I am an Elitist.

[LMNO]

Durk: Again, you're using a right-wing definition used to denigrate people who use things like "facts" and "evidence" to support their claims.

If you want to keep empowering the Bush Administration, I won't stop you; [erhaps you'd also like to hold forth on why Terrorists Hate Our Freedoms?

[Daruko]

Durk: Again, you're using a right-wing definition used to denigrate people who use things like "facts" and "evidence" to support their claims.

If you want to keep empowering the Bush Administration, I won't stop you; [erhaps you'd also like to hold forth on why Terrorists Hate Our Freedoms?

Wut?

[LMNO]

Never mind, dummy; just keep parroting Hannity.

[Daruko]

So you've decided that one tiny tiny narrow possible interpretation of that word is THE definition of that word, despite the fact that any encyclopedia or dictionary will offer various other definitions... and that any other usage of that word than the one that you use is supporting right-wing propaganda?   LOLOLOLOL  Dood, seriously, I know you think I'm stupid, but think about what you're saying for a second.  And google Elitism for goddess sake.

Just an FYI, while I give you leeway, and recognize the word can be used that way, I have never met anyone in my life that used that word the way you do.  I guess all my friends and associates are right-wing propagandists too.
IT'S THE CONSPIRACY!!!   You support the war on terrorism if you associate the word Elitist with arrogance and snobbery!   

[ñͤͣ̄ͦ̌̑͗͊͛͂͗ ̸̨̨̣̺̼̣̜͙͈͕̮̊̈́̈͂͛̽͊ͭ̓͆ͅé ̰̓̓́ͯ́́͞]

LOLOLOLOL  Dood, seriously, I'm stupid.

Fixed.

[Cain]

seriously FUCK OFF you fucking ELITIST pricks... fuck you don't understand me at all

[LMNO]

So you've decided that one tiny tiny narrow possible interpretation of that word is THE definition of that word, despite the fact that any encyclopedia or dictionary will offer various other definitions... and that any other usage of that word than the one that you use is supporting right-wing propaganda?   LOLOLOLOL  Dood, seriously, I know you think I'm stupid, but think about what you're saying for a second.  And google Elitism for goddess sake.

Just an FYI, while I give you leeway, and recognize the word can be used that way, I have never met anyone in my life that used that word the way you do.  I guess all my friends and associates are right-wing propagandists too.
IT'S THE CONSPIRACY!!!   You support the war on terrorism if you associate the word Elitist with arrogance and snobbery!   

Yeah, pretty much, you ignorant douchebag;  I guess you think if it's on the internet, it must be true, right?

[Daruko]

seriously FUCK OFF you fucking ELITIST pricks... fuck you don't understand me at all

Um... late to the punch there Cain.  I already referenced that quote.

So you guys would rather fling shit than use facts?  Hmm...  Well, suit yourself.  Quite ironic.

Here's a few definitions for you 

Dictionary.com:
1. practice of or belief in rule by an elite. 
2. consciousness of or pride in belonging to a select or favored group. 

1. The belief that certain persons or members of certain classes or groups deserve favored treatment by virtue of their perceived superiority, as in intellect, social status, or financial resources.
2.
    a. The sense of entitlement enjoyed by such a group or class.
    b. Control, rule, or domination by such a group or class.

Wikipedia again:
Elitism as a pejorative term
The term "elitism" or the title "elitist" can be used resentfully [1] by a person who is not a member of an elite, or is a member but resents the elite position or uses it in a condescending or cynical manner in order to ridicule or criticize practices which discriminate on the basis of ability or attributes. Often, such as in politics, it used to describe persons as out of touch with the common people. The implication is that the "elitist" person or group thinks they are better than everyone else, and therefore put themselves before others. It could be seen as a synonym for snob. An elitist is not always seen as truly elite, but only privileged. This use is often employed in politics in societies where social equality is valued, and the middle and lower classes have political power.

Rogets II: Thesaurus
NOUN: One who despises people or things regarded as inferior, especially because of social or intellectual pretension: snob. Informal : snoot. See ATTITUDE, SELF-LOVE. 
ADJECTIVE: Characteristic of or resembling a snob: snobbish, snobby. Informal : high-hat, snooty, stuck-up, uppish, uppity. See ATTITUDE, SELF-LOVE. 

Thesaurus.reference.com on searching "Elitist"
Main Entry:   snobbish
Part of Speech:   adjective
Definition:   Characteristic of or resembling a snob.
Synonyms:   snobby

and finally:

Moby Thesaurus words for "elitist":   
  Brahmin, U, aristocratic, dictatorial, egghead, high and mighty,
     highbrow, highbrowed, hubristic, imperious, intellectual,
     intellectualistic, lordly, magisterial, mandarin, masterful,
     name-dropper, prig, snob, tufthunter

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now if you're looking for a word that refers to your uber skills, there's already a great word for that, and I myself use it all the time:   L33T! 

But hell, preach on brothers!  Fight the conspiracy!   

[Cain]

seriously FUCK OFF you fucking ELITIST pricks... fuck you don't understand me at all

Um... late to the punch there Cain.  I already referenced that quote.

I'm busy, I can't be everywhere at once.

[Golden Applesauce]

Different words mean different things to different people, but Daruko seems to have the meaning I was thinking of when I wrote this.

He seems to be talking about arrogance, self-entitlement, delusion, and snobbery; being among the best at what you do doesn't seem to be a part of that.

True, true.  It's just easier to be arrogant when you are the best at what you do.

Being a member of the elite doesn't necessarily make you an Elitist.  Populism is 1984s "If there is hope it lies in the proletariat."  Elitism is whatever lies at the opposite end of that spectrum - the proletariat are all worthless sheep so we should focus on finding the others.  Everybody would rather go to the doctor in the top 10% of his class; the difference is that elitist sees the other 90% as a drain on society while the populist sees the other 90% as the bedrock of society.  My problem is that thinking of everybody else as a waste of space is incompatible with trying to forge relationships with other people, but a lot of people really are a waste of space.  One extreme is simply wishful thinking, and the other extreme just leads to hate and meagerness of spirit.

So you guys would rather fling shit than use facts?

Durk, we're all monkeys here (except for the apes.)  Throwing shit is what we do.

[Verbal Mike]

My problem is that thinking of everybody else as a waste of space is incompatible with trying to forge relationships with other people, but a lot of people really are a waste of space.

QFT

[eighteen buddha strike]

So you've decided that one tiny tiny narrow possible interpretation of that word is THE definition of that word, despite the fact that any encyclopedia or dictionary will offer various other definitions... and that any other usage of that word than the one that you use is supporting right-wing propaganda?   LOLOLOLOL  Dood, seriously, I know you think I'm stupid, but think about what you're saying for a second.  And google Elitism for goddess sake.

Just an FYI, while I give you leeway, and recognize the word can be used that way, I have never met anyone in my life that used that word the way you do.  I guess all my friends and associates are right-wing propagandists too.
IT'S THE CONSPIRACY!!!   You support the war on terrorism if you associate the word Elitist with arrogance and snobbery!   

Yeah, pretty much, you ignorant douchebag;  I guess you think if it's on the internet, it must be true, right?

You know, if the foundation of this whole argument is in the minutia of its language, its worth pointing out the extreme mutability of English itself. Consider that English is probably one of the most bastardized languages to begin with (that english is even thought of as a germanic language at this point is even a point of contention), not to mention that terms in English are constantly shaped, and redefined, by their popular usage... it really makes this argument seem kind of ridiculous from a 3rd person point of view.

[Cain]

HTML Mencken of Sadly, No! has actually made a good argument (well, several really) against what is commonly called the liberal elite.  Of course, Golden Applesauce's post is about people who actually ARE elite, not just people who THINK they are.  And that's an important distinction.

What is often called the liberal elite or latte-sipping intellectuals or whatever term you want to use, usually are NOT.  They're supposedly 'central' in their politics, yet when scrutinized they are in fact neoliberals in their economics (Thomas Friedman) and neoconservatives in their foreign policy (uh...Thomas Friedman again).

Now, I don't know about you, but I'd consider someone to be an elite member of society if they actually held and promoted views that had any fucking basis in reality or in accordance with how things really work.  Given the failure of Neoliberal economics (Walmart sends its thanks, Clinton!) and the failure of neoconservative foreign policy (unilateralism and unending war is no longer this season's black) I would say these people were....fucking morons.  They're shills, apologists for the power structure.  And the power structure of contemporary society is not meritocratic, so it would be wrong to call the people at the top the elite.

In fact, thanks to wingnut welfare - that is, billionaire nutcases like Richard Mellon Scaife - you can be a complete and utter moron bereft of any serious consideration and yet STILL somehow become a top media personality.  Admittedly this usually applies to the far-right, to the Malkin's and Jonah Goldberg's....but these sort of people prefer the "liberal elite" to actually people who know what the fuck they are talking about, because these "elitists" will meet them halfway when it comes to their policies, no matter how fucking insane they are.  For all their BAAAAAAAAWING about elitists, the GOP and its media whores exist in an entirely symbiotic relationship to them, where they are used to fleece policies to the supposed left-wing of the political spectrum (never mind anyone left of Vlaclav Havel would be denounced as a Communist scumbag who hates America) who will then go on to adopt these ideas.

These people aren't actual elitists because, as I have made clear, they are clueless idiots and nothing more than the nice, "human" face of the system of control that exists within America.  However, by conflating the two, the GOP can appeal to a sort of crude populism that, in actuality, used to be more supportive of the left because of economic issues.  Why would an Iowan farmer support the party behind GATT and NAFTA, for example?  Sure, the GOP aren't any better, but at least they appeal to these guys on their social conservativism.  The Democrats in America have nothing, precisely because these "elitists" who know nothing about economics have bought into the same free market bullshit the GOP have, but additionally act contrary to this social conservativism, by promoting gay rights, abortion etc.  The funny thing is, these guys would probably overlook that if it was benefitting them economically to do so.

Anyway, this is getting tl;dr so I'll sum it up:

'elitism' per se is not exactly an issue.  The so-called 'liberal elite' in America are, because they are apologists for destructive right-wing policies.

[Daruko]

yep, i just use the every day practical variation of the term.  the one that every single kid in school knew, the one in all those dictionaries.. yes the very same one that an arrogant stuck up prick would prefer NOT to associate himself with, if he was capable of understanding it's common application outside of mainstream political ideologies.

i could give a shit less about America's "liberal elite", "conservative elite", "discordian elite" or any political brainwiping that causes people to no longer associate words/concepts with their historical definitions, except where they are compatible with currently maintained ideologies.    Most often, an elitist in my mind is a dumb arrogant shit who refuses to question their opinions, and relies upon their presumed social status as the basis of their self-image.   When I think Elitist, I think of people LIKE Hannedy and Limbaugh, because they're snobby social ego-freaks who maintain their unquestionable dogmas not even through rational argument, but by attack the social standing of anyone with an alternate viewpoint.

Sound familiar?  Of course it does, because we're talking about a label; one that all too often describes behaviour from you and from me, and from anyone we please.  That's why people don't typically like to be called an Elitist.   Fortunately, people aren't REALLY limited to the labels we attach to them, and only fools take themselves seriously when ascribing a predicate to a people.

As I mentioned before, the term can be used positively as in "I am an elite gamer," just as one might use the word "gay" to declare one's good spirits.  However, most people I know wouldn't actually use the word "Elitist" to describe themselves, any more than they would say "I'm gay" just because they're in a good mood.     Obviously words don't have single objective definitions, so I wouldn't argue MY interpretation of the word as a popular term all that strongly... usually.   Of course, when on a forum where people supposedly don't take beliefs all that seriously, someone shouts on about [if this word means this to you then you are DEFINITLY a drone of the GOP], I can't help but to challenge it. 

[Cain]

i could give a shit less about America's "liberal elite", "conservative elite", "discordian elite" or any political brainwiping that causes people to no longer associate words/concepts with their historical definitions

Well its a good thing your approval has nothing to do with what I post then, isn't it?

Oh sorry, you thought I was talking to you?