Poll: Do you think you're part of the "Washington elite" or "cultural elite"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look, the "Washington Elite" is a fake construct trotted out when convenient.

You clearly have not been in this city long...if the Washington Eilte is the political, old money elite, it is REAL and POWERFUL and I don't think ANYONE on this website even touches it. (The true elite NEVER discuss this type of nonsense, just as people with real money never discuss it)

[Anonymous]

Old, powerful,
...and relatively small and not the majority of the people who live and work here. And not who are usually referenced when the term is thrown around.

[Anonymous]

"Real money" means vastly different things to different people.

When I do my taxes every year, I pay AMT and the program tells me I am in the top 5% of US incomes - yet after taxes, mortgage, car maintenance (9 years old, no 'payment'), and daily expenses there isn't much left to show for it. But the point is, there is SOMETHING left, rather than not being enough to cover.

However, I have family that would absolutely die to be in my shoes and to whom I could NEVER complain. I at least fund my 401 K and when my car finally dies I [knock wood] should be able to write a check for a new one.

I vividly remember being pregnant with my first, having maxed out credit cards, worrying that if I took too much leave (unpaid) the whole house of cards would come down. The me from back then would consider that I have real money now, even if today's me wonders!

Ask someone from Richmond to review this site's postings and they would tell you it is 95% liberal East Coast elites - whether you call or see yourself as that or not (including myself in this statement).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, the "Washington Elite" is a fake construct trotted out when convenient.

You clearly have not been in this city long...if the Washington Eilte is the political, old money elite, it is REAL and POWERFUL and I don't think ANYONE on this website even touches it. (The true elite NEVER discuss this type of nonsense, just as people with real money never discuss it)

Yes please do tell us about the political old money elite !

[Anonymous]

I'm part of the hidden DC SAHM-elite which is plotting to takeover (makeover?) the country. I have a negative carbon footprint (walk children to a private school), feed my kids only locally grown arugula (which they harvest on the grounds of the Cathedral), and just bought a pied-a-terre in C-Spanistan so our caregiver can more easily commute to her nannies-only yoga class. DH is a MSM blogger. Not.

[Anonymous]

I'm part of the cultural elite as much of the country defines it. But I'm not a part of the true Washington elite as I define it. I'm not an opinion maker or a person of power.

[Anonymous]

I think this question can quickly be answered without resorting to old money, private schools or income. Do you drive an American car? If you don't drive an American car, did you do some soul searching about not driving one before you bought your foreign brand car? If your answer to either of the above questions is YES, then you are not technically part of the Washington Elite. If your answer to both is NO, then you are.

I am from Pittsburgh, my husband's family is from Detroit, and it never fails to amaze me the simple fact that the farther you drive towards the rust belt states the less Toyotas and Hondas you see and the more American cars you see. My teenage son conducted a simple count after we noticed this on our many trips to see the families. In Northern Virginia, one out of every twenty cars at a red light is an American brand car. In Michigan and Ohio, one out of every twenty five or more is a foreign brand car.

If you bought your foreign brand car without some soul searching then you do not know middle America and what they think is important and where their loyalties are, and you will not understand or appreciate the impact of someone like Sarah Palin on those areas. As another poster referred to it in another post - this is a "Hail Mary" that might really work.

I worry because I know that my 76 year old mother was going to vote for Obama because he had religion and John McCain was a cheating godless snake. She is a lifelong republican. Now that they've introduced Sarah Palin, she's going to support McCain. My mother graduated Summa Cum from Carnegie Mellon, but her rust belt roots and religious tendencies are going to completely block out common sense in this campaign, and the rest of my family is going to vote with her. I am speechless.

[Anonymous]

The thing that's so sad about this whole "Washington elite" bullshit is . . . well, Thomas Frank explained it much better than I could in 2004 in his book What's the Matter with Kansas? The anxiety that provokes the antipathy toward a supposed "elite" group of people is real, but the cause is economic and the answer is for more populist policies to be adopted. Social issues have great emotional appeal for a number of people, but since they are largely about personal morality, they have limited impact on the population as a whole. Yet they are what motivate people to cast votes against their own self-interest. It's all very confusing to me, but then I guess most people don't have the critical thinking skills to think these things through and vote based on emotion.

I was called a "cultural elite" at my own wedding reception by a member of my parents' church who had known me since I was a child, simply because he asked where we lived and I told him Washington, DC. I had no idea what to say. I have an Ivy League law degree, but that's about the extent of my "elite" credentials. I'm from a middle class family, grew up in the deep South, went to college at a southern state school on scholarship, and have a very low-prestige job and a bundle of student loans (both DH's and mine) from law school that will ensure that we will always struggle to stay middle class and save for our retirement. But, because I shop at Whole Foods, I guess my background doesn't matter. Ugh -- such a load of crap.

[Anonymous]

I am the poster who said I grew up middle, but now live here and feel apathetic about it sometimes. To the PP, isn't it sad that you have to justify how "regular" you are? I mean, we are either scrambling to get on top and stay there or/and we are apologizing for it. I mean, I assume you worked your ass off for your degree, but "elite" assumes you didn't work for what you got, or at least didn't work hard.

The whole thing is that the true elite ARE a powerful and real force in this country and every other, but there is some assumption that the money and power bring you happiness. I mean, I would rather be rich and miserable than poor and miserable, but some of the posts about chasing some private schools to join into the society are just so...pathetic. Yeah, these schools can almost guarantee that, but at what cost? We, as parents, seem to lose our minds with this shit and I do not know why. The scrambling and obvious competition is disgusting and inescapable...makes me want to move to the country (but where do you get good sushi?)

[Anonymous]

I'm the poster who called it a fake contruct trotted out when convenient. I stand by my statement, and cite Michael Steele, former MD Lieutenant Governor as an example. Remember the campaign ads he ran (which were brilliant, IMO) innoculating the audience to how he was about to be accused of all kinds of stuff and how for the record he loved puppies? Do you recall how with a toss of his thumb over his shoulder he referenced "the Washington Crowd?" Dude, as Lt. Gov. of MD, you're part of the "Washington Crowd." Also, we here 'round these parts refer to it as "DC." It's a subtle but important semantic distinction when it is refered to in the media by locals as "Washington," and it's aimed at folks outside the beltway.

[Anonymous]

...and I'm willing to bet I've lived here at least as long as you have.