This doesn't fit very well with the human induced Global Warming Theory

[YukonGlocker]

"After careful thought, the Countess has decided that the pursuit of excellence is elitist . The post−moderns hold that elitism is a mortal sin. Such folk must lead complicated lives. The fact is that some people are better than other people, on any point worth discussing, from shining shoes to making money. Equality is not only impossible, but also undesirable. We may suppose that it exists among jellyfish, but I am not even sure of that.

...

The pursuit of excellence has long been our guiding principle, both professionally and personally. Since happiness is the byproduct of accomplishment, the search for excellence in both major and minor things is the key to happiness.

And this presents a social problem. If you do things well in the classroom, on the playing field or on the battlefield, you will be doing things better than some of those around you. This tends to frost the majority.You know this and the majority knows this. This makes you unpopular − "stuck up" is the term we used to use in school. This may or may not make you an "elitist," depending upon whether you flaunt it or attempt to discredit it. Modesty is a pleasant social attribute, but when overdone it can be rather silly. When a soldier is awarded his medal of honor or when a prima donna minimizes her extra bow, it is fatuous for him or her to pretend that what was accomplished was trivial. Excellence is not trivial. Excellence may be 'elitist,' as the Countess suggests. It may not be achieved by everyone, but it may be striven for by everyone, successfully or otherwise. In teaching so−called "Senior Problems" in high school, I used to present Kipling's great poetic exhortation 'If.' I remember a student approaching me after class one day complaining that the standards set forth in the verse were just too high for reasonable aspiration. My response was that while in truth the standards set forth might be unachievable, they were not unapproachable. All of us may not meet that standard, but every one of us can try to meet that standard, and ought to do so."

--Col. Jeff Cooper, Cooper's Commentaries, Vol. 12, Nos. 2 and 12.

nice one!

 

[Dave70968]

"It does seem that at this point coping is unfashionable. A man who can cope is an elitist, which is a very dreadful thing to be. If you can cope, you are better than other people, and those other people tend to hate you for it. Consider the use of the English language. If you use it well you will be held up to scorn and ridiculed by a majority − especially in England, of all places. The English language is a marvelous instrument, and no one ever really masters it, but it is nonetheless great fun to try. If people hiss at you for trying, let them hiss. They are the losers."

Col. Jeff Cooper, Cooper's Commentaries, Vol. 10, No. 7

In my experience, Col. Cooper hits the nail squarely on the head. People who deride "elitism" tend to be some combination of jealous of others' intellect and skill, or insecure in their own.

 

[YukonGlocker]

In my experience, Col. Cooper hits the nail squarely on the head. People who deride "elitism" tend to be some combination of jealous of others' intellect and skill, or insecure in their own.

Yep, and there's a rich irony in these cases because elitists with which they agree with are considered "leaders" and "role models"...whereas elitists with which they disagree with are considered "elitists" and "disgraces".

 

[OKCHunter]

Did you say something? I can't hear you up here in my ivory tower.

Ha! Put your ear to the ceiling. Your Ivory Tower is currently located beneath my suburban home.

 

[dennishoddy]

Ha! Put your ear to the ceiling. Your Ivory Tower is currently located beneath my suburban home.

His Ivory Tower is located at the bottom of my outhouse.

 

[OKCHunter]

His Ivory Tower is located at the bottom of my outhouse.

Before or after cleaning out the privy?

 

[Ace_on_the_Turn]

Look at the rabble, throwing their poo, like a monkey in a cage, at their better. Don't fret, LittleD, maybe one day you'll have running water in your shanty. And won't have to piss in a hole like a third-world pissant.

 

[Gunbuffer]

Pol pot had it right

 

[Dave70968]

Pol pot had it right

Would you like to elaborate on that, or shall we just take it to mean your endorsement of the things for which he is most famous: communism, forced labor, and mass murder?

 

[Gunbuffer]

He was a good clarinet player. That's what I meant.