Intellectual is as intellectual does
A couple of months ago, I was in the midst of a heated argument with a rather fanatical Democrat when I caught him contradicting one of the cardinal doctrines of what passes for modern intellectual liberalism: the notion that truth is relative. I parenthetically congratulated him for conceding that point.
My snottiness apparently went right over his head, though. He was so worked up that he tacitly conceded the point that relativism is gibberish, and worthy only of the intellectually limited. "We're the smart ones," he sneered- "we" being those on the Left.
Nobody sneers like a liberal. Excuse me- like a progressive.
In fact, intellectual arrogance is as much a lib- er, progressive characteristic as intellectual fuzziness. That those on the Left are, ipso facto, smart, and those on the Right, ipso facto, stupid is a part of the Leftist catechism so basic that many, er, progressives regard it as self-evident. Those of us who actually think can only chuckle.
Thomas Sowell has a related item at National Review Online. It's a response to an article by the Nicholas Kristoff of the New York Times suggesting that the election of Barack Obama may mark an end to a regrettable American tendency toward "anti-intellectualism."
I am one of those more likely to see Mr. Obama's election as the result of a failure of the intellect on the part of most American voters than as a vindication of the intellect. But in any case, Mr. Sowell has some interesting thoughts about just who, and who is not, truly and intellectual- and about the track record of self-styled "intellectuals" on the Left when it comes to effectively using their gray matter.
My snottiness apparently went right over his head, though. He was so worked up that he tacitly conceded the point that relativism is gibberish, and worthy only of the intellectually limited. "We're the smart ones," he sneered- "we" being those on the Left.
Nobody sneers like a liberal. Excuse me- like a progressive.
In fact, intellectual arrogance is as much a lib- er, progressive characteristic as intellectual fuzziness. That those on the Left are, ipso facto, smart, and those on the Right, ipso facto, stupid is a part of the Leftist catechism so basic that many, er, progressives regard it as self-evident. Those of us who actually think can only chuckle.
Thomas Sowell has a related item at National Review Online. It's a response to an article by the Nicholas Kristoff of the New York Times suggesting that the election of Barack Obama may mark an end to a regrettable American tendency toward "anti-intellectualism."
I am one of those more likely to see Mr. Obama's election as the result of a failure of the intellect on the part of most American voters than as a vindication of the intellect. But in any case, Mr. Sowell has some interesting thoughts about just who, and who is not, truly and intellectual- and about the track record of self-styled "intellectuals" on the Left when it comes to effectively using their gray matter.
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