Anti-Elitism

U.S. President Barack Obama recently said in campaigning for the midterm elections, “Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now, and facts and science and argument do not seem to be winning the day all the time, is because we`re hardwired not to always think clearly when we`re scared.” Simply put, he warned that his party is headed for significant losses because voters cannot see straight. Voters, however, have wreaked vengeance on the Democratic Party.

Tea Party conservatives opposed to the Obama administration claim that the U.S. has been usurped by new elites. New elites are different from previous elites who were wealthy people from the East Coast who graduated from prestigious universities. New elites are those who graduated from prestigious universities and succeeded in their fields through outstanding ability and efforts. This is why the American people are more frustrated. Old elites were criticized for succeeding thanks to their family background, but the American people can no longer blame the system and must accept their laziness and mistakes.

Like in the movie “Forrest Gump,” Americans have an anti-intellectualism streak and tend to praise the success of ordinary people. White male workers were the first Americans to turn on Obama after he failed to share the pain of low-income people and behaved like a professor. U.S. media rushed to cover stories of Obama looking down on the public and his alleged use of elitism.

Tuesday’s midterm elections in the U.S. could be remembered as the victory of the anti-elitism movement. Though anti-elitism is generally frowned upon, it can offer invaluable lessons to politicians in that elites should become true elites through humility. Korean politicians have begun trying appealing to low-income households by promoting politicians from poor backgrounds. The general public must realize that they can like politicians for one reason but dislike them later for that same reason. This has been the case with Obama.

Editorial Writer Kim Sun-deok (yuri@donga.com)