Antipathy to elites is often portrayed as no more than simple jealousy. People resent the fact that someone else has stuff that they do not. That is probably accurate in some cases.
That has provided said elites with the handy excuse that any dislike of them is never more than envy of their achievements and rewards – particularly when it is a liberal social and political elite explaining why they have become the prime targets of “populism.” Their sanctimonious sense of their own worth cannot process the possibility that there might be reasons why others dislike them. Just read the Irish Times.
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