General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Serious qestion: I feel like I'm being gaslit. Where does the perception of "Democratic elitism" come from? [View all]appmanga
(926 posts)...that someone like Frank Luntz advised using as a wedge. Being educated is being "elite" since educated people often learn how to spell well, utilize critical thinking, and have the ability to get better paying jobs. Applying this term to such people robs the ability for it to be used to (correctly) describe the super-rich who are able to spend multi-millions of dollars to buy politicians and use them to formulate legislation that makes them richer. Politicians learned a long time ago there will always be a lesser number of intellectually gifted people than others. Anyone who's ever been the smartest kid in class knows about the resentment that comes with that. Most people never outgrow that resentment and the fear that comes with someone being able to know things you don't, or that you'll never be able to understand.
Trump, Musk, and the right-wing media outlets that act as propaganda arms know how to speak to these people, just as you do if you're interested in exploiting them through lies, conspiracy theories, and base fears. In the past, the thinking was our education system, the one that allowed this country to win the race of innovation and invention in the 20th Century, would be the thing that would allow us the win the 21st. We're now being told we need the ability to overcome the numerous spigots of disinformation to explain to folks who want easy answers how to make good political choices to manage a complex world.
How do you talk to the person who believes the Earth is flat? Who doesn't know who pays a tariff? Who thinks JFK Jr. is coming back from the dead?