“One of the surprising privileges of intellectuals is that they are free to be scandalously asinine without harming their reputation.” – Thomas Sowell
Sowell’s truth has been demonstrated amply over the years, but during the current administration, it seems to be underlined, italicized, and emphasized. It does not seem to matter what an intellectual does. Even when it blows up in their faces, they walk away with their reputation unharmed and generally a promotion.
It is like watching a real-life version of a Roadrunner cartoon. Wile E. Coyote (a metaphorical intellectual) has the boulder he intended for the roadrunner land on him. He is flattened, but soon staggers away and by the next scene is intact, plotting another asinine scheme to get the roadrunner. So, too with our intellectual. No matter how staggering the setback, in the next scene our intellectual is back at it, sometimes at another job, but with no loss of prestige.
I do not think this is due to other intellectuals (I include the media in that category — they have become intellectuals rather than working stiffs) giving the erring intellectual a break on the grounds of “There but for the grace of Gaia go I.” Rather, I believe it is done for two reasons:
1. They know at some point they, too, will get caught out in a burst of asininity. They extend cover to other intellectuals because at some point they know they themselves will need it.
2. Intellectualism has become a tribe. What diminishes one diminishes all. You stick by your own no matter what.
Such a system can perpetuate itself during periods of surplus. Errors do not really matter as long as enough people, especially the producers, have sufficient food, shelter, and goods to meet their needs. The silly games of the intelligentsia simply do not matter to normal people. However, there has been a 30-plus year period (following the fall of the Soviet Union) when times were good enough it simply did not matter how asinine the ideas intellectuals were pushing. Even asininity like Black Lives Matter and transgender lunacy could be pushed at no risk to intellectuals.
However, with that kind of generational success comes hubris. For intellectuals, hubris has appeared in the form of environmentalism. And now, in the name of environmentalism, they are pushing the elimination of surplus, both in terms of food and energy production.
But hubris is followed by nemesis. Previous intellectual asininities have resulted in inconvenience and irritation. Being forced to use pronouns is an irritation. To a large extent, so is the type of widespread criminality in California and New York. A lack of food and goods and the energy to transport those foods and goods to where they are needed is different. That is a matter of life and death. And people, especially the producers, who fall outside the intellectual bubble, will be forced to act.
Thanks for reading Quote of the Day: Intellectual Privilege - Ricochet.com. Please share...!
0 Comment for "Quote of the Day: Intellectual Privilege - Ricochet.com"