Elitism - The plague of self-righteousness

There are 2 areas where I have grown tired of the attitudes that come from the majority of civilization. I will start with financial elitism and end with religious elitism.

Finacial Elitism

The 1%. Those at the top of the financial pyramid want to dictate how everyone below them lives because those below them are seen as incapable.

The 5%. Those who have developed a skillset usefull to the 1% and therefore recieve a healthy income want to force their opinions on you and would degrade you as ignorant if you don't agree.

The 50%. Those who work in mid level jobs and recieve an adequate pay and good quality of life. They tell everyone below them if you would just apply yourself or get educated you could do what they did. They consider themselves inherently better than anyone who doesn't achieve the success they have.

The rest of the workforce. They just want to do an honest job for honest pay. But don't you dare take from them and give to someone else because they can work too, regardless of unemployment rates and actual availability of jobs.

The flaw in all this. Birth rights should not equal bragging rights. Do you believe in God or evolution? I will show you it doesn't matter because no one has the right to boast.

If a man is more adept at high level thinking then someone else, it is by no effort of their own have they achieved this abilty. They have either won the genetic lottery or been purposed by God. This argument alone should sway anyone from being a braggart or thinking too highly of themselves.

Yet we haven't even taken into account the socio-economic factors, which are proven to play a significant role in one's opinions of themselves, their motivation and ultimately their ability to be successful.

Not everyone has the intelligence or motivation to achieve the success of others. Those that do should be greatful rather than arrogant because they did not chose their birthrights.

For those at the top who wish to dictate the lives of those at the bottom I ask this. How can you possibly know what is best for someone whom you cannot relate too?

For those in the middle who want to put down those below you. How can you possibly understand the struggles of those who you can not relate too?

Why do the successful blame the factionless for their intellectual ineptude or the poor socio-economic factors that lead to low self asteem and depression. All things which makes it nearly impossible to succeed? Isn't this aslo a birthright?

When it sinks in to humanity that we don't understand each other and can not relate then and only then can we actually open up dialogue and begin to adress and fix the issues.

As long as we claim self-righteous authority we will continue to dictate the lives of those whom we can't understand which is the opposite of freedom.

Religious Elitism

The only thing worse than finacial elitism is religious elitism which is also primarily decided by birthright.

Religion is based primarily on your family and nationality. Yet we claim religious superiority over others because there is only 1 right way of thinking.

The two forms of elitism are almost identical in the fact that those above you always want to dictate to you how to think and what is wrong with you. There is a fine line between helping others and lording yourself over them. A line that is crossed more often than not.

I don't need to be told how to think or what is wrong with me. I need to be understood and offered a helping hand when I am down. No one is better or worse we are merely different. Either for God's purpose or simply a side effect of evolution.

Birthrights should equal responsibly not unrighteous elitism.

Your entire outlook is self-defeating. I know you don’t want to be “told” anything, but you don’t have positive outcomes from a negative mindset. If you believe the world is against you it definitely will be.

You can choose to be happy and it costs nothing.

I will just concern myself with the first part.
Soo, when i joined the Air Force I was a peon....getting told and having to do the bidding of those above me 23 years later I was the one near enough the top, telling those below me what to do and how to do it. In other words, how does your rant apply to the upwardly mobile seeking a better life? Have can you have a functioning society without some kind of hierarchy?

originally posted by: lakenheath24
I will just concern myself with the first part.
Soo, when i joined the Air Force I was a peon....getting told and having to do the bidding of those above me 23 years later I was the one near enough the top, telling those below me what to do and how to do it. In other words, how does your rant apply to the upwardly mobile seeking a better life? Have can you have a functioning society without some kind of hierarchy?

Try to look at the world elites as a monarchy instead of a military, and you'll find that upward progression is much different.

Your member name says it all. It is likely the path of least resistance. That is neither good or bad, it is a chosen lifestyle, same as minimalist or capitalist. Life is a competition whether you like it or not, you must understand how to maneuver through it or jump on board and compete.

originally posted by: lakenheath24
I will just concern myself with the first part.
Soo, when i joined the Air Force I was a peon....getting told and having to do the bidding of those above me 23 years later I was the one near enough the top, telling those below me what to do and how to do it. In other words, how does your rant apply to the upwardly mobile seeking a better life? Have can you have a functioning society without some kind of hierarchy?

In my career in retail I have worked worked with many people whose minds do not function like a manager and simply can not progress to that level.

In your military career did you ever encounter anyone without the mental aptitude to progress and lead others? Maybe an extreme introvert who didn't have leadership ability? Anyone whose educational aptitude might make it difficult for them to do higher level thinking jobs? Isn't much of what determines this a birthright?

I am not advocating against advancement. I am not pushing for communism. People who work harder and perform more complex tasks deserve a higher income. Regardless of the level one works at I think most people agree.

The question is are you better than those who did not achieve what you did or are you simply different? Did your birthright set you up for leadership while others set them up for servitude.

Do you think, other than training for the job, that you should dictate how those below you should think or live in their personal lives? Or do you believe that because you achieved success you have a responsibility to those who cannot achieve what you have?

This does not mean handing over your wealth. I am speaking about listening to those below you rather than lording over them. The majority of leaders, and society tend to put people down for their shortcomings. What we need is leadership that is willing to lend a hand an an ear to the less fortunate.

Jesus came and walked with the poor. He did not lord over them. He offered them Grace and reached his had out to anyone who would grab hold of it.

Regardless of what one thinks about the divinity of Jesus, I think he understood these basic principles and is an example for how leaders should rule their people. Grace and freewill for all, not a grace and freewill for the elite.

Add - Capitalism will survive without elitism.

originally posted by: Metallicus
Your entire outlook is self-defeating. I know you don’t want to be “told” anything, but you don’t have positive outcomes from a negative mindset. If you believe the world is against you it definitely will be.

You can choose to be happy and it costs nothing.

I am a firm believer in the power of will, I do not have a negative outlook but a realistic one.

Of course my belief in the power of will which keeps me moving forward does nothing for those whom are trapped by a birthright ideology that prevents them from seeing who they really are.

I am no better, just different.

"I surrender" is in reference to the Muslim word Islam which translates to one who surrenders his will to God's will.

I do not surrender to the will of any man, save Jesus Christ who is my Messiah.

The greatest thing about my faith. Regardless of my worldy position I know I am successful in my heavenly fathers eyes.

a reply to: Isurrender73

Have you ever thought that some people just do things better than others?
We all know people that will never achieve great things.

Another poop should run up hill thread?

I just dodged the poop.

I planned it that way, and had some help from other poop dodgers.

Poop dodgers unite!!

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: Isurrender73

Have you ever thought that some people just do things better than others?
We all know people that will never achieve great things.

I believe a philosophy similar to Einstein's predestination. When I look at my life I see a man whose life was primarily dictated by my reactions to the world. I look at my reactions and realize they were largely programmed by socioeconomic factors. So I became the only thing I could become.

One of the smartest men that ever lived was not an elitists. The belief in predestination means that Einstein believed he was nothing other than what God or evolution had determined. The mathematical perfection of the world made him believe in a "God that doesn't take chances".

I disagree in part with Einstein because I believe we have some accountability (freewill) in all this even though the line is difficult to understad or describe.

His belief in causal determinism was incompatible with the concept of human free will. Jewish as well as Christian theologians have generally believed that people are responsible for their actions. They are even free to choose, as happens in the Bible, to disobey God's commandments, despite the fact that this seems to conflict with a belief that God is all knowing and all powerful. Einstein, on the other hand, believed--as did Spinoza--that a person's actions were just as determined as that of a billiard ball, planet or star. "Human beings in their thinking, feeling and acting are not free but are as causally bound as the stars in their motions," Einstein declared in a statement to a Spinoza Society in 1932.
www.talkleft.com...

a reply to: Isurrender73

OK, I get you now. My decisions as a manager were varied and based solely on the individual. Some were just unspeakably stupid and I chose not to waste much time on them, while others I mentored hard to help them be successful. Some people forced you to Lord over them as they had a job to do and slacking could get someone killed. But it was never a "Im better than you" mentality.

I considered myself better than others based on job performance, not personally. After all those years of experience, I am convinced that the Indian Caste system has something to it.

originally posted by: Mandroid7
Another poop should run up hill thread?

I just dodged the poop.

I planned it that way, and had some help from other poop dodgers.

Poop dodgers unite!!

The poop shouldn't go uphill. But it shouldn't be shoved down the throats of those less fortunate either.

a reply to: Isurrender73

That is a great post. I can believe that, except is Freewill REALLY Freewill? How do you know if we are predestined?

originally posted by: lakenheath24
a reply to: Isurrender73

That is a great post. I can believe that, except is Freewill REALLY Freewill? How do you know if we are predestined?

Simulation theory? God? We wouldn't know if we are predestined.

Knowing would be impossible except if the programmers or God were to reveal themselves. This is why I find the argument of freewill verse predestination so intriguing.

If it's predestined than I was supposed to have this thought anyway. So it really makes little difference what we believe, because we still have to go out and act either or both scenarios out.

doesn't matter what system is in place, eventually those at the top will become corrupt ...

if you put good people in a bad place, do the people triumph or does the place corrupt them

a reply to: Isurrender73

Exactly...it's a conundrum for sure. Perhaps the theory of multiple universes would explain it. Maybe we all get a whack at being in a different Caste in another life. And after each stage we are judged? Who knows man, I usually have to have some beer or 10 to discuss this stuff.

I never thought of my self as an elite, and I hung around with others who were working class people. I owned my own business but liked to work along with the guys as part of the crew. I did not want to push a pencil all the time. Building houses and remodeling is actually interesting, there is always something new to learn. I usually did the sales and estimating, the bookkeeping, payroll, and purchasing and billing after I got done working all day with the guys. I did hire an accountant at the end of the year to do my taxes.


I am not rich but I do not have any regrets nor do I feel that I have screwed anyone over. I never tried to shove my beliefs down others throats but was intent on teaching others what I had learned, some of which I learned the hard way.

The elite are often disconnected from reality and a person does not have to be rich to have an elite personality. Not all rich are elites either, some rich people are good people with common sense. I do not judge someone either way by the money they have.

originally posted by: Isurrender73

originally posted by: Mandroid7
Another poop should run up hill thread?

I just dodged the poop.

I planned it that way, and had some help from other poop dodgers.

Poop dodgers unite!!

The poop shouldn't go uphill. But it shouldn't be shoved down the throats of those less fortunate either.

There are all kinds of dbags out there. It is your job to focus on which type of people you give the power to influence you.

Focus on positive people and it will wear off on you fast.

Wealthy people don't waste time with negative people, it takes them backwards, they have learned to filter the noise.

a reply to: Metallicus



"They" just proved that for every minute You are 'irked' it robs You of 60 seconds of 'contentment'...

What type You?