Get off the bandwagon and put down the handbook

Today I was having a conversation with someone about snobbery.
I was saying how the worst kind of snobbery is what I’ll call ‘fake’ snobbery—driven by a need to come across a certain way, or to make yourself look good. You mightn’t actually believe what you are saying but you say it because you want people to think you’re cool, or above everyone else. ‘Bandwagon’ snobbery, in other words. Pretentiousness.

All music, book and film snobs are ones of this kind. Even though they think they are going in the opposite direction as everyone else by saying Snow Patrol are now too commercial and have therefore sold out, or saying that they won’t read Harry Potter because everyone else loves it, what they are actually doing is tripping onto the pretentious bandwagon (first stop—insecure town; population—music snobs).
Kevin Myers is a good example of this, because I don’t think he really believes all single mothers are spawning the next generation’s criminals, he just wants a reaction. In my opinion, anyone who tells themselves not to like something simply because everyone else likes it is masking some desperate need to prove something to someone.
I realise these blogs are supposed to be at least vaguely related to the medical profession, so here we go. (Warning: tenuous linkage coming up).
Doctors are often accused of being snobby, arrogant, God-like, over-inflated, etc. Everyone from politicians to patients to nurses says this at some point. Even Bertie likes to remind doctors they only exist because he employed them.
People in authority, especially the government, like to put doctors in their place sometimes, as if to say, you may be saving people’s lives but I RULE people’s lives.
I would say this bandwagon snobbery, buying into the belief that all hospital consultants are arrogant and cold and superior, is worse than any supposed snobbery coming out of the medical profession.
I’ve never seen any coming out but I’m sure there must be some sort of internal medical hierarchy of superiority, like I don’t know, “my stethoscope is cleaner than yours” or “I went to a better medical school than you” or “I’m in a way cooler specialty than you are” and stuff. (I imagine that last one would be said to anyone who decided to do pathology or proctology—who would answer the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” with “Hmmm, I’m not sure, but I’m thinking something involving a glove and an anus…”).
I’m sure this hospital snobbery (and profession-wide snobbery) exists, but it’s more of an internal, clique thing that doesn’t actually negatively effect us normal people.
Nevertheless, some parts of the media jump eagerly on stories that show doctors in a bad light, and then bitch when doctors don’t come running to give them comments and information.
They ignore the numerous unprinted and joyfully heart-warming tales of the doctors saving people’s lives, curing HIV and dealing daily with death and misery.
Then, of course, there’s the doctors who look down on any kind of journalist (leave that to us, please) and refuse to speak to them at all.
Both the above are born from inverse snobbery and insecurity on the part of the media (they look down on us, lets take them down a peg or two) and snobbery on the part of the doctors (I went to medical school for 400 years, I must be better than mere news reporters).
Anyone who turns their nose up at someone or something else is basically trying to transfer insecurity, I believe.
Kind of like the snobs who say popular (and good, I’m not talking about all popular stuff) entertainment is way too commercial for them.
They’re not in a unique minority. They’re in a smug majority.