To not know who "the elite" are?

[Fuzzyend]

Labour have announced a crusade against "the elite" but I'm not sure who they are.

When I think of elite people I think of sports stars, but I'm guessing Labour haven't got anything against Dina Asher-Smith or the England rugby team. So who the heck are "the elite" and why are they a bad thing?

"Instead, please be clear exactly who the villains are and what you're going to do about them."

I wish they would do that. Just identify who they are referring to, and what they're going to do about them, with specifics.

I'm interested - what are the negative connotations around intelligentsia?

Labour considers you 'elite' if you dared to receive private education, or go to Oxbridge, or go into a well-paying professional career.

No, that's bollocks.

Labour despises people/ corporations who refuse to pay their fair share of taxes (or any at all, in some cases), and people who hold a disproportionate amount of power.

If you fall into one of those categories, it's fair to say that most people despise you.

Just identify who they are referring to, and what they're going to do about them, with specifics.

They regularly call out corporations who who avoid paying tax.

OP, I would advise carefully studying your local MP's voting record on issues that matter to you (there's a site called 'they work for you' - I think - where you can do that) and also looking to see what the results were for the last election in your constituency (so you can see if it's worth voting for one of the alternatives). That's what I do when I can't decide how to vote, because you're electing an MP, not a prime minister.

I can't take the word elite too seriously when it's a positive in sport and a negative in other endeavours...

People like Blair and Gina Miller.

This shocked me:

Surnames and Social Mobility in England, 1170–2012
link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12110-014-9219-y

Social status is more strongly inherited even than height. This correlation is unchanged over centuries. Social mobility in England in 2012 was little greater than in preindustrial times.

Gregory Clark, the author, does have practical suggestions, though.

(NB his research covers more than just the England or the UK, so it isn't just an "English class system" problem he's discussing.)

Social mobility barely exists but let’s not give up on equality
faculty.econ.ucdavis.edu/faculty/gclark/The%20Son%20Also%20Rises/Clark_Guardian_2-4-2015.pdf

Given that social mobility rates are immutable, it is better to reduce the gains people make from having high status, and the penalties from low status. The Swedish model of compressed inequality is a realistic option, the American dream of rapid mobility an illusion.

Tax evaders I think we can all agree on.

But what's a "disproportionate amount of power"?

Prime Minister? Newspaper editor? Kim Kardashian? Billionaire philanthropist who has more money to distribute than a small nation? Are they all villains?

They regularly call out corporations who who avoid paying tax

Ah yes, the old Amazon clickbait thing - always good for a snarl

On other "specifics", some fool was being interviewed on Radio 4 earlier and whining about Murdoch; I missed the name, but he could hardly put two words together. Having delivered himself of a few confused cliches he was asked what Labour intended to do about whatever they perecived the injustice to be

Tumbleweed ...

It is a problematic phrase.

When Trump says 'Elite' he means left-wing intellectuals, especially those who are wealthier than average. He sure as heck doesn't mean millionaires and billionaires.

For a certain kind of Brexit supporters/Tories it means left-wingers, Guardian readers, Remainers

When some of the people who support Trump and those generally to the far right say 'Elite' it is sometimes dog-whistle for 'Jews'

For the left wing I guess it means millionaires, people who can afford to buy their way out of trouble/taxes etc, but for some it also means 'Jews'

And at another extreme for some people it could mean anyone who owns a home, anyone who is a landlord even of just one house, anyone who can afford to invest money and so on.

I think it would have been better for Corbyn to leave that phrase to the right wing and just been clear he was after big business and big money as it otherwise does give ammunition to his enemies to say he's after property grabs etc.

*"Instead, please be clear exactly who the villains are and what you're going to do about them."

I wish they would do that. Just identify who they are referring to, and what they're going to do about them, with specifics.*

Corbyn irritates me, but I followed the link to his speech, and he was pretty specific about who he meant and why, and gave examples that were pretty hard to object to.

I genuinely don’t think he’s after most mumsnetters unless the indications of their worries and concerns in other threads are all false. In fact, he seems pretty focused on education, NHS, social justice and community. All things on which I’d be happy to see politicians focusing.

Perhaps 'The Elite' are some of these Halloween horrors -

www.facebook.com/365076723656400/posts/1593777574119636?sfns=mo

established titled families with mega trusts which keep them in the richest 500 list year for literally hundreds of years and their rekatives with big shares in big companies living mainly of passive unearned incomes.

Certainly the eldest sons and their direct families can remain rich for hundreds of years but I disagree about their relatives. Primo geniture is more often than not practiced by rich landed families which mean everything gets left to the eldest son.
The younger siblings are looked after to varying degrees depending on how much actual cash (as opposed to the wealth being largely in land,property and art etc).
There’s a family which has owned a large house - now open to the public - and estate in Yorkshire. When the present incumbent’s father died 30 years ago the younger siblings were left £5000 each.
So unless the siblings are very good at business they and their descendants won’t be rich for hundreds of years.

From upthread When people refer to the North London Metropolitan Elite, as they often do, what they mean, is Jews.

See I think of the North London metropolitan elite as well meaning but slightly dim Guardian readers like Jezza. Not Jews.

"People with too much power and money."
Aren't these the people who have worked hard for their money, and who create businesses and work for others? Dont we need these people?

I half listened to JC speech. (It was on while at work) There were lots of freebies on offer - free university fees, free social care .... which would be funded by very small tax increases to only very high earners (who presumably aren't the dreaded elite?)
And I'm sorry i did think of MN when he (virtually) said "won't somebody think of the children?"

Skinnychip - I am sorry but b-r the bloody kids. How is that relevant?

"People with too much power and money."

Time to summon the Central Committee

Frankly I'm struggling to credit that JC's yammering about tuition fees again. At this stage he's probably got to try anything to get his approval ratings off the floor, but I thought that one had been more or less kicked into touch?

@EntropyRising - it does feel a bit like that....

I wonder how people would end up on the elite list? Bet there wouldn't be many women on there.

Skinnychip- I am sorry but b-r the bloody kids. How is that relevant?

He was basically saying who's side are you on , fat cats or hardworking people on nmw? Tax dodgers or children (I'm paraphrasing)

From upthread When people refer to the North London Metropolitan Elite, as they often do, what they mean, is Jews.

See I think of the North London metropolitan elite as well meaning but slightly dim Guardian readers like Jezza. Not Jews.

Trust me, it's Jews. The people using it know it means Jews, and Jews know it's a dig at them.

Dog whistle anti-Semitism.

I’m surprised Corbyn hasn’t got h beady eyes on on Cambridge and Oxford, it’s a teeming breeding ground of elitism isn’t it? - Shut them down. Redistribute their assets, string their dons up by the neck and strip them of their gowns, give them to the homeles or “we will completely ban election at Oxbridge, anyone who likes can go there 🙄.

Yeah, Lifecraft, I double-took when someone first explained to me that "North London elite" is often code for "Jews."

But once it had been explained, and I kept an eye out for it... Ho yes indeedy.

Being neither Jewish nor anti-Semitic, the dogwhistle had completely passed me by till then (as dogwhistles are intended to).