PITY the poor word “elite,” which simply means “the best” as an adjective and “the best of a group” as a noun. What was once an accolade has turned poisonous in American public life over the past 40 years, as both the left and the right have twisted it into a code word meaning “not one of us.” But the newest and most ominous wrinkle in the denigration of all things elite is that the slur is being applied to knowledge itself.
Senator Hillary Clinton’s use of the phrase “elite opinion” to dismiss the near unanimous opposition of economists to her proposal for a gas tax holiday was a landmark in the use of elite to attack expertise supposedly beyond the comprehension of average Americans. One might as well say that there is no point in consulting musicians about music or ichthyologists about fish [Susan Jacoby, "Best Is the New Worst," New York Times, 2008.05.30].
I will say this frequently to my daughter as well as the electorate: it's o.k. to be smart. Actually, it's darn good for the country to be smart. The Founding Fathers would have expected us to strive for nothing less.
As a writer in the "tech sector," I find no lack of intellectualism out there. But intelligence is a different bucket of bullfrogs.
ReplyDeleteFor summer reading, I recommend the works of an Indian mystic called "Osho" who made a distinction between intellectualism and intelligence.