Some people claim that the people who are into culture are snobs. Snobbery can happen under any ideology. There are money snobs who think that because they have a lot of money they are the only winners in the world. There are religious snobs who think that they are the only righteous people in the world. There are military snobs who think that they are the only real men and everyone else is a sissy. There are engineer snobs who think that they are the only sane and rational people in the world. There are doctor snobs who think that they are better than everyone else because they finished medical school. There are laborer snobs who think that only they do real work and that everyone else is a parasite.
I don’t think we will ever get rid of snobbery. As soon as someone has something going for him, he decides that he’s better than other people. We see this happen, once again, under any conditions. We can however get rid of the perception that snobbery has a single cause. There are many causes for snobbery, and there always have been.
Are people who are into culture snobs? Some are and some aren’t. When I was in school, two English teachers got together and started acting in a very nasty and snobbish manner. I have seen this attitude in a number of other situations. But I have also been a part of majority-black cultural events in DC. These people weren’t snobs at all. Their lives were hard, but they still produced some excellent cultural output.
I do not see why there would be more snobbery among people who are into culture than among anyone else. Anyone can decide that he and his are better than other people. This will be the case with people who are into money; this will be the case with doctors and engineers; this will be the case with military and construction workers; this will be the case with anyone else.
So it is important that this misperception be corrected. Once again, there is no reason to think that people who are into culture would be more snobbish than anyone else. Snobbery can happen anywhere and for any number of reasons. There are just as many snobbish doctors, engineers, businessmen and military people as there are snobbish artists. And it is important that this be recognized and dealt with accordingly.