[lbo-talk] Inorganic Intellectuals and the Mythical Ideal of the Marxist Tradition (Re: Moderation)

[Tayssir John Gabbour]

On 1/14/07, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> The spontaneous ideas of The People aren't all that impressive in my
> experience, and hostility to intellectuals is as American as violence
> and apple pie.

Is this anything like the condescension which intellectuals often feel
towards "the masses"? The desire to tell them what to do for their own
good?

I suspect that if we were comparing like-for-like, intellectual
opinion vs. that of the working classes, intellectuals as a class
probably wouldn't fare too well. I know that in my personal experience
with the products of intellectuals, a lot of my time is wasted trying
to look past the BS. Figuring out what the hidden assumptions are,
what's stated with far more certainty than warranted, etc.

And it's often faulty assumptions from some long-dead economist...

Tayssir