/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.6320274]

Why is elitism bad?

[Anonymous No.6320276]

>>6320274
Elitism isn't bad. Harold Bloom said so.

[Anonymous No.6320278]

nice butterfly condom

[Anonymous No.6320279]

>Tfw moron college students on 4chan think they have the credentials and life experience to consider themselves superior to anyone
>"I read different books than you do, you're inhuman garbage!"

[Anonymous No.6320282]

i mean, assuming that there is such a thing as bad:


its because arrogance is bad and modesty is good. elitism necessitates one objectifying themselves into something that is more valuable than other people

[Anonymous No.6320283]

>>6320279
Joke's on you, I never went to college.

[Anonymous No.6320284]

>>6320282
>arrogance is bad and modesty is good
why?

[Anonymous No.6320289]

Elitism is only bad when you want to be elitist for the sake of it.

You need to have well thought out reasons as to why you have the particular views you do.

Otherwise it is just posturing. Which is 99% of the posters on /lit/.

[Anonymous No.6320292]

>>6320284
objectifying yourself or misrepresenting your essence is bad. being arrogant is a way of objectifying yourself. being arrogant is bad. being an elitist is bad. elitism is bad.


being modest is accurately representing yourself humbly. accurately representing yourself humbly is good. being modest is good.

[Anonymous No.6320306]

>>6320292
You didn't answer why, you just keep saying that things are good or things are bad without providing any clear reason. Why do you believe good or bad actually exist at all?

[Anonymous No.6320346]

>>6320306
i don't.


if it were, though, it would because we've evolved enough to intuitively understand morality, like science or something else. or god

[Anonymous No.6320405]

>>6320283
once again the master-race neet wins

[Anonymous No.6320519]

Elitism isn't bad if it is Natural Elitism (a fast lion surviving while a weak lion starves). But when you create social systems with a random economy (something like capitalism, which isn't exactly "natural" in this sense of the word), then it is an Artificial Elitism. It creates the illusion that because certain people are more fit to survive under a certain system, they are naturally, objectively superior. It's like putting a lion in the tundra or the artic and expecting it to do just as well as a polar bear or a wolf, which is already adapted to the environment. If there should be any sort of elite, it should be an intellectual elite. But this intellectual elite can only be discovered when all artificial layers are dismantled. Just as lions live in the same environmental conditions and the superior of the 2 (the weak and the strong) is determined by natural selection, so too must human beings live in a society with equal economic conditions and an equal ownership of the means of production so that the natural Elite can be rooted out from among the weeds. Because our current production relations are based on a random distribution of capital based on luck (the fluctuation of the market, good investments, inheritance money, connections, etc.), the natural elite aren't always in their natural positions of power. This is why I sometimes meet homeless people who have that spark of genius, and I think, wow if this person had only had all the opportunities and fortune I've had, he'd be at the top. And this is also why the unnatural, artificial elite like Donald Trump, Bush, and Palin exist.

[Anonymous No.6320596]

it give an asshole vibe that generally makes everyone think you're a dick which in turn makes them react negatively toward you, which in turn makes you react negatively toward them. in short, elitism makes the world a worse place

[Anonymous No.6320604]

>>6320274
Because non-elitists are better than elitists.

[Anonymous No.6320605]

>>6320519
>natural
stopped reading here

[Anonymous No.6320613]

its dangerous when it stops proper dialogue based off 'well, im just better than you'

[Anonymous No.6320636]

>>6320605
replace "natural" with "true." The True Elites are the ones who, without the help of a cheat or a systematic error can adapt or are just suited to live in a certain place. When we think of the elite, however, it's those who have most power, most wealth, most status, most societal influence. This is an Fake Elitism or an artificial elitism. It is an illusion. We think they are superior when in fact they are not. They are in positions of power because of social, historical and economic circumstance, not because of they have worked 500X faster and better than any other average worker. To establish a True Elite, we need a rational social economic foundation. (Socialism)

[Anonymous No.6320644]

>>6320306
It's just that you're not better than anyone else because you read the classics, and doing things just because you think it makes you superior is shallow

[Anonymous No.6320735]

It isn't. Stay jealous, plebs.

[Anonymous No.6320761]

>>6320346
We don't intuitively understand science.

[Anonymous No.6320952]

>>6320346
I dont think you understood what >>6320306 was saying
You said
>being modest is accurately representing yourself humbly. accurately representing yourself humbly is good. being modest is good.

You're being dogmatic in assuming that humble representation is good. Why is it good? You probably have a consequentialist reason for it, but your failure was to not explain your argument.

[Anonymous No.6321515]

>>6320274

Simply put, it frequently discriminates for the wrong reasons.

[Anonymous No.6321524]

>>6320274
because they are disliked.

[Anonymous No.6321534]

>>6320346
>if it were, though, it would because we've evolved enough to intuitively understand morality, like science or something else. or god
No, you've just internalized Christian morals. Many ancient societies thought of pride as being a good or respectable thing. You don't "intuitively" understand this morality, you've been raised into it.

[Anonymous No.6321687]

>>6320519

[Anonymous No.6321822]

>>6320519
People who compare humans to the lower animals never make a point I find compelling.

[Anonymous No.6321858]

The primary problem with elitism is that there's no consensus on what makes a given body elite. Typically it is the individuals themselves who define what makes them a member of the elite. Humans are fantastic as self-justifying. "No no, it is not you, the rich man who is valuable, it is me the artist", etc etc. All it really does is create a competing set of values about who matters. Since everybody thinks they matter more than everybody else you end up in a socially maladjusted society full of narcissists all convinced nobody else matters.

Basically elitism only works so long as there is a small cadre of elites to reinforce your eliteness and crumples when exposed to other cadres with competing definitions of elite. Not to mention if you have a society where everybody values everybody else you know that you will be valued; if you have a society where nobody values anybody else, you will not be valued.

[Anonymous No.6322040]

>>6320282
>elitism necessitates one objectifying themselves into something that is more valuable than other people
It's the opposite actually. Dialectically speaking, the subject who asserts themselves via pride or elitism objectifies the other by surpassing the part of themselves identified in the other (IE, external self-consciousness). Successful people are the ones who are prideful enough to establish themselves as the principle 'I' of experience.

[Anonymous No.6322069]

>>6320519
>>>/fur/

[Anonymous No.6322096]

>>6320279
>he thinks one has to earn his elitist attitude

I'm superior because I am superior, not because I worked my way up some corporate ladder or had meaningful life experiences. Earning credentials, trying to be successful is the route for the subservient. I'm an entrepreneur, an artist, an inventor, a pioneer -- oh, and I'm better than you.

[Anonymous No.6322270]

>>6322040

[Anonymous No.6322331]

A level of humility is required for self analysis and criticism, which in turn is generally required for self improvement. And self improvement is necessary to actually become elite.

Elitists often are not part of any elite group, but the definition of that word varies so much that it's practically meaningless.

[Anonymous No.6323853]

elitism on 4chan is bad because if you're posting on 4chan there is no way in hell you're an elite member of society.

we're all internet don quixotes except replace chivalry with idiotic fantasies of elitism and replace the humor with sadness.

the ones who deny this are more idiotic than the rest.