Elitism
Let's talk about elitism. Or rather, let's talk about those who have been called "elitists."
Here's an example. Woodrow Wilson. 28th President of the United States.
His rise in public life was the most dramatic in American history. In 1910, Wilson was known only in academic circles as the president of Princeton University. In 1912, he was known nationally, as President-elect of the United States.
Wilson left a mixed legacy. He led the country through World War I, enacted major progressive reforms including the Federal Reserve Act and the eight-hour workday for railroad employees. He was a virulent racist, and permitted his cabinet members to segregate their departments of government. He also signed legislation which restricted freedom of speech during the war.
There are many things for which Wilson can rightly be praised and criticized. However, this is not an analysis of the man or his presidency. We're going to look instead at one criticism levied not just at Wilson, but at many like him throughout American history.
The only president with a PhD, Wilson is viewed as the archetypical professor. The holier-than-thou snob who thinks he knows better. The aloof, idealistic academic with his head in the clouds who doesn’t understand how things work in the “real world.”
The elitist.
It is easy to jump on the populist, “anti-establishment” bandwagon, and have this critical view of academics and scholars today. But in the long-run, where does this lead us?
What happens when a mass of people distrusts anyone who claims to be an authority on anything? What happens when healthy skepticism turns into wholesale distrust of academics and experts?
What happens when we weigh someone’s words based solely on our personal relationship with them and our own views, not on their experience?
Elitism is often viewed as a dirty word, and “elitist” as a label to be avoided. But I think this view not only is flawed, but also hypocritical, and in many cases dangerous.
It’s time the Woodrow Wilsons of the world had their due.
We’re All Elitists
Everyone is smarter than everyone.
You heard me: everyone is smarter than everyone.
We often view intelligence as linear. “Some people are just smarter than others, they know more. Others are not.” But this view is hopelessly wrong.
Rather, different people excel at different things, regardless of what those things are. To take an extreme example, somebody could spend all their time playing a single video game. This could be viewed as a waste of time, but they would still know more than other people about that game.
On that game, they would be an expert.
Furthermore, they would be quite annoyed if someone who didn’t play that game lectured them about the game’s mechanics. They're the expert - they know what they're talking about.
People are elitists about all kinds of things. Let’s take their kids. They (hopefully) know more about them than everyone else. Most parents don’t like it when someone else lectures them about raising their children.
What about their homes? Most people know more about them than guests, and often don’t like when guests put their two-cents in and suggest changes. Why? Because they think they know more. That’s elitism.
We trust elites all the time. Doctors are elite at what they do. If someone was to perform open-heart surgery on you, you’d want someone who knows way more than you to perform the procedure.
You would never, ever say: "I wish this doctor was more like everyone else."
Anti-elitism is hypocrisy.
Unequal
Let’s say you have a neighbor. Let’s call him Bob.
Bob’s an outstanding guy. He’s an accountant. A good parent, pays all his taxes, helps out in the community, and is a friendly neighbor. Nothing to complain about.
But I don’t care what Bob has to say about Iran.
I care about what scholars of Iranian history have to say about Iran. I care about what soldiers deployed in the region have to say about Iran. I care about what the people living in and around Iran have to say about Iran.
Bob's a great guy, and I’m sure he has plenty of wonderful life experiences, but that doesn’t mean I have to care about his opinion on Iran.
All views are not created equal.
The views of mommy-bloggers and religious leaders on vaccines are not equal to those of doctors. The views of someone who simply enjoys hiking are not equal to those of environmental scientists.
If you ate sugary foods growing up and turned out ok, that doesn’t mean that sugar isn’t a major driver of health issues today. If you didn't wear a seatbelt as a kid, that doesn't mean the opinions of safety experts are invalid.
Just because you lived through the loss of manufacturing jobs, doesn’t mean you’re an expert on trade, or automation, or economics.
Paying taxes doesn’t make you an expert on tax policy. Watching a video of migrants cross the southern border doesn't make you an immigration expert.
Expertise matters. Experience matters. Data matters.
Facts matter.
What I’m Not Saying
There are ways to misinterpret what I’m saying. Or more nefariously, to intentionally simplify my argument in order to disagree with it. So, here’s what I’m not saying.
I’m not saying that nobody should talk about issues unless they’re experts. Far from it.
It is not about shutting up and not speaking – it is about humility. You can’t be an expert on everything, but there’s nothing preventing you from listening to experts and learning from them.
Feel free to discuss important issues, do some research, get in the game. But don’t pretend you know more than you do, and if someone says something wholly untrue, point it out.
The second thing I’m not saying is that all experts agree on everything. Talk to any professor and you’ll see that the truth is that multiple viewpoints often exist.
However, there are some things which all experts do agree on.
To use the Iran example again, the experts at the IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency, have verified time and again that Iran has complied with the nuclear deal it signed with the Obama administration and the international community.
If Bob next door says we should attack Iran, that’s an opinion. But if he says Iran has broken the terms of the deal, or is developing nuclear weapons – that’s not a “disagreement” – that’s Bob being wrong.
The last thing I’m not saying is that I think the country would best be run by unelected, bureaucratic academics making decisions for everyone. I don’t believe that. This is another mischaracterization.
Of course it is necessary, in any democratic country, to make sure the people are involved in running their own country! The difference, however, between those who agree with me, and those who are populists, is that we believe experts should be listened to by the people when they vote and make decisions.
When History Rhymes
At the end of World War I, Woodrow Wilson pushed vigorously against punishing Germany too harshly. Doing so, he argued, would breed resentment and simply continue the trend of war and retribution in the region. The Europeans opposed to Germany disagreed.
Similarly at home, the American people grew tired of Wilson's academic idealism. When Wilson argued for American entry into the League of Nations – an international, deliberative body meant to prevent war – the Republican-controlled Senate rejected the proposal.
The powers at the time in Europe decided to focus on old grudges and revenge, and ignore the potential repercussions of their actions. At home, the Senate verged towards the isolationist streak in American foreign policy, again ignoring the academics and reality of the world.
The result of this ignorance and reliance on “the way things have always been done” was a far more devastating war decades later, the destruction of a continent, and the genocide of millions.
This is not a game. Ignorance of facts, of experts, of data, is not something that’s funny. Treating all views as equal to avoid offending those who are wrong is not an act of courtesy.
Yelling at someone to "get to the point" when they answer a question with “it depends,” does not solve problems.
Don't roll your eyes when someone says "it's complicated." Because most of the time – it is.
Ignorance is a plague. It deserves nothing less than to be expelled from every level of government, from the schoolhouse to the White House.
It’s time to stop pretending that ignorance is anything other than what is most responsible for this country’s decline, and for people to have the humility, guts, and thick-skin to admit, that yes, sometimes others do know better.