Intellectualism and the Tyranny of the Ruling Class

Intellectualism and the Tyranny of the Ruling Class

Matthew Bellisario O.P. 2020

Anyone who claims themselves to be an "intellectual" is certainly not one. A person who must make it known to others that he is an intellectual class is indeed an anti-intellectual. This pride of intellectualism is truly one of the cancers of our time. The rise of the tyrannical liberal state is fueled by those who claim to be part of a superior class of the educated. They know what is best for the average "simpleton" in the pews. This cancer grows in all parts of our society and is found both in politics and religion, both in the world and indeed in the Church. The "intellectual" politicians of our day have obscured the noble practice of good statesmanship. Thus the common good is destroyed and tyranny ensues. In the Church, these same "intellectual" theologians have obscured the highest of sciences, theology and have denigrated the truth of the gospel and substituted it with a barren humanism which is built on sand. In short, the "intellectuals" of our age are the epitomes of mindless buffoons. 

The notion that only the college-educated "intellectual" person can hold an office in politics or religion is one that is misguided and ultimately doomed to failure. The intellectual capability of man does not come from one's belonging to a club, college, fraternity, or sorority. A self-taught man is often more well-read, better disciplined and one with superior knowledge and more importantly having more wisdom than the formally educated man. This is certainly true especially in our times where formal education is almost always mal-education! This is all the more noticeable in the social sciences. Why has our society now deemed that this club of self-professed intellectuals are the only ones fit to hold positions in politics, or religion? The answer is simply pride. 

There were times when men of all classes respected the simple man of virtue and wisdom. Educated statesmen and learned men of high places in the Church once traveled days to get a word or sentence of wisdom from the anchorites, hermits, and stylites of the desert. Their class of intellectualism mattered not, and although they chose to remain in the desert, society came to them for its advice! Where does simple wisdom fit into society today when it comes to the governance of Church and state? More specifically, why does the Church not look at the example of the apostles in their choice of priests, bishops, and cardinals? Why is it that wisdom and virtue are not held in higher esteem than the diploma one has? Instead of looking for virtue and wisdom, the person must first come from the "intellectual" class. Yet, why is it that this elite class of "intellectuals" in the Church are the ones denigrating the gospel? They are the ones making exceptions to the gospel of Christ leading a crusade to change or obscure the teachings of Christ and His Church. What happened to the times where the simple wisdom of the apostles and Saints often sufficed for its bishops, priests, and even popes! 

Does this mean that I believe that formal education is not needed or that it be done away with? This would also be a foolish position to hold and would go against the very nature of my vocation as a Third Order Dominican where education of all types is valued. The issue is not that of education, but that of the source of education and that of the person being educated. Fruitful education can be obtained both through formal and informal avenues. Provided that the education is virtuous and rooted in truth, what matters most is the person who is being "educated." Education pertains to more than information assimilated in one's mind, but more importantly what information is obtained and how it is implemented in one's life. Virtue and truth are of paramount importance in both cases. In other words, it is not a club, a college, fraternity, or sorority to which one belongs nor the self-proclamation of one's intellectualism that matters, it is one's quality of education and one's character that matters. Today's "intellectualism" is one devoid of both and the Church and society must come to grips with this fact before we can remedy today's tyranny of the ruling class. By and large, it is not the simple self-taught men that are corrupting society and the Church, it is the self-proclaimed "intellectuals" who esteem themselves and their "education" as placing them in an elite group worthy of high positions of authority to which they have no business occupying.