The Temptations and Dangers of Elitism
I was just thinking about how much it scares me sometimes that uneducated, apathetic people’s votes count as much as ours. We spend our days progressively eating and breathing and drinking more and more politics as one of the most important elections in decades draws near. So much is at stake in November. However, regardless of who is elected, I know one thing that will not change: my vote will count just as much as David’s dollar store lady who thought Obama didn’t believe in saying the Pledge.
I’m suddenly really glad of that. No one in America is disenfranchised for any reason (although this is historically arguable in Florida). I wouldn’t have it any other way. Yes, I desperately wish that more people paid attention to issues, researched candidate positions and watched debates. However, those who don’t do any of these things are just as free to have a voice as those who make themselves ill living on three hours of sleep and bags of cheetos while stumping on the campaign trail.
Strange as the connection may seem, I believe that JD Salinger speaks right to the heart of this topic in his short work Franny and Zooey. Franny is a young college student who becomes completely fed up with the academic scene. She’s incredibly frustrated by the fact that she works so hard and earnestly, yet all around her she sees only crummy students and unbearably egotistical professors. Franny is also quite a good actress, and she’s offended by the “unskilled laughter” in the audience. No one is smart enough or good enough to deserve her own special genius. But Zooey, her older brother, calls her out on this. He says that we’re supposed to give our best every time, for everyone, regardless of whether we think our efforts will be properly appreciated.
I apologize in advance for the longish Salinger quote which follows; no one writes quite like Jerome David.
For a bit of background: Zooey, his older brother Seymour, and all of their family periodically appeared on a radio quiz show called “It’s A Wise Child.” They’re sort of a family of geniuses who’ve grown up on a mixture of poetry (in every language), Buddist writings, the bible, philosophy…you name it, they’ve read it. In this passage, Zooey is telling Franny one of his memories from a radio show appearance:
“Seymour’d told me to shine my shoes just as I was going out the door with Waker. I was furious. The studio audience were all morons, the announcer was a moron, the sponsors were morons, and I just damn well wasn’t going to shine my shoes for them, I told Seymour. I said they couldn’t see them anyway, where we sat. He said to shine them anyway. He said to shine them for the Fat Lady…..I don’t care where an actor acts. It can be in summer stock, it can be over a radio, it can be over television, it can be in a goddam Broadway theatre, complete with the most fashionable, most well-fed, most sunburned-looking audience you can imagine. But I’ll tell you a terrible secret—there isn’t anyone who isn’t Seymour’s fat lady.”
Franny and Zooey convicts me every time I think of others—the less educated, the lazy, the shallow—with scorn. Even if we’ve got differences in ideas on every kind of policy you can mention, even if we’ve thought through our ideas so much more than others, those others have a voice. Isn’t America a glorious democracy? May God bless it.
I like Salinger’s involved streams of consciousness, plenty of gusto, but there’s just not enough variety in him to keep me going. He’s the sort of writer that I loved when I was younger.
You are certainly right about clueless Americans, and I think that’s exactly why the powers of the democratic government should be more limited–to protect the clueless masses from the scheming government.
rideronthet
29 Mar 08 at 1:07 am
When all is said and done, the so-called uneducated and apathetic may be doing more studying the issues and candidates than they get credit for. They may be less vocal and visible, but when they go to vote, still be knowledgeable and not just voting the party line. How many liberal political students will vote the same way at every election? If your candidate does not receive the nomination, will you vote the party line, crossover, or just not vote?
simon
29 Mar 08 at 9:40 am
simon: I’m not sure if that last question was rhetorical or not, but speaking as a liberal political student, I wanted to let you know that if Clinton is the Democratic nominee, I’ll be giving McCain a good, long look. I honestly don’t know who I will vote for if Obama is not nominated.
kcross
29 Mar 08 at 12:37 pm
“How many liberal political students will vote the same way at every election?”
How many students vote, period? It’s somewhere around 30%, give or take 5, in a given election.
I just still find it hard to believe that the “so-called uneducated” really do study the issues and candidates. For instance, the latest WSJ/NBC poll reports that 13% of registered voters think Obama is a Muslim. The number of people that think Obama is a Muslim is up from 8%, from the December poll. So, even after more exposure, more recognition, and the Rev. Wright scandal, many people still think Obama is a Muslim.
S.C. Denney
29 Mar 08 at 12:47 pm
Do you know what the elitists were called in the old days? Nobles, aristocrats, and Stalinists. Do you know what the uneducated people were called in the old days? Peasants. If what I learned from my History class doesn’t fail me, what the nobles and aristocrats thought were good for the population turned out to be a boom for them but a disaster for the rest.
I am a Democrat but I will never vote for Obama. I am very concerned about his lack of experience. If I recalled correctly, the first two or three years of the Clinton administration were a disaster. An inexperienced Bill Clinton (and Hillary Clinton) suffered setbacks after setbacks due to his naive view of how government really works. I thought Obama would have made a great VP (building up a sizable resume) and perhaps a superb president eight years from now, but I’m pretty through with him.
leafless
29 Mar 08 at 1:10 pm
Is there a difference between experience and exposure?
S.C. Denney
29 Mar 08 at 1:22 pm
Do I detect that uneducated is used to also mean conservative or can liberals also be uneducated? I study the candidates, listen to what they have to say but also observe their mannerisms, compare their answers to questions to see if they agree with my ideas, and decide which one more fully fits my thoughts for America’s future. I’m glad we vote secret ballot and I would never respond to an exit poll, because I want my vote to be mine. Right now, I don’t know that we are given much of a choice in the upcoming general election, regardless of what the Democrats do in their convention.
simon
29 Mar 08 at 2:20 pm
“Do I detect that uneducated is used to also mean conservative or can liberals also be uneducated?”
If you referring to my example about people believing Obama to be a Muslim, then no. It was just an example, a general observation.
“I study the candidates, listen to what they have to say but also observe their mannerisms, compare their answers to questions to see if they agree with my ideas, and decide which one more fully fits my thoughts for America’s future.”
You, my friend, a very unique indeed, especially for a younger folk.
S.C. Denney
29 Mar 08 at 3:38 pm
Do you know what the elitists were called in the old days? Nobles, aristocrats, and Stalinists.
Stalinists, really? That list isn’t really a historically accurate picture of elites who ruled throughout history. How about this one: satraps, magistrates, and senators. And your history has failed you because the governmental systems in those examples (Persia, Athens, and Rome), while oligarchic, was not detrimental to the disenfranchised. You have to read history with a very strong lens to find fault with every form of government except for universal democracy, which you see as perfect.
The powerful masses are easily manipulated. They killed Socrates; they elected Hitler; they had tons of revolutions in France. That is why I think we have a system of government that balances democratic elements with some elitist elements, and that seems to be working out all right.
I have thought about repealing the 17th Amendment to insert an extra elitist check on the masses hold over both legislative houses, but it isn’t a big deal. And I know that would never happen, anyway.
David M. Manes
29 Mar 08 at 5:38 pm
“I was just thinking about how much it scares me sometimes that uneducated, apathetic people’s votes count as much as ours.”
I’m not so sure that I’m educated, but it pisses me off that people just gobble up everything they read or hear without questioning or researching the information. It reminds me of the panic that set in during the live broadcast of The War of the Worlds.
What concerns me the most is what will happen in the general election against McMaverick:
* The terrorists are coming!
* Obama is a racist!
* Obama is a Muslim!
* Obama is not patriotic!
* The surge is working and “we” are “winning”!
That’s when the perception will be cemented for the Dollar Store Lady and friends, and there will be no convincing them otherwise.
I’d like to think that the US voter has evolved beyond this, but I remain skeptical….
gino
29 Mar 08 at 7:59 pm
Proven fact: Gino’s comments make for interesting traffic from interesting Google searches.
Hopefully this search term will bring results from the most interesting interweb users on Google to this page:
“The terrorists are coming Obama is a racist Obama is a Muslim Obama is not patriotic The surge is working we are winning”
TheChrisBerry
29 Mar 08 at 11:15 pm
I enjoyed this post - I’ve had three people in the last few weeks ask me about Obama’s pledge-hating habits, how he wants to destroy white people, or how I would feel if he got made president, made himself a dictator, and made everyone read the Koran (no joke). Thanks for a dose of perspective.
Jenny
30 Mar 08 at 10:25 pm
Jenny: I’m so glad you liked it. Why is it that Salinger’s work seems to be pertinent to every life question? I’d put him third on the list of authors to consult, right after biblical authors (as one block group) and Leo Tolstoy.
kcross
31 Mar 08 at 12:03 am
As far as the masses go, they have always been easily manipulated by the powers that be. For an example of this, look to tsarist Russia. The masses were starving and trapped in a losing war against Japan in 1905. They thought that the tsar didn’t know what was happening to them and that if he only knew, he would fix things. They go to the winter palace to present their petition carrying icons and led by Orthodox priests, singing “God Save the Tsar,” and nearly a thousand people are slaughtered by the palace guard on Bloody Sunday. The proletariat has always allowed themselves to be used as puppets and tools by the bourgeoisie. While not the elite, the intelligentsia were necessary to reveal to them their plight and incite them to revolution. The same could be said for France in the 1790s. While the Revolution was bloody, it was a necessary evil to finally do away with the horrors of Bourbon rule.
Whether you like them or not, the intelligentsia are not usually considered to be elites by the nobles of aristocratic countries or by the old money families of the United States. The intelligentsia tends to serve throughout history the purpose that Vladimir Ilych Ulyanov envisioned for them, that of vanguards to revolution, not reaction.
krjohns
7 Apr 08 at 11:33 am
krjohns, every time I hear from you, you sound more and more Marxist. I just thought you should know that. You’re even using words like “proletariat” and “bourgeoisie” and talking about class struggles. Interesting…
David M. Manes
7 Apr 08 at 5:20 pm