“Elitism” vs “Grassroots”

There is a recurring phenomenon that seems to be inseparable from the human-experience. Like a strange form of cancer, it begins in a manner that is unnoticeable, but soon it metastasizes into a full-blown deadly disease. In one way, or another, it seems to occur in every single institution that has ever been created by man, even the ones that originated in God’s own will. In the Bible, it happened to God’s chosen people on numerous occasions. It was firmly in control of the Jewish religious leaders who crucified the Lord (and His Apostles), and it has reared its ugly head again and again throughout the institutions of Christianity (and for that matter, all religions). We find it throughout our universities and our entire educational system, it is most certainly the driving-force behind today's teachers’ unions. It can be found throughout corporations and clubs. To put it quite simply, it seems to take over every single attempt that human-beings make, when coming together to achieve a common goal. It has a name. It is called “elitism”.

“Elitism” is defined as follows: “advocacy of or reliance on leadership or dominance by a select group”. In some ways, this doesn’t sound like a bad thing. After all, every institution requires the leadership of competent members. That is a given. So how does this very necessary aspect of teamwork result in a deadly disease? 

Like nearly everything bad, it goes back to the sin-nature of man. Selfishness breeds a lust for control and a desire to retain power. We see this very clearly in the current condition of the Republican Party. The “old guard” establishment Republicans feel like they have “earned the right” to control the direction of the Party. After all, they have established the connections that bring the “big money” into the Party, and they have controlled how that money was spent. In their minds, they constitute the “machinery” that runs the institution, and therefore, they believe that they alone have the right to “pull the levers of power”. This is the insidious aspect of “elitism”, and it is the very opposite of the “grassroots politics” that were originally meant to define the Party.

The Republican Party has become schizophrenic, and its members, from the top to the bottom, are going to experience great discomfort until this entrenched form of “elitism” is destroyed, and true “grassroots politics” is once again, firmly in the driver’s seat.