Elitism and Intelligence are closely tied both ways:

Considering the importance and all-consuming nature of the work I was doing at the Agency; considering the missionary zeal, sense of elitism and marvelous camaraderie among my colleagues there [...] -- considering all of this, one can see how easy it would have been for me to drop out of that world and immerse myself exclusively in the cloak-and-dagger life. And some of my colleagues at the Agency did just that. Socially as well as professionally they cliqued together, forming a sealed fraternity. They ate together at their own special favorite restaurants; they partied almost only among themselves; their families drifted to each other, so their defenses did not always have to be up. In this way they increasingly separated themselves from the ordinary world and developed a rather skewed view of the world. Their own dedicated double life became the proper norm, and they looked down on the life of the rest of citizenry. And out of this grew what was later named -- and condemned -- as the "cult" of intelligence, an inbred, distorted elitist view of intelligence that held above the normal processes of society, with its own rationale and justification, beyond the restraints of the Constitution, which applied to everything and everyone else.

"Honorable Men: My Life in the CIA" (1978, pg 86-87) -- William Colby, CIA Director 1973-1976

I grew up in MI and am a Bo-wolverine through and through. My dad was MI gov't, a black republican,criminal justice. CIA and FBI were still recruiting at Yale when I was there thirty years ago with Kearny, Booz, McKinsey, &tc. In fact one of my roomates, an immigrant, a Canadian trustafarian with Russian language skills got hired.

I didn't apply at all. So. Where's my 4-point up-vote for economic and political oppression by the man, punk?

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.