> The words "elitism" and "elitist," meaningless in themselves, have
> long (always) been the watermark of every anti-intellectual racist
> demagogue in this benighted country. They should be banned from
> civilized discourse, or at least only referred to as "the e word," as
> distinctly worse than "the n word" which some people, at least, use
> subversively or even affectionately.
You seriously propose that "elitist" is a code word for a person of color? With all due respect, which drugged-up fantasy world do you inhabit?
On Fri, May 9, 2008 at 11:03 AM, Wojtek Sokolowski <swsokolowski at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Anti-elite demagoguery is perhaps the best explanation
> of the "bitter yokel" phenomenon. Bitter yokels are
> not inherently Republican, religious or armed-to-teeth
> gun nuts. They are anti-elite, and since they equate
> elitism with liberalism they embrace the opposite
> values to those that "elite liberals" do.
If you suggest that the "yokels'" fascination with "elites" is a driving force in the lives of the former, I can suggest only that you consider the number of faux dive bars in gentrified Brooklyn, then compare it to the number of faux yuppie coffeehouses in factory towns and farming regions.
And if you think that "yokels'" bitterness exerts more influence on politics than "elites'," use Google to count the number of times phrases such as "redneck" and "white trash" appear at Web sites like Alternet, Common Dreams, and the Huffington Post.
-- "Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre, mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen lytlað."