Elitism as a Self-defense Mechanism
By Daniel Miessler on March 3rd, 2008: Tagged as Psychology
I often struggle with my emotions regarding groups of people who harm themselves and others. When I was younger there wasn’t much of a struggle; I was always empathic – constantly trying to figure out a way to help.
Now I often feel like giving up due to hopelessness. I think what this requires is some sort of disconnection emotion, usually anger or of elitism. What I wonder is whether or not this is a natural progression for those who started off so open. What if it’s a self-defense mechanism for those who are exhausted from sadness?
Surely this could simply be a construct to make one feel better about becoming callused, but I think it’s worth exploring as I feel it’s quite possibly a factor in my development. It’s like you can only try and help and lift and empathize so much before you just get exhausted. At that point you start to say, “They can’t be helped…because they’re too far gone.”
Can you see that? The elitism or contempt as an insulating barrier between one’s caring for a “hopeless” cause?
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