Laura, You often force me to think about what I say. One day in some context or other I was badmouthing intellectuals, and you said, “I don’t understand why you talk negatively about intellectuals. You are an intellectual, aren’t you? You’re smart and well educated.” It stopped me short. I had to think about what I meant. I know that Webster doesn’t make this distinction, but when I use the term, and when I hear it used, the word “intellectual” carries a negative connotation.

To me, an intellectual is one who sees himself as superior to the masses. He thinks, because he is intelligent and well educated, it’s his duty to manage the herd. It’s like Cass Sunstein our Regulatory Tsar who says that most of us are Homer Simpsons, members of a bewildered herd. “A lot can be done to manipulate them, to tap into their fears and desires and use them to guide them.” They see themselves as caretakers of the masses. They teach us what to think, not how to think.

They probably would not come right out and say it, but they seem to think that the world needs leaders, kind of enlightened despots, to help us make better choices. . The problem, first of all, is that they are not God; they don’t understand the problem, and the solutions they devise almost always have unintended consequences. Farm subsidies intended to support the family farmer actually push the family farmer off the farm. Section 8 housing that doubled the cost of rentals.

The second problem is that there is nothing more dangerous than a man who thinks he knows what is best for us. Consider Mao, consider Hitler, consider Stalin. For the intellectual the problem is hubris. Great works of literature from every culture teach us the “pride goeth before the fall,” that power corrupts. The truth is we are all, the well educated, the blue collar worker, the homeless, all of us are God’s children, all of us are flawed, and that is why no one can be trusted to real power. We are all dealing with demons. and those demons feast on it. God’s purpose for us in life is that we learn to deal with our shortcomings, that we find grace and serenity by working through our vices.

We all make poor choices, that’s a given, but that’s what we need to do. It’s dealing with our poor choices that makes us stronger. More important than that, those poor choices teach us to be humble.