[WS:] There are other alternatives to populism than elitism, which I find even more unpleasant. One is what for the lack of a better word I call meritocracy - you stand on your merits rather than your status or going with the flow. This is the attitude in which I grew up, especially in college. This was a rather small Catholic school which - given the political environment of Communist blacklisting of dissidents - attracted a variety of dissidents from various walks of life. Obviously, fitting-in was not highly respected in this crowd but neither was the elite status. A good share of the students came from the working class environment and had nothing to show in their "pedigree" - neither family name nor money.
Naturally, your standing depended on what you knew or what you could do, and premium was placed on the exotic and the unusual. Kowtowing to the masses or to elites was looked down. This unassuming attitude was also popular in the dissident circles cf. Jacek Kuron or Vaclav Havel.
-- Wojtek
"An anarchist is a neoliberal without money."