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In Defense Of ElitismJonah Goldberg defends Obama. Well, OK, not really. But he does defend elitism: In his telling Pennsylvania was once Belgium on the Susquehanna -- cheese parties, Sam Harris book clubs etc -- and it can be again if only these people get good enough jobs to lay down their guns and bibles. As just about everyone has observed by now, this is a fundamentally Marxist way of looking at the world and Obama deserves to be called on it. I don't think that I've complained about "elitism" in my numerous posts on Obama (though I could be wrong), because I agree. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with being elite, and being elite is something to which we should in fact aspire, though it should be a goal reached through hard work, and not simply the luck of birth (other than perhaps genetically endowed talent). "Elitism" is one of those words, like "judgmental" and "discriminating," that have gotten an unfairly bad wrap. During the Wright imbroglio, one of my anonymous Obamamaniacal commenters amusingly (and idiotically) told me to stop being so judgmental, as though there's something wrong with having, and exercising, judgment. And what is selecting a better job candidate over a worse one, if not "discrimination"? There is nothing wrong with judging or discriminating. What becomes a problem is when the judging and discriminating occur on an irrational basis (e.g., skin color alone--though even there there could sometimes be a reasonable basis). As an example, I was recently discussing the possibility of doing some consulting for a firm to help with some regulatory issues in the UK. The person I was speaking with thought that I (and my business associates) had excellent credentials for the task, except for one problem--we (due, no doubt to a misspent youth spent largely in the US) had American accents. He didn't think that we could be as effective with Whitehall and Parliament as someone who spoke like most in The City, and we couldn't disagree with him. This was discrimination, but it was hardly unreasonable. He was, in fact, exercising good judgment, and perhaps even being justifiably elitist, in that he wanted the best people for the job. In any event, I tend to discriminate against people who view the world through a Marxist lens, and can be very judgmental about them, particularly when they are vying for the most powerful position in the world. So sue me. [Evening update] Obama keeps digging deeper: What happened to the people clinging to their guns? I think that this is more evidence that he does a lot better with a teleprompter than impromptu. It also continues to be a window into what he really thinks about us. [Update a couple minutes later] Heh. I like this comment: Obama's antics remind me of Barry Goldwater's comments about Richard Nixon during Watergate. 0 TrackBacksListed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: In Defense Of Elitism. TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.transterrestrial.com/admin/mt-tb.cgi/9368 13 CommentsLeave a comment
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Rand, if you actually believe Barack Obama sees the world through a Marxian lens, I want some of what you've been drinking because it must be quite powerful stuff.
Bill, that says more about your ignorance of Marxism than it does about what I imbibe.
Only the bourgeois are "Marxian." Real socialists are Marxists.
"Bitter-gate" polling suggests Obama is not being hurt by it:
Those opposed to Obama all along and those who believe Obama is a closet-Marxist will become more opposed to him, and OUTRAGED, because of Bitter-gate. Everyone else? Eh, Bitter-gate ain't no big deal.
Poor Hillary. Her preferred mode of personal self actualization (becoming POTUS) looks less and less likely every day.
I think when most people talk of elitism they don't mean that they are bothered by people that are perhaps their betters, they are bothered by those people looking down their nose at others. Pretty much nobody likes that.
It's remarkable how much Mr. Simberg and his common people can deduce from a couple of sentences spoken by the elite containing the words cling and bitter.
Yet another anonymous moron wrote:
It's remarkable how much Mr. Simberg and his common people can deduce from a couple of sentences spoken by the elite containing the words cling and bitter.
Not really. All it means is that we're actually a lot smarter than "the elite" (or at least not the dumb rubes they think we are), and anonymous commenters.
Once again, I'll note that if I wrote such idiotic things as the anonymous morons do, I'd be anonymous, too. But then, I'm a lot smarter than they are. Just what it is they fear about using their real names, one wonders?
So why are Obama's national poll numbers going up? Could it be that there are now more of the elite than the common Simberg-folk out there? Could it be that Hillary-Simberg has now insulted the elite?
So why are Obama's national poll numbers going up?
So why is it you continue to beat your wife, anonymous moron?
Well Bill, when a candidate or their spouse on the stump tells me they are going to make me do something, I worry about two isms and neither is acceptable. That would be another sign of elitist behavior.
Again I say BW, encourage Obama to take his statement on the campaign trail and make it a stump speech. Let us know how it goes.
I don't have any pressing problem with elitism, rightly understood. Elite derives from the Latin for elect and in our elections we decide who will be our elite.
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