Eliteness

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What are your guys' thoughts about being elite?

I think that there are more (other) important things in life than trying to push yourself to perfection. There is no such thing as perfection, and perfection is only devine (ordained by God) Mediocrity is negative, uniqueness is just.

Elitism is something that can only be attained by a few select individuals. I don't understand why people think cosmopolitanism is elite.

Screw eliteness... I want a wife.

I am for becoming an elite of some form. We know that the top exists, many of us would agree that the top will always exist, so therefore why not aim towards being somewhere close to the top of something?

It can be argued that some people have desires that conflict with being better but really, I think that an aim towards improvement can lead to fulfillment of other goals or at the very least make them easier. Perfection in the real world does not exist, better does though. Uniqueness, is not necessarily good, a bump on your face could be very unique but also be very bad, while a house in the countryside could be to cliche to a great extent but still be pleasing. Unique means nothing because all it is defined as is being different, quality is just and good.

What would you gain, staring down from a zenith?

A lot. Most people care about their relative position regarding society and to be at the top typically gives one the best station for achieving one's objectives for the world. I would spread my beliefs and ideas, I would get the best selection of women, I would have the better living arrangements, I would be highly respected and admired by my fellow man and get a feeling of accomplishment for that. There are real tangible benefits along with the psychological benefits of being at the top.

Maybe, maybe not. Just being a member of an elite doesn't automatically give you that. I suppose by definition it gives you privilege and power, but not respect. I despise many people I see in positions of power because of the way they abuse it. A measure of a man is not in being a member of an elite (that honour may be confered simply by genetics), but in the way he conducts himself as a member of that elite. In the microcosm of the real world that are these internet message boards, your naive and youthful view of power is often evident in the behaviour of those who take on the mantle of moderator or admin (I'm not refering to this site at this time). They view it as just an accomplishment to be used, with no attached responsibility.

I'll admit that some of that is true, but the elite tend to more easily accrue respect because of their status as Joe Nobody is not known by most and most don't care about him while former US president Clinton can easily get people to talk to him, be nice, etc. Perhaps I should not have defaulted towards saying "liked", however, a lot of people at the top are liked by some no matter how they are perceived in general as leaders, even a generally deplored person like Dick Cheney has those who respect and admire him but really, that leads to questions as to whether or not being liked by the smaller portion of the population while hated by the larger really amounts to "respected". I really don't make any claims on the measure of a human being, just a claim on something that the elite can more easily obtain. I also never claimed that responsibility does not exist, however, I was speaking of benefits and nothing beyond benefits and as such, it is not a naive view of power so much as an intentional focus on some aspect of it.

Of personal self or 'personal status' as in power or money?

I think perfecting or improving oneself should be desirable in a community (if everyone was at their best, then the help they give would be at ITS best) but striving for power and becoming part of a 'cocky' class of people is undesirable for me.

I don't believe or support vanity

Your choice of course. It really depends on the person you are and what you want from life. Some people have something to prove to the world, others do not, some have a deep need for greatness others do not. If human beings were homogeneous then society would be nowhere near as interesting.

It's fun seeing elitist folks. They never notice when they're actually beneath someone, and they're completely out of touch with the world. And they squish reaaaal good.

Why do you need to prove something to the world? This is an 'ego' thing and just because some people enjoy it doesnt mean that its right.

I agree

Who says I do? Besides, people can have many reasons to want to prove something to themselves or to the world. Perhaps they have an ideology that is presently unpopular and seek to revive it? Perhaps they had a problematic childhood and want to show that they can rise above such problems? Perhaps they actually do have an ego problem such as narcissism and therefore must seek their ego in order to feel great? Why do the means in which others choose to live their lives matter though so long as they choose them freely? Ok, just because ego is involved doesn't mean it is wrong either, you mentioned competition in an earlier post, where would competition be if people did not have a reason to prove themselves, pride is too often at the center of competitive drives to be ignored. Frankly, I don't care why people make their decisions, the point of the matter is that people make choices and live them and so long as they do not infringe upon the rights of others they can be as "evil" or "good" as one would like them to be.

The problem is you fail to ever see any problems from peoples decisions. You see THEY profitted but thats the end of the story for you. You don't see the whole picture, you'd too focused on very tiny aspects of life.

If someone is 'Evil' then the results from their action are going to be 'negative' or else the term 'evil' is completely, 100% empty - it is not.

Competition drives society but the end goal is the result. If you get the result and then bask in the awesomeness that is now 'you' (you in a 'general' sense), were you after the 'result' (noble) or the 'ego?'

Ego helps no one but yourself and is damaging - its the level of ego you use that will dictate that damage