Call me an elitist, I don't care.

[kpete]

Neponset
I wonder what percentage of the egyptian population blames the 40% that are out of work for being lazy and just not trying hard enough. We sure have alot of them around here. The US is an extremely divided country in my opinion. And it isn't an accident.

One thing that's impressed me over & over as I watch events unfolding half a world away is the articulateness and obvious intelligence of the average Egyptian. What are the odds that if you just pulled a protesting American in front of a camera and started asking questions, that he or she could answer in full grammatical sentences, let alone articulate a coherent position?

As the cold war began to fade in the middle 1970s, the post-WWII emphasis on education in this country lapsed. Not out of neglect or carelessness, it's been a very concerted effort by some high-powered people adept at taking the long view.

A nation full of barely literate uncritical consumers who don't know what a fact is, and prefer short scary propaganda soundbites is the result.

Call me an elitist, I don't care.

found at:
http://www.eschatonblog.com/
http://js-kit.com/api/static/pop_comments?ref=http%3A%2F%2Feschatonblog.com&path=%2F8554045130933574860/

[Tansy_Gold]

1. I, too, call myself an elitist, and without apology.

But then, I also call myself a socialist, again without apology.

K&R.



Tansy Gold

[barbiegeek]

11. Applause

[hlthe2b]

2. I have posted before... that not only are the Egyptian "educated" so more

knowledgeable across a broad range of issues and skills than most American Middle class "educated," but even a signficant number of Egypt's illiterate are far more knowledgeable about world and current events and can speak more articulately (in English) than large swaths of America's youth. I had some amazing discussions with average Egyptian poor on the streets of Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt. It was eye-opening.

Call me an elitist, I don't care.

[originalpckelly]

3. Intelligent, yes, elitist, no.

Being capable of understanding the world is a really important skill, but it does not make one automatically elitist.

[Brewman_Jax]

4. Makes me think of Ancient Rome

bread and circuses, only without the bread--and some incredible circuses.

[OneGrassRoot]

5. I said the same thing yesterday, almost verbatim...

"One thing that's impressed me over & over as I watch events unfolding half a world away is the articulateness and obvious intelligence of the average Egyptian. What are the odds that if you just pulled a protesting American in front of a camera and started asking questions, that he or she could answer in full grammatical sentences, let alone articulate a coherent position?"

Absolutely. :)

[Poboy]

6. Recommend.

[Ron Green]

7. Ignorance is our national identity.

We still believe the myth that Reagan was a great president. We allowed GW Bush to get into the White House twice. We know less about our own country than many foreigners do, not to mention about their countries.

It's Dumbfuckistan, for sure.

[marmar]

8. SCREAMS from the "Amen!" corner...................

:applause:

[Enrique]

9. the Egyptian protesters appreciate culture

;-)

[Hello_Kitty]

10. I think you've accepted the RW frame of elitism

They've been very successful at defining the word so as to denigrate knowledge and intellectual curiosity. Observing the ignorance of average Americans doesn't make you elitist. The true elitists are the people at the top who have invested a lot of money and effort into keeping Americans ignorant. Rupert Murdoch is an elitist in the purest sense of the word.

[xchrom]

12. there is a bashing of intellectuals, educated, etc on the left

and they are described as elitist.

[Hello_Kitty]

13. Yeah, but usually it's for more than merely their intelligence and education

I mean, I consider the DLC DINO corporatists in the upper Democratic echelons to be snotty elitists. Not because they're smart but because they push ideas and policies that are harmful to the bottom 98% of the population and sneer at critics.

[Pacifist Patriot]

14. I am an unabashed literate intellectual with a low tolerance for willful stupidity.

If that makes me an elitist, so be it.

Considering how words and frames are being used these days I'm perfectly comfortable being a populist elitist. :-)

[Hello_Kitty]

16. Populist elitist. I like it!

:)

[Zebedeo]

15. Wow!

The author mocks Americans who, he says, cannot "answer in full grammatical sentences," while the author in the same piece uses ungrammatical phrasings such as:

1. "What are the odds that if you just pulled a protesting American in front of a camera and started asking questions, that he or she could answer in full grammatical sentences, let alone articulate a coherent position?" The second "that" is extraneous.

2. "Not out of neglect or carelessness, it's been a very concerted effort by some high-powered people adept at taking the long view." This is a run-on sentence. The first clause is improperly tacked on to the sentence.

3. "Call me an elitist, I don't care." This is a run-on sentence. There should be a period instead of a comma between the two sentences.

4. "cold war" This term should be expressed with initial capital letters.

The author's sneering insult that America is a nation of "barely literate uncritical consumers" is ironic in the extreme. The author is barely literate himself.

[Blecht]

17. It is from the comment section of a blog

You do have a point, but blogs and message boards have their own truncated, ungrammatical language.

[Shagbark Hickory]

18. If the protestors seem educated, it's because THEY ARE.

Many of them new college grads with little prospect of finding any work.

I wouldn't call you an elitist, I would call you oblivious. But in the politest possible way, I promise.

[Hydra]

19. It's not that strange

The only people who get airtime are the "Morans." I know plenty of articulate and almost well informed people (I still find lots of blind capitalism supporters) who protest, but somehow the press is conspicuously absent whenever they gather.

I will agree that the middle class ready doesn't know much outside the propaganda field. After all, they have a vested interest in NOT rocking the boat. I find my view from the bottom a lot more clear.