What's wrong with being "Elite"? (Iran, Afghanistan, Marines)

[Pug Life]

I see a lot of talk on these threads on how someone is being "elitist". So that begs the question, what's wrong with being elite?

Aren't we taught as children that we should always try to be the best we can be? Aren't we told in this country that the dream of being an American is that anyone can grow up to be anything they want? Don't we work hard in high school so we can go to an Elite college so we can get an elite job so we can send our children to elite schools? If those are all true, how is being an "elitist" a bad thing?

[elvislives]

It's all about attitude.

[cb at sea]

It's not a bad thing--if you achieve it, you just don't want to "flaunt" it!

[Redisca]

There is a big difference between being elite and being elitist. For example, copious self-aggrandizement and putting down others does not make a person elite -- but it certainly makes him elitist.

[litlux]

Elite is just a word that got hijacked for political purposes.

I admire the elite.

The United States Marines are an elite fighting force.

The top five or ten percent of a graduating class are elite learners.

The scientists who win Nobel prizes are elite researchers.

Teachers who succeed in getting more than 50% of their class to go on to college are elite.

Businessmen who make consistent profits while serving their customers and community honestly and fairly are the elite of commerce.

You get the idea.

To strive to be the best, instead of just the richest, is the hallmark of people I admire.

[ellie]

Being called an elitist these days is often confused with having a good education and not being ashamed of it.

[Tricky D]

The problem with being 'elite' is that it only encourages dualist thinking.

Besidez, elitists believe themselves to be superior to the rest of the world.
Kinda like the Nazis believed themselves to be superior to the non-Aryans.

I surmised that Aryan would be a suitable word for entry into the Dictionary of Racial Language because of its racial implications stemming from World War II and Nazism. What I discovered through my research is that the origin of Aryan did not begin with Hitler, Nazism or even relate to the Nordics, as I originally thought. Instead, what I discovered is that Aryan, as its’ definition will demonstrate, is the antithesis of Hitler’s so called perfect race.

"It is one of the ironies of history that Aryan, a word nowadays referring to the blond-haired, blue-eyed physical ideal of Nazi Germany, originally referred to a people who looked vastly different. Its history starts with the ancient Indo-Iranians, Indo-European peoples who inhabited parts of what are now Iran, Afghanistan, and India" (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.)
Source: ARYAN

[Greatday]

Define "Elite"......

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Originally Posted by Redisca

There is a big difference between being elite and being elitist. For example, copious self-aggrandizement and putting down others does not make a person elite -- but it certainly makes him elitist.

Yep, that's pretty much it. Politically speaking, an "elitist" is a term for an ultra liberal that talks 'tolerance', but walks 'hate' and 'intolerance'.

[djmilf]

Originally Posted by BLAZER PROPHET

Yep, that's pretty much it. Politically speaking, an "elitist" is a term for an ultra liberal that talks 'tolerance', but walks 'hate' and 'intolerance'.

What's the term for an ultra conservative that talks 'compassion', but walks 'hate' and 'intolerance'?