Why do we conservatives hold intellectuals...

-Self | epigone73

[epigone73]

quick question, been bothering me for ages.

Given that the average leftist is a barely verbal barbarian, why do so many conservatives not relish our own cultural superiority?

I mean, for G-d's sake, why defend a culture the practice and refinement of which we seem to deride? ("eggheads", "intellectuals," "philosophers" seem to be terms of contempt.

The left, and others outside us, want to bring us down as a whole. It is all well and good to smash the faces of the barbarians, and even necessary and commmendable to do so, but why do we so often turn against those who are our natural allies, i.e., the conservative thinkers and scholars. Trust me, they need our help and support.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

ROTFL

The imagery has me in stitches!

Was it FUN?

[Tijeras_Slim]

Conservatives are anti-intellectual racists... that's why we like Thomas Sowell so much.

Go soak yer head.

[cyborg]

It was fun hiding behind DoctorRaoul and let him do all the talking :)

[the OlLine Rebel]

It mite be simpler to say that too many hi-IQs lack basic common sense.

Personally, I think of conservatives as largely composed of mid-range IQ w/common sense, while liberals largely composed of low-IQ w/a good preponderance of very hi-IQ, and all of whom lack common sense.

[grellis]

It does us no little harm, and makes us look foolish and ignorant.

I hope you don't mind a little constructive criticism, but throughout this thread you seem as if you want foolish and ignorant responses. JMO.

The simple fact is, intellectualism really isn't such a hot topic in an election year. When you start becoming engaged in threads that are more issue-based, you may be surprised to find we're not so stoopit after all.

Welcome to Free Republic!

[GOP_1900AD]

Modern "intellectuals" are a far cry from the wise and learned men (and occasional women) who were the norm prior to the late 1700s. Traditionally, the learned were in league with Church, king and country, and were not in any way either motivated to, or, inclined to, undermine the pillars of Western Civilization. Somewhere along the line, this all changed. The learned who had more traditional values, within the context of bourgeoisified secular society, tended more toward lives pursuing businesses or Conservative politics. Increasingly, those who would pursue a purely academic career tended to be those of a more Jacobin bent, and those attracted to sowing anarchy and undermining society's core institutions. Hence, the origins of the current dissonance between "intellectuals" and conservatives. In truth, there are many on the Right who are intellectual in nature but who pursue lives which would not label them with the noun "intellectual" as an implication of a specific calling.

[GOP_1900AD]

Ah yes, you are indeed quite aware and an individual for these times. A true rightist. This is an excellent conversation. I'd love to see this conversation injected into a major political forum such as the 2004 GOP Convention. I can see that both you and I want to reorient the Right back onto a path of growth rather than slower Leftward lurch than the Left, and, take the lead in terms of political development. The rhetorical question which must be answered is, what is our differentiated positive program Vs. the Left?

[GOP_1900AD]

1900: Interesting year. The last year of our innocence. I somehow wonder just how much we really lost when McKinley was shot the following year? I sometimes think that is where our troubles really began.