE4477D/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2008/08/elitism-elitist-obama-elite" href="http://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2008/08/elitism-elitist-obama-elite" style="font-size: 11px;">www.newstatesman.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2008/08/elitism-elitist-obama-elite"><P class="first">In a semantic mess, wanting the best has become "elitist"</p> <SPAN class="ISI_IGNORE">
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"Elite" and "elitism" as terms have transformed into political slurs in Britain and the United States. Simply defined, elitism is a belief in government by the few, while elite means "the best". But the conflation of their meanings, born of not a little ignorance and slovenly language, has produced somewhat different strains of anti-rational toxin in the past few decades.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2008/08/elitism-elitist-obama-elite">The political definitions of both elite and elitism in the US are now being broadened to include knowledge itself.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2008/08/elitism-elitist-obama-elite">To escape the charge of elitism, a US candidate may now be required to display not only a beer belly, but also a preference for ignorance over expertise.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2008/08/elitism-elitist-obama-elite">Republicans are slapping the elitist bullseye on Barack Obama, though his is a story of earned privilege through scholarships, hard work and brains.</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/F82EF5D7-3C0D-4336-8154-60730AE4477D/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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