The virtues of elitism

September 22, 2008

I never thought I’d utter the words, but here goes: Sam Harris is dead right. Money quote: “The problem, as far as our political process is concerned, is that half the electorate revels in Palin’s lack of intellectual qualifications. When it comes to politics, there is a mad love of mediocrity in this country. “They think they’re better than you!” is the refrain that (highly competent and cynical) Republican strategists have set loose among the crowd, and the crowd has grown drunk on it once again. “Sarah Palin is an ordinary person!” Yes, all too ordinary . . . Such sentiments suggest an uncanny (and, one fears, especially American) detachment from the real problems of today. ”

So yes, we may come down differently on the question of God but we are both elitists who believe that “ordinary people” should not lead the free world. As religious persons, we must confront the fact that our faith is being used as both a hollow justification for stupidity and a rallying cry for the benighted masses. An empty, religious incompetence is fusing with a conservative cultural populism to create frightening results and i’m afraid the democratic credo of “giving the people what they want” is precisely the problem.

Posted by MATT Posted in Bi/Partisan Politics, Current Events, Pop Culture, Posts by Matt, Social Commentary, The Church