Im an elitist, for which I make no apology. But my elitism is not snobbish nor does it wish others to be inferior. In fact, it wants to lift others up. It is based in upholding high ideals and standards, to which we can aspire, but perhaps not always meet. Elitism has taken a bad rap because certain individuals perceive themselves as superior, whether by wealth or political power, often without having earned it, and use it to put others down. In democratic countries there is an aristocracy of wealthy businesspersons and politicians who want to be perceived as the elite. They want to be recognized as superior by everyone and to have authority, just like royalty and nobility. But their aristocracy is not a responsible one. They have power, but little sense of duty to the larger society, that noblesse oblige that true aristocrats were required to uphold. With privilege also goes responsibility and duty, but they want to exercise power without it, making them abusers of those whose social status is lower than they.

It is interesting to note how elites put other elites down in a war of one-upmanship that is beneficial only to themselves. Vice President Spiro Agnew, in the Nixon administration, used the phrase, "Effete intellectual snobs". and other turgid, yellow journalistic phrases, to put down those in academia who he saw as opposing the administration's policies. His performances were often laughable. Here was the representative of an elite jockeying for position against another elite by deprecating elites, seeking to turn the peoples loyalty toward his position and its followers.

This abuse of elitism has caused a loss of the people's appreciation of higher goals - education, fine arts, social service, etc. - and loss of respect to authority, and rightly so. But there must be some standards to uphold - something higher than ourselves. Superiority, inferiority and authority are valid concepts that need not be used to oppress people, but to measure them against a standard of excellence and lift them up. It appears that humans dont mind the existence of elites if those elites support high standards and act responsibly. They will respect authority if it is earned, but authoritarians are rarely respected, only feared and hated. Elitism should not be measured by wealth alone - a very poor standard. Elitism is neither excellent nor beneficial if it gloats over its privileged position and doesn't reach out to help others achieve it.