Why are liberals referred to as elitist?

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I frequently hear on this board, and on the conservative talk radio show I tune in to whenever possible, that liberals are elitist.
Where has this label come from, and why is it used so frequently by the right?
I have googled the topic to death and haven't found anything that conclusively paints liberals any more elitist than conservatives.

One Canadian blogger wrote on teh topic:

Quote:

"A leader takes people where they want to go... a greater leader takes people where they don't want to go, but ought to be" or something like that.

My first reaction was simply to think, "damn elitist liberals... always imposing their crazy views and "values" on the people"...

But then retracted, stating

Quote:

then... I thought, maybe my reaction was unwarranted. Yes, of course, most liberals are elitist and hope to impose their far-left ideology on the masses, but I'm sure that quote can be applied to conservatives as well, right?

Any comments?
Just curious.

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I think that the label is convenient for conservatives. I don't think that, when talking about political parties, either is more elitest than the other. But there is just a perception that conservative = common man and liberal = well-educated ivory tower man. That idea is perpetuated by those who find it useful to create an artificial class conflict. Throughout history, class and race conflict has served the purposes of some people very well. It's a familiar and trustworthy recipe.

This perception falls apart when examined, though. Good for you for examining.

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just more right wing gobbledegook.

all the more amusing when tossed about ad nauseum by our friends at fox and rushsean hannabaugh-coulsavag'e. who claim to be the only ones that really know what's going on. and the only real americans.

" if ya can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with bull$hit "

Laughing

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I always thought that "Grand Old Party" seemed a touch snobbish....

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I guess nobody wants to qualify such a frequent assertion about the left.

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'Elitist' is their way of looking down upon us, for looking down upon them. Rather than confront the fact that they are smelly, dirty, unwashed back-woods inbred yokels, they hide their open envy of our intelligence and good looks behind the title of 'elitist.'

/snark

Cycloptichorn

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Accusing liberals of being elitist is a clever tactic, especially when the accusers ignore the economic aspect of elitism.

Without flogging a dead horse, who could be more elite than G.W. Bush, the product of an upper crust New England background who attended Yale and whose father was president?

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if the conservatives call us elitists then they can win the confidence of their constituency and get that "common touch" that keeps the midwestern and southern trailer parks going to the polls and swallowing their bullshit whole.

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At the risk of comin' off as elitist ... that the question why such might be thought generates discussion of the sort here evidenced not only answers the question but confirms the hypothesis.

<chuckle>

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So, are liberals regarded as elitist due to a perceived (or real) intellectual superiority over conservatives?

From what I have read, the snobbery by which the right feels the left looks down upon them with stems from intellectualism and nothing more. One simply can not make elitist claims based on portfolios, net worth or income, as one journalist writes:

Quote:

According to public record, one of every three members of the Senate and one out of every four members of the House are millionaires. Despite popular stereotypes of Republicans as the party of the rich and Democrats as the party of the working class, the wealthiest member of the Senate (John Kerry of Massachusetts) and the wealthiest member of the House (Jane Harman of California) are both Democrats. Of the top six wealthiest senators, five are Democrats

Source

This disintegrates when you consider the patrician upbringing of the current President and his administration.
Moving beyond the selective "top 6" wealthiest senators,

Quote:

Financial disclosure forms released Friday by the nation's 100 senators show there are at least 40 millionaires among them -- 22 Republicans and 18 Democrats

Source (most current data I could find)

Are conservatives just name calling?
Or is there an academic or intellectual shorcoming in the average conservative/republican?

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The second, I'd believe.

It's the same reason why many on the left can't stand Bush, and many on the right love him. Us on the left see his bumbling, inability to speak in a coherent manner and decide that he is dumb. On the right, they see his manner, and decide that they are smart because they can talk as well as the President.

Rolling Eyes

Cycloptichorn

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I think its an attempt by the right wing to appeal to their constitutents. The left does the same thing when they refer to the right wing as evil or totalitarian.

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A while back, timber wrote:

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2003 11:40 Post: 362283 -

I notice a sort of condescending, patronizing manner from talking heads conducting small-town man-in-the-street or redneck-in-the-coffeeshop interviews, for example ... a bit of scorn, tempered with evident pity ("its not their fault they're poor and ignorant"). I attribute this perceived sense of elitism to the rigors of obtaining the education typically required for a carreer in The Media. The poor sods are cloistered for years in the artificial confines of the Arts and Humanities departments of Academe, daily subjected to the rants and harangues of the now aging tenured twits who've remained shut behind the ivy-shrouded walls since they discovered, in the 'Sixties, that the world is a mean, nasty place full of pragmatic conservatives and feckless moderates, with whom there is no way to meaningfully interact on an intellectual basis ... hell, some of those folks out there in Middle America even sweat when not wearing gym outfits ... and do it every day, with some sort of insane pride ... how rude.

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Liberals are called elitist because they cry about things,but dont want them solved.
As an example...Robert Kennedy (nephew of Ted) is a huge proponent of wind farms and other alternative forms of energy.Yet,when a power company wanted to put a wind farm in Nantucket sound,near where he lives,he said no.
The wind turbines would not have been on his property,but he complained because they would be an eyesore.
http://groups.msn.com/AAEA/windpower.msnw

So liberals got to be called elitist because they want everyone else to do what they wont do.

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A liberal is someone who wants to do what he thinks best for all with your money.

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Yeah?

You ignore utterly Timber that left folk also pay taxes. We believe in sharing our own money, too, for community benefit. Such as is decided upon by governments, affected and lobbied as they are by all sides of politics.

Your little saying is one of those things that sounds cute and such, and makes right wingers feel clever, but distorts actual reality.

Not to mention, speaking of a patronizing manner....

Though - perhaps, to join in smartarsery, conservatives believe that ALL money is their money???? Hmmmmmmm....?

Not to mention that, at least here, and I will eat my hat if America is different - that, the richer you are, the less you pay proportionately of your income in tax.

My level of earner pays far more tax, relatively speaking, than the rich. We cannot afford to get not to pay tax.

Not to mention that I am happy to share my money for community benefit.

In my view, we all gain from this.

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I'd say America is pretty much the same as just about everywhere else in this regard. And don't blame me for the bons mots; it was Ambrose Bierce who came up with it Laughing

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timberlandko wrote:

A liberal is someone who wants to do what he thinks best for all with your money.

So, the Bush family is personally financing the war in Iraq then?

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mysteryman wrote:

Liberals are called elitist because they cry about things,but dont want them solved.

That's not elitism.
An elitist is someone who believes in rule by an elite group...not a whiner.
If you think liberals are whiners, that's an entirely different topic.
I was wondering why they are referred to as elitist, all other personal judgements aside.

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timberlandko wrote:

A while back, timber wrote:
Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2003 11:40 Post: 362283 -

I notice a sort of condescending, patronizing manner from talking heads conducting small-town man-in-the-street or redneck-in-the-coffeeshop interviews, for example ... a bit of scorn, tempered with evident pity ("its not their fault they're poor and ignorant"). I attribute this perceived sense of elitism to the rigors of obtaining the education typically required for a carreer in The Media.

You think liberally minded individuals are all educated for the sole purpose of entertaining a career in the media?
Is that the common thread with the right?--constatnly linking liberals to the media and Hollywood?

timberlandko wrote:
A while back, timber wrote:
Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2003 11:40 Post: 362283 - The poor sods are cloistered for years in the artificial confines of the Arts and Humanities departments of Academe, daily subjected to the rants and harangues of the now aging tenured twits who've remained shut behind the ivy-shrouded walls since they discovered, in the 'Sixties, that the world is a mean, nasty place full of pragmatic conservatives and feckless moderates, with whom there is no way to meaningfully interact on an intellectual basis ... hell, some of those folks out there in Middle America even sweat when not wearing gym outfits ... and do it every day, with some sort of insane pride ... how rude.

Again you appeal to a common misconception that it is impossible to emerge from post secondary institute a conservative because the "now aging tenured twits" have managed to take over, not only the arts and humanities (which is a small component of any college or university), but the entire campus?

After all, it is many on the right who spew accountibility and personal responsibility, shunning any appeal to envirnomental, psychological or societal influences on individual actions.
Can one not think for themselves in an arena of higher learning?

If being an intellectual means being an elitist, then what is the explanation for all these brilliant righties on this board?

As a liberal, I get my ass kicked on this board on a regular basis by said conservatives without leaping to the conclusion that educated=elitist. Although formally educated, I'm academically or intellectually nowhere near so many members here from the right. So I fail to see the connection or the relevance of education when discussing the charge of elitism by the left.

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Why are liberals referred to as elitist?

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