The Liberal Elite

September 22, 2008

Elitism:

  1. The belief that certain persons or members of certain classes or groups deserve favored treatment by virtue of their perceived superiority, as in intellect, social status, or financial resources.
1. The sense of entitlement enjoyed by such a group or class.
2. Control, rule, or domination by such a group or class.

So I’ve grown tired of the incessant use of the word elite in this year’s presidential campaign. I figured, in my time of annoyance, why not have some fun.

Here’s the breakdown:

Political Demographics of US (in terms of registered votes [Wikipedia]:

Income Demographics of US 2004 Presidential Election [CNN]:

2004 presidental election by income 300x213

please forgive my spelling…

Adjusting that for a better look:

2004 presidential election by income2 300x213

Unfortunately, I was unable to find generic Party Identification Demographics by Income, and the fact that the Republicans won this election skews this graph a good deal. In fact, party identification by percentage of population generally always favors the Democrats, although I’m too lazy to go out and prove that.

Regardless, there’s an obvious trend here: the liberal elite, in general, apparently make a good deal less than their conservative populist counterparts. While elitism can be defined as perceived intellectual superiority or social status, I’m highly doubtful those under the poverty line would proclaim themselves as such.

Anyways, I just think words, for the most part, come predefined, so let’s just start using them that way…


© 2023 Viraj Sanghvi