The following just hit my inbox. It is a post on the Software Craftsmanship Google Group.

On Oct 24, 2010, at 12:36 , David Starr wrote:

My question is, "what can be done to fix the reputation [of elitism] and change the conversation before craftsmanship is deemed irrelevant"?

Uncle Bob's Reply

As a craftsman I am dedicated to improving myself; and therefore I realize I am deficient.  As someone who is admittedly deficient, I am not interested in pointing out someone else's deficiencies.

In general, whenever someone asks "what can we, as a group, do to ...", the best answer is going to be of the form: "Each of us, as an individual, should ...".

So, to deal with perceived elitism, each of us as individuals should remember that we are not elite.