The difference between the intelligentsia of my youth, Gore Vidal and Molly Ivins, and the intelligentsia of today, Jordan Peterson and Matt Yglesias, is stark enough that I believe it's a real thing and not just me being old.
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Even many of the non-intelligentsia champions of the workin’ man, like Mike Royko, were better than these oafs. For one thing, Royko never hesitated to speak up when the workin’ man was being an ignorant asshole.
sep 1, 2025, 7:16 pm • 2 0 • view
Right, but the intelligentsia of today is people like Ta-Nahesi Coates and Paul Krugman, not those dipshits.
sep 1, 2025, 7:22 pm • 3 0 • view
Well, not really. Note how both of them lost or abandoned their positions at the two biggest journals of opinion. The dipshits are the de facto “intelligentsia” despite being absolutely unintelligent. They have most of the power over the discourse, by far. But smart people still exist, of course.
sep 1, 2025, 7:29 pm • 1 0 • view
Fair point. I'm also thinking Mary Beard.
sep 1, 2025, 7:23 pm • 0 0 • view