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- Alternate meaning: Elite (computer
game)
In sociology as in general usage, the elite ("the elect")
refers to a relatively small dominant group within a larger one, which enjoys privileged
status and, almost invariantly, exploits individuals of lower social status. When applied to an individual, as in the phrase
"many elites come to this restaurant," the usage quite economically both refers to an individual within that class and
establishes the speaker as non-elite.
Some elites speak a language that is not shared by the commonality: in Tsarist Russia the elite spoke French; in Plantagenet
England the elite spoke Norman French; in Ptolemaic Egypt the elite spoke koine Greek. Elites establish correct usage for the
language when they share one with the commonality. Elite usage is reflected in "prescriptive" dictionaries; common usage is
reflected in "descriptive" dictionaries. Elites establish cultural canons which are more widely agreed-upon within the elite and
more generally ignored or resented among the non-elite.
Elite advantages are the usual ones of a dominant social class:
political power, more rigorous education largely free of indoctrination, access
to money, cultural influence, and leadership. In market societies, elites often
have superior access to all of these resources, because they are so easily exchanged.
Elites may justify their existence based on claims of inherited position, among insecure elites sometimes
given pseudoscientific justifications of genetic or racial superiority. American conservatives, usually of the elite, often
claim that the American system is a meritocracy, its elite consisting of
America's hardest-working and most talented individuals (who are, therefore, deserving of their privilege). While hard-working
and talented individuals do enjoy an advantage in American society (as in all societies) this theory has been, for the most part,
repeatedly debunked. Elites are both envied and resented.
Elites are educated to govern. Elite education is skeptical and inquiring, hard-headed, intolerant of sham, demanding and
unsentimental. Common education is designed to produce large numbers of useful and loyal citizens at low cost. Publicly financed
elite education is a symptom of a successful and confident society that is prepared for self-criticism.
Wealth is not a sure sign of elite status. Neither is a sense of public obligation.
Aristocracy and oligarchy
are societal systems which feature an elite.
See also: elitism, snobbery,
mandarin, Brahmin , patrician
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