elite [i-lét',á-] n. 1) choice or select body; 2) the pick or the best part of society.
The concept of the elite. Say that word and I can pretty much guarantee some people would want to chop you head off for promoting it after all, it seems so much the opposite to the aims of an optimum society with minimal wastage and a lot more of an amicable ambiance.
Elitism is much based upon the concept of segregation yet just the word in itself seems to have so much of a negative connotation for some. I put it to you that elitism is an essential part of society and more than that, an essential state in order to get things done with any efficiency and security.
To explain the earlier part of that declaration, think of a job title. Doctor, Pilot, Astronomer, Systems Analyst, Postman, Teacher. I'm sure you can come up with your own. That there is a prime example of segregation, do you see it? Allow me to explain a little further using the example of a pilot. What percentage of people do you think get to fly a airplane? It can't be that big. There is all the training and qualifications to pass through before anyone will let you near a airplane. Why is this? Well imagine if simply anyone was allowed in the cockpit, many wouldn't make it off the runway but I'm sure that a great deal of those that did wouldn't make it back down in one piece. Now out of those that are allowed a pilot's license, even fewer get to pilot commercial airlines or advanced military aircraft.
Why is this? Because these people are the best. They know what they are doing. They are the 'choice or select body' that forms the elite.
You can apply the same path of thought to almost any aspect of life. The newspapers take great delight in reporting it when someone who isn't quite so elite manages to get into a position where they completely botch things up because they just don't know what they're doing. The most recent examples I can think of are the doctors who somehow managed to get into a position where they can perform serious operations on a person, yet when they perform the operation it is sloppy and causes lasting irreparable damage that would have been avoided had the appropriate elite person performed the task.
Look at the current society that we have. There will be differences in the various regions of the world, however it is fairly safe to assume that most of you can find at least one major change in peoples' attitude and way of acting that each of you believe could vastly improve the quality of life. Now say you are the only person with that view, you can start off by example, showing others a physical example in yourself as to how this small change in the way of thinking and/or acting is a beneficial thing.
By doing this you attract a number of people who will agree with you. Now these people can employ the same 'teach by example' and collect more and so the pattern grows. However, think about it long and hard. In this society there are so many thick skulled people that aren't even going to pay you a blind bit of attention so whilst the teach by example principal is an ethical and fairly decent way of reaching those of open and like mind, it has its limits.
So now you have a group of people all agreed that things need to be done etc, but wait...what have we here. Is this not an elite I see? A group of individuals who have their specialty?
Maybe some of you will have seen where this is going, maybe some of you will have not. These internet communities of ours have formed up. Attracted a certain number of people and continue to do so. Thing is they also repel a lot of people and only attract very specific types of people, so we have our very own elite.
Now I'm not saying to 'go out and spread the word' just yet. I've seen people try and the attempts have been amusingly pathetic in my opinion because they are still very target specific and only affect the small minority of people, often repelling the very people that could help them if a slightly different approach was used.
Where do we go from here then? Well that is quite plainly open and much open to every one of you. Dare I say a phrase that has been adopted by a well renowned company: 'Where do you want to go today?'.
At the moment these online communities need to refine themselves and form up what their elite represents. When they have a firm grasp of this, a strong information base and well grounded system, they then have to find a way to break down exactly what they have built and expand the elite to encompass more and more. To bring more people to a state of mind that they are able to understand and enjoy what the elite do.
One problem, even if people happened to see all this talk about elite, they will no doubt see it as condescending and there they have found all their reason to shun it. You've just built one of the worst brick walls that ever existed. I don't want to point any fingers but take a look around and you will see at least one specific example where a few misplaced words formed those walls which still stand to this day.
With the current unorganized elite, there are two options...to carry on it what seems to be a generally floundering manner, gaining padding and bloating without really developing much, or to have one or two people get together and figure out a plan that will be appealing to many more people than the existing examples to give the elite something to work to before the elite flounders without so much as a trace. A real possibility.
I have tried, both alone and with others to develop some ways yet none have been successful so far. I can comment on the odd system I have seen develop, but these moreso have the idea of elitism and segregation as part of their final aim. At the moment this looks most realistic and maybe it is the only possibility but even if their is a another way, I can see that going through the stages of elitism provide major benefits to helping the cause on the way.