In Defense of Elitism: Why I'm Better Than You and You are Better Than Someone Who Didn't Buy This Book

by Joel Stein

drops. It is awful to be the only person at a party who knows something, especially when it’s that human existence is about to end.

Elites are people who think; populists are people who believe. Elites defer to experts; populists listen to their own guts. Elites value cooperation; populists are tribal. Elites are masters at delayed gratification, long-range planning, and controlling our emotions.

Then I will analyze my data, reach conclusions, and issue a report suggesting we pretend to give these people what they want and do what’s best instead.

very Plato

This is the first time anyone has prayed for me in a non-mean way, and it feels great.

warming. A few other comments about the news make it clear that the main difference between the people of Miami and me is that they believe there is only one right and one wrong and they’re always right, whereas I believe that there is a shifting, multidimensional matrix between right and wrong and I’m always right.

together. He calls this theory “two movies on one screen.” Sure, he and I are watching the same events. But due to cognitive dissonance (explaining away facts that contradict our worldview) and confirmation bias (remembering only the facts that support our worldview), he’s shoveling popcorn into his mouth while laughing over a delightful comedy about a genius troll negotiating peace and prosperity. Meanwhile, I am gnawing on my nails while watching a horror film about an angry, incompetent racist with antisocial personality disorder destroying democratic norms.

Populism is a primal scream for primordial masculinity. It’s a call for action over thought, individualism over cooperation. It’s uncontrolled emotion: fighting, insulting, bragging, sleeping around, and bragging about the attractiveness of your wife even though you’re also sleeping around. It’s everything the eggheads in salmon pants are not. Scott told me that the Democratic Party is symbolically female and committed to finding fairness. Republicans are metaphorically male and understand that fairness is both impossible and disincentivizing, so instead of justice they aim for power.

The world seems fragile and I want trustworthy, trained people running it. I want that more than I want it run by people who share my values or act like me. I want that more than I want to be funny.

Is it better for the Intellectual Elite to study the populists’ criticisms and adjust our policies, or to shout at them for being racist idiots?

I do not intend to destroy segregation by physical force. I intend to destroy segregation by positive and embracing methods. When my brothers try to draw a circle to exclude me, I shall draw a larger circle to include them. Where they speak out for the privileges of a puny group, I shall shout for the rights of all mankind.

This is how you get a History Channel with shows about ghosts and aliens.

It’s not that I disagree about policy with Trump supporters. It’s that I know they don’t give a shit about policy.…Most of them are only interested in Trump as a vehicle of social disruption.

“I went to a couple of the Trump rallies in 2016 and there’s a lot of ‘This is a lot more fun than a boring political speech.’ It’s a combination of anger and entertainment.”

I, meanwhile, am a new person in every situation, shape shifting into my best guess of what people will like.

interesting out of context

Based on that epiphany, I have put every acknowledgee in bold, to make scanning for your own name easier.

legendary