Elitism and American Politics

In an election where Barak Obama has been charged by many from the right with "elitism" and Sarah Palin proudly flaunts her lack of Washingon experience, I think it's important to ask what is so bad about elitism in politics? Why do so many Americans look down on experience and education in favor of someone who is just your "average Joe" (or Jane is this election)? and In his Newsweek column a couple weeks ago, Sam Harris address this very question.

. . . how has "elitism" become a bad word in American politics? There is simply no other walk of life in which extraordinary talent and rigorous training are denigrated. We want elite pilots to fly our planes, elite troops to undertake our most critical missions, elite athletes to represent us in competition and elite scientists to devote the most productive years of their lives to curing our diseases. And yet, when it comes time to vest people with even greater responsibilities, we consider it a virtue to shun any and all standards of excellence. When it comes to choosing the people whose thoughts and actions will decide the fates of millions, then we suddenly want someone just like us, someone fit to have a beer with, someone down-to-earth—in fact, almost anyone, provided that he or she doesn't seem too intelligent or well educated.

I think this is kind of attitude that got W. elected and re-elected and is behind much of the popularity of Sarah Palin. Of course, there's also the fact that supposed "elitists" tend to be more of the rationalist persuasion, and therefore don't believe that the Earth is only 6,000 years old. Perhaps "elitism" is just a code word for "educated enough to not believe in irrational nonsense."

The entire article is worth a read for it's engagin criticism of the cringe-inducing mixing of religion and politics we would get with Palin running the country.