The Intellectuals Occupying Wall Street

If there was ever any doubt, now we know. The liberal left has revealed its true character. The occupying armies that descended on Wall Street have shown us what they are made of—and it is not a pretty sight.
For well over a century, liberals have boasted of being intellectuals. They are proud to tell anyone who will listen that they know more than others. They are also confident in their superior intelligence. So self-assured are they that they claim to be the intelligentsia.
So there they are, in their scruffy clothes, lounging about in the midst of their own filth, offering us lessons in economics and history. Having carefully analyzed what ails our nation, they have produced a series of manifestos that lay out a detailed blueprint for solving our problems.
Or have they? Reporters regularly tell us that many of the protesters are college educated. These activists are said to be distressed by their inability to get a good job, despite having acquired sterling credentials. What they want, therefore, are thoroughgoing reforms. Let us have free college tuition! Let us forgive all debts, especially college loans! Let us stop home foreclosures!
Oh, and by the way, let us get rid of capitalism! It is evidently run by rich thieves for the benefit of even richer thieves. So tax the wealthy! Drive them into bankruptcy so that the rest of us can receive our fair share.
So attractive is this siren song supposed to be that Democratic politicians hope it will arouse their “base” for the next electoral cycle. The energy of intelligent young people on the march will surely jolt the nation into realizing the validity of the liberal cause.
But how clever is this exercise? Even mainstream reporters acknowledge that the marching crowds have not been very articulate. Likewise, anyone with a television set can perceive that the signs they carry are barely literate and the explanations they offer are generally incoherent.
Remember, however, these folks are largely college-educated. So where is the evidence that they learned anything when they were in school? Did they miss Econ 101? They insist that they have a right to protest—which they do, but to what end? If all they want to do is complain, how useful is this?
Many of the protestors want to end capitalism, but with what will they replace it? Liberals seem to believe that once we get rid of the rich, total equality will arise like a flower from a pile of dung. They seem to forget that after the French guillotined their aristocrats and the Russians shot theirs, the result was terror and/or oppression, not universal happiness.
But then again, did they ever know this? Liberals accuse religious conservatives of being stupid because they repeat what the Bible tells them. But don’t these same liberals repeat the left-wing slogans as their political forebears?
As a college professor, I am regularly confronted by students who believe they should receive a B just for showing up in class. Few read the assigned books, but they nonetheless assume they understand the materials. After all, they are college students and therefore unusually bright.
Which brings us back to the unemployed students on Wall Street. They seem to believe that making unimaginative demands demonstrates their intellectual prowess. Yet maybe all it reveals is an overweening sense of entitlement, i.e., that deserve what they want, merely because they want it.
Liberals insist that they are the best and brightest—but clearly these folks are not. As ideologues, rather than intellectuals, they believe they know more than they actually do. Years of patting one another on the back have apparently convinced them that they are deep thinkers. Sadly, this is a misperception.
If those on the political left are to govern the nation, let them explain why what they desire is best. It is not enough that they claim to be smart. They must prove, with evidence and arguments, that their recommendations are legitimate.
Melvyn L. Fein. Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
Kennesaw State University