I've never quite understood how so many people in America feel that they are being personally attacked by elitist intellectuals. I suppose by most anyone's measure I'm an intellectual - I read voraciously, my idea of a good time is an afternoon with some friends a Shakespeare matinee, and I spend a lot of time just generally thinking. And quite frankly, if anyone is under constant assault in this country it's intellectuals.

Want some evidence? Sure you do! Turn on a television. Can anyone out there look me in the eye and tell me that a mainstream media dominated by "The Real Housewives of Atlanta", where "Full House" was on the air for an eternity, and where "Gilligan's Island" is considered a classic is dominated by intellectual elitists? Does anyone actually believe that a country where the best-selling movie or the past two weeks features a talking chihuahua is kowtowing to the needs of effete elitists?

Do you want to feel like your values are under attack? Try dedicating huge chunks of your life to reading natural philosophy and studying logic, and then have someone explain "The Secret" to you. Try pouring through centuries of ethical and theological writings from Maimonides to Thomas Merton and then having your faith casually discounted by someone who's theological inquiry stretches as far as the "Left Behind" novels.

Nothing is more disparaged in day-to-day American life than knowing things. When was the last time any of you saw a movie that featured a character in academia that wasn't an emotionally malfunctioning sexual predator? For that matter, when when was the last time any of you saw a movie where absolutely nothing exploded?

There is no room in this country for public intellectuals. The quickest way to get booted off the air is to suggest that examining your life may be a healthy alternative to unquestioning self-adoration. The surest way to be labeled a freak is to see something from a different perspective.

And here's the thing - I'd be lying if I said that all of this didn't bother me, but normally it doesn't bother me in any way that a good book and a nice hot cup of tea won't cure. However, if you dig a kittle deeper (another bad habit of intellectuals) it's not hard to start worrying.

Try this little experiment - go out on YouTube and look up a video for "The Secret", neopaganism, or any other currently trendy idiocy. Then start tapping in the related videos section and see how long it takes you to reach a gate-filled rant about the Jewish conspiracy to run the world. If you have to use a third click, I'll be surprised.

That's what bothers me about the anti-intellectual stain that's so strong in America right now. There's no greater fuel for hatred than ignorance.

Because when it comes down to it, Intellectual are a harmless bunch. About the worst thing that intellectuals are going to do to this country is to stage a pretentious community-theater production of "Titus Andronicus" with giant puppets.

But the best thing that intellectuals can do for this country is to show everyone the way to the tools that are necessary for genuine self-knowledge. And one of the chief benefits of knowing yourself is that it makes it a lot harder to hate other people.

...this just might make me an intellectual as well.

"And one of the chief benefits of knowing yourself is that it makes it a lot harder to hate other people."

Truer words have never been spoken. I have found that knowledge of self is perhaps the most powerful form of knowledge in regards to shaping the world around you. Indeed, knowing how to change or correct a personal characteristic within one's self is gaining the power to potentially change it in someone else. Patience comes from understanding and understanding comes from a yin-yang analysis of an event or situation - not just looking at it from the angle that you benefits you the most, but also from the angles that don't bring you any pleasure to think about.

I suppose that the better you know yourself, the more you realize just how imperfect and in need of growth and self-improvement you are. And if you are able to fully realize this and still love yourself loving others is just a step away. I always have functioned under the philosophy that knowledge is power and with great power comes great responsibility. With that said, I do sometimes fall back to the old saying "ignorance is bliss."

Brilliant post Ophymirage!

This sums it up for me:

The quickest way to get booted off the air is to suggest that examining your life may be a healthy alternative to unquestioning self-adoration. The surest way to be labeled a freak is to see something from a different perspective.

Well done.

"About the worst thing that intellectuals are going to do to this country is to stage a pretentious community-theater production of "Titus Andronicus" with giant puppets."

Way to spill the secret battle plans, ophymirage. Now we'll never take over the world through clever concept shows! ;-)

(Although... that production would be awesome! I want to be a part of it!)

And a very nicely written post, by the way. Ask yourself, though, would you really have it any other way? Being an outcast leads to torment and torment leads to really great art. :-)

Quill,

Again I have to disagree with you. Being an outcast leads to self-reflection, which eventually after you torture yourself for a while, leads to something that can charitably be called 'wisdom'. Absence of self reflection gets you Sarah Palin.

Have a great day!

So there's something after the torment? Sweet! Now I've got something to look forward to, other than one day being read by angsty teenagers who wear black a lot. :-D

Excellent excellent post.

It is not only intellectualism that has been under attack but it's cousin basic facts as well.

Gee, how can I tell if you are an intellectual? If you read old books or just a ;lot of books. I think maybe we think to much of ourselves.Sarah Palin on the other hand is a down to earth human being.

Do you want to feel like your values are under attack? Try dedicating huge chunks of your life to reading natural philosophy and studying logic, and then have someone explain "The Secret" to you. Try pouring through centuries of ethical and theological writings from Maimonides to Thomas Merton and then having your faith casually discounted by someone who's theological inquiry stretches as far as the "Left Behind" novels.

I don't know what your faith consists of, or what worldview you hold, but on this you are exactly right. These two examples you cited are spot on. It drives me nuts! However, here is where you go wrong, in my estimation . . .

Because when it comes down to it, Intellectual are a harmless bunch. About the worst thing that intellectuals are going to do to this country is to stage a pretentious community-theater production of "Titus Andronicus" with giant puppets.

Ideas do have consequences. Good ideas have good consequences, and bad ideas, bad ones.

Jesus never lifted a sword, but the religion founded in his name conquered the Roman Empire.

Karl Marx never harmed a soul. But his ideas (he was undoubtedly an intellectual) paved the way for Lenin, Stalin, and Mao, who collectively were responsible for the murder of over 150 million people.

Aristotle was hated by his peers, and his writings were lost for 1000 years. But today he is considered the founder of science and philosophy.

Charles Darwin died a theist. But his theories became the intellectual underpinning for militant naturalism and atheism still with us today.

Peter Singer pays thousands of dollars a year to care for his aging mother. But his "ethical" arguments that the very young and the very old are not deserving of human rights because of their diminished mental capacity has had a dramatic impact on abortion and euthanasia laws in america.

You said this: "Sarah Palin on the other hand is a down to earth human being." Everything written above has gone over your head; it is wasted on you. Sarah Palin represents the fulfillment of all the bad things about our country and its neo-knothingism. From "Desparate Housevives", to "Sex and the City" to "Survivor", our descent into subhuman levels of ignorance is personified in Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin is thinking for herself - while most of liberal "intellectuals" keep chewing same crap that came out of the behinds of Lenin and Mussolini...

because they don't show good movies on TV. Well, between you and me, true intellectuals don't watch TV that much - they read books. So, by all account, your whining is quite peculiar.

Anyway, Americans are under attack by the people who THINK they are intellectuals, and this gives them a right to tell other people how to live their lives. Take Obama for example - a man hardly read a book in his life, has no idea how many states there are in the US, never heard of economic theory - and yet, he is sure he should be the running the lives of every human being in this nation.

I never saw an example of Sarah Palin thinking for herself. Give me examples, pleasee. I admire her for making the best of the ability she has. That does not mean that I should accept her or her lifestyle as an example to follow.

You would do well to become more familiar with issues instead of cue-card talking points.