Rage Against The Elite

 It's April 2008. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are engaged in a fierce battle for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. Hillary is way behind in the delegate count and is desperately trying to rally support from white-blue collar Democrats, which is a demographic group that Obama is having difficulty winning over.

Then a recording comes out from a San Fransisco fundraiser that featured Obama as the keynote speaker. He said: "You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

To heartland conservative Amercian's, these statements sounded "elitist", and Clinton herself used the e-word that has been used for decades by Republicans against Democrats, from Nixon to Bush 43, to vilify Obama and paint him as an out-of-touch liberal. Long story short, Obama survived the controversy and went on to secure the nomination. The rest, as they say, is history.

Today, in Egypt, we keep hearing the word elite (nokhba) and elitist (nokhbawy) a lot these days, and it's used by politicians and political activists of every stripe. But what do these words really mean? According to Merriam-Webster, elite is "a group of persons who by virtue of position or education exercise much power or influence". At first glance, this definition does not sound offensive. In fact, it sounds flattering. So why is it that the word has such a bad reputation?


I believe it's because of our inclination as human beings to find someone who we can blame for all our misfortunes and frustrations in order to deflect criticism from ourselves, and also because the elite, in any society, are always a minority. In short, elites are the punching-bags of society. No one will rise up to defend them because defending a minority, especially one that has power and influence whether by wealth, education or position, won't score you political points or endear the not-so-elite masses.


And this is where we are today in Egypt. Leftists calling economic liberals elite. Liberal calling Muslim Brotherhood leadership elite. Islamists calling secularists elite. No wonder the word has lost all its meaning and has become a symbol of all that is anti-democratic and offensive.


So in today's political landscape, who are the true elitists? Well, it's simple: It's the talking heads on TV. Those, who through the no.1 media tool in Egypt that is Television, have filled the airways with nothing but noise and vitriol. Leftists who shout "elite" are themselves being elitist because they have appointed themselves guardians of the working class. Liberal who shout "elite" are being elitist when they claim that their way is the only way civil liberties will be the norm in Egyptian society. Islamists are being elitist when they take the moral high ground for no reason other than their belief that because of their religion they have all the right answers to solve Egypt's problems.


So here's my appeal to all of them talking heads: We don't want your egos to get in the way of our aspirations. Egyptians have a lot in common, and listening to you people talk in TV it sometimes makes me wonder how we as a people are even able to stand each other.


Being elite isn't bad. Ahmed Zewaill and Farouq el Bazz are elites because of their great scientific minds, and we are damn proud of them.Magdy Yaqoub is elite because he is one of the top surgeons in the world and we are proud of him. And yes, El Baradei, who I still don't support for president up to this point, is elite and we are proud of him.


It's not the elites that are the enemy, it's those who think elite is a dirty word. Elites are our pride and joy. Elites give us hope for a better future and bring out the best in us. Elites are those who inspire their fellow countrymen to be elites themselves. That's not so bad, is it?