Shapeless wrote:It's a difficult question to ponder without considering the full range of the term "elite." I see that you used the fourth definition from Merriam-Webster... here are the other three, just to give a fuller scope of the issue:
elite
1a: the choice part
1b: the best of a class
1c: the socially superior part of society
In other words, the term "elite" has a lot of nuances pertaining to social standing, which should be taken into account as we're pondering the merits of putting national policies in the hands of an "elite," even a populist one.
Which is not to say that I disagree with your basic point that adults (and children too) would do well to get as smart as they can. But is it useful to talk about this under the rubric of elitism? What would we lose or gain by removing the specter of social superiority to this (otherwise uncontroversial) speculation?
I wish to accent the positive and eliminate the negative. I wish to make the reader conscious that elite does mean positive things and I would like the reader to recognize that the salvation of our life style or even our existence may depend upon humans finding what is positive and to set them self upon the path toward utilizing our potential to save our self.
It is easy to dismiss all positive things and to remain negative and apathetic but if we accept our responsibility we will not take the easy way out.
Four out of five replies are negative. I guess young people think it is cool to be negative but it is not cool and it is not smart.
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