Carvajal: Elitism

DEMOCRACY is the rule of the majority.

Elitism, on the other hand, is a worldview that considers the division of the world into the rich and powerful elite and the poor and powerless masses as the natural order of things, or in elitist religious jargon, the will of God. The elite enjoy the lion’s share of a country’s resources while the masses get what the former condescends to give them, like non-living wages.

Consequently, where there is elitism, there is no democracy.

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Education is supposed to level the playing field but not in this country where the higher education of the few who can afford it gets more official attention than basic education for the many who cannot afford even that. A truly democratic and non-elitist society considers as its number one priority the provision of free basic education for all children of school age without a single exception.

Moreover, the system imparts elitist values like obedience and subservience to people favored by their God (Amen!) with wealth and power. Students are taught to accept (and never question) the existing order of a world divided into rich and poor, powerful and weak. A truly democratic and progressive country, however, should promote a liberating worldview that makes students dream of a better and fairer way of doing things and of sharing in the country’s wealth.

In government, elitism subsumes a disproportionately bigger amount of infrastructure spending for the few who live in big cities than for the many who live in the country side. Elitist Manila gets more in government support than probably the rest of the country yet its population is relatively small compared to that of the rest of the country. Of course, it is no mere coincidence that the country’s elite reside, do business in and rule from Manila.

The big majority of citizens do not own cars. Yet, we spend more for the roads of the few who own cars and less for sidewalks for the many pedestrians who have to beg car owners to let them cross streets even in zebra lanes. The amount of money spent for the roads of few car owners can provide adequate housing for a bigger number of citizens who live in cardboard boxes, shanties and lean-tos in informal settler areas.

An elitist economy defines development as faster growth in consumption by the few owners of wealth and power. Thus, President Arroyo’s strong economy has big growth numbers for the elite even as more and more people are left behind homeless, educationless, healthless, powerless and madly scrambling for candidates’ dole-outs in the current electoral process.

Elitism in Filipino society makes democracy an impossible dream.

More than anything else, therefore, we need to work our way towards a populist culture.