I have a question:I'm going to take an educated guess and say that this board isn't the only board we've ever had the pleasure of posting at?So during your travels along the electronic information highway have you ever encountered elitism among message board members?
What do you think is the cause of said elitism? Do you think elitism is necessary or does it detract from the average users experience? What if anything can be done to rectify the situation?
Has there ever been cases or sightings of elitism here? Is there even elitism here? What about in the past?
Hopefully i can get some informative feedback here, that hopefully isn't of the yes/no variety...
So, get up on your soapbox, and let us hear what you've got to say!
But seriously, I was sincerely looking for an arduous debate with a group of intellectuals on this matter...Boy, did I wander into the wrong crowd then.
Sorry, you are going to have to do real research for your master's thesis. There will be no footnotes version given here.
Really, I think Moncton.net might have less of it than anywhere else might.
I feel very comfortable, even though I do not feel I am in any particular clique. I am treated decent, and I am trashed if I do something to bring it on. Nevertheless, I can take the heat too.
However, I am not high-ranking position of knowledge and hardcore inside exposure or infinite tech insight, nor am I a newbie, nor do I go out of my way to start threads that I know are going to wind up getting me slammed and exist for no noticeable reason.
I am somewhere in the middle, I guess.
It is very casual here and not combative at all, unlike a few other boards I have active on. Some people like that, so that is why they do not stick around here probably as much.
I think I have got everyone figured out fairly well, and I am sure people have me figured out as well, at this point. No complaints, honestly, other than a few stupid, go-nowhere threads that pop up from time to time...
It is just pretty much how social circles work in most cultures.Introduction, Sizing up, Hazing (humiliation, inclusion in verbal roughhousing, etc) Approval!
Bingo It's not limited to message boards, it's a far reaching societal thing.
I don't understand the question. How can you distance yourself from culture? Your culture is a part of who you are...
Or were you specifically talking about American born Asians trying to avoid Asian things so as not to seem elitist? Please explain in further detail.
Ok! Some people call themselves an "Elitist" and consider it to be an honor to be labeled as such. Some people, I've heard brag about, yeah, that his or her guy or family are "Elitist," and are so proud to say it.
But, some others have a whole different viewpoint about this title. Liberal intellectuals call it social snobbery or even ignorance.
So, if you are an elitist, why do you consider yourself to be one?
Or, if and when you hear this term you cringe, explain why?
Elitism is a belief or attitude that an elite??? a selected group of persons whose personal abilities, specialized training or other attributes place them at the top of any field??? are the people whose views on a matter are to be taken most seriously, or who are alone fit to govern. Thus elitism sees an elite as occupying a special position of authority or privilege in a group, set apart from the majority of people who do not match up with their abilities or attributes. Thus this selected elite is treated with favoritism. Members of an inherited elite are aristocrats.
For the converse of "elitism" see "populism".
Abilities or attributes that identify an elite vary. They include:
Commonly, large amount of personal wealth, often assessed as the reward of elite qualities by those who are impressed by it, are insufficient on their own, as every nouveau riche can attest.
Elitism takes many forms, some of which are positive and some negative.
Positive forms of elitism are formed in situations in which members of a community with special abilities or special qualifications are afforded greater respect in honour of their abilities or qualifications. Their position in the top of their field is used in order to benefit everybody.
Negative forms of elitism are formed when a group of people with high abilities or attributes conspire to give themselves extra privileges at the expense of all other people. This form of elitism may be described as discrimination.
At times elitism is closely related to social class and stratification. People with a higher social class are usually known as the "social elite".
The term "elitism" or the title "elitist" can be used resentfully by a person who is not a member of an elite, or is a member but resents their position or uses it in a condescending or cynical manner in order to ridicule or criticise practices which discriminate on the basis of ability or attributes. Elitism can be seen as encouraging the exclusion of large numbers of people from positions of privilege or power.
Elitism in the context of education is the practice of concentrating attention on or allocating funding to the students who rank highest in a particular field of endeavour, the other students being deemed less worthy of attention.
Elitism in education could be based upon learning ability, knowledge, or other abilities.
In sociology as in general usage, the elite (the "elect"; sometimes the French form "??lite" is used) refers to a relatively small dominant group within a larger society, which enjoys privileged status and, almost invariantly, exploits individuals of lower social status. When applied to an individual, as in the phrase "many elites come to this restaurant," the usage quite economically both refers to an individual within that class and establishes the speaker as non-elite.
In religion the Latin form "elect" is preferred over the French form "??lite" in discussing Cathar or Calvinist theology, for examples, and the social structure that is theologically driven. Other religious groups may use expressions like "the saints" to describe the elect.
Some elites speak a language that is not shared by the commonality: today in Finland the elite speaks an archaic dialect of Swedish, in Tsarist Russia the elite spoke French; in Plantagenet England the elite spoke Norman French; in Ptolemaic Egypt the elite spoke koine Greek. (See linguistic imperialism.) Elites establish correct usage for the language when they share one with the commonality. Elite usage is reflected in "prescriptive" dictionaries; common usage is reflected in "descriptive" dictionaries. Elites establish cultural canons, which are more widely agreed-upon within the elite and more generally ignored or resented among the non-elite. In the 1950s, the British elite spoke what linguists of the time called U English.
Elite advantages are the usual ones of a dominant social class: easier access to capital and political power, more rigorous education largely free of indoctrination, resulting in cultural influence, and leadership.
Elites may justify their existence based on claims of inherited position, among insecure elites sometimes given pseudoscientific justifications of genetic or racial superiority. American conservatives, usually of the elite, often claim that the American system is a meritocracy, its elite consisting of America's hardest-working and most talented individuals (who are, therefore, deserving of their privilege). While hard-working and talented individuals do enjoy an advantage in American society (as in all societies) this theory has been, for the most part, repeatedly debunked. Elites are both envied and resented.
Elites are educated to govern. Elite education is sceptical and inquiring, hard-headed, intolerant of sham, demanding and unsentimental. Common education is designed to produce large numbers of useful and loyal citizens at low cost. Publicly financed elite education is a symptom of a successful and confident society that is prepared for self-criticism.
Wealth is not a sure sign of elite status. Neither does an elite necessarily show a sense of public obligation.
Aristocracy and oligarchy are social systems which feature an elite. An elite group, ranged round the alpha male, is a distinct feature of other closely-related social primates.
In elite theory as developed by Marxist political scientists like Michael Parenti, all sufficiently large social groups will have some kind of elite group within them that actively participates in the group's political dynamics. When a group is arbitrarily excluded from the larger society, such as in the case of the racism that was widespread in the United States prior to the success of the civil rights movement, then elite members of the excluded group may form a counterelite to fight for their group's interests (although they may be fighting for those interests only to the extent they mesh with the counterelite's interests). Of course, the dominant elite can neutralize the counterelite through the classic divide-and-conquer strategy of admitting key members of the counterelite into the elite.
How many times you read the definition before you realized it was copied and had to share with us your discovery.