True intellectualism equals deceitful narrative …

Back in August of 2016, I attended a conference in New York City where a number of scholars were presenting draft papers or proposals on various issues impacting minorities. In my naivete I thought the conference was about presenting actual finished product. What I did not realize was that these scholars were on a hunt for funding. This hunt became apparent from the number of people coming to the lectern and presenting nothing but sales pitches on “what if” concepts.

By the second day I felt bad that I did not spend any time in Brooklyn or the Bronx seeing family. I have never been one for spending client time or money on anything else but the client’s business, so besides a walk heading uptown and a jog through Central Park, I kept my head down and worked those two days.

My big take away was the full realization that academia is as much an industry and likely scam breeding ground like any other business. What is academia’s role? What does academia produce? And recently I have had to ask another question: what is intellectualism and its role?

In my last post I described the State as the systemization of the predatory process over a given territory. The State is born in conquest and exploitation. Securing territory is more than just using violence to take physical space. The State must maintain this acquisition by convincing the consumer-taxpayer-electorate that the State has a right to rule the masses. The State must occupy the minds of the consumer-taxpayer-electorate and it does this by employing the “intellectual” class.

Intellectualism is about securing support for the State via narrative.

I have identified a non-exclusive set of “narrative molders.” You can, upon your own reflection, add to this set:

The Bar. Lawyers and judges that create the narrative that government is here to enforce your rights. We come together during case or controversy to define or refine what the law is and publish those findings for you…the People.

The Church. Clergymen that convince you, the People, to give onto Caesar what is Caesar’s.

The Media. Journalists, reporters, editors, correspondents that create the stories about the enemy on the streets and compose calls to action to rally around our protector: government.

The Academy. The scientists, economists, and artists that convince you of the analytical skills that they apply to a limited and biased data base of knowledge. The results of the application of knowledge are transmitted to you in publications that argue and conclude that benefits from government coercion far exceed the costs to personal liberty.

To optimize narrative, the State must recruit, endorse, and sponsor members of the bar, church, media, and academy that effectively write, speak, and publish a narrative of freedom and liberty for the masses, a narrative that appears counter to the State’s power to exercise a monopoly.

For example, members of the bar must agitate for rules that appear to endorse personal freedom when in reality the end game of a rule is to regulate behavior.

Members of the media must write stories of the horrors of not being able to exercise a personal freedom while advocating positions that regulate or demonize another thought or behavior.

The bar, media, church, and academy must present the illusion that all positions can be accommodated while in actuality only one position may prevail: that of the State.

True intellectualism is purposeful, narrow, and intentional. When it claims universality, it is properly masking its true intent.

Alton Drew

16 September 2023

For more of my thoughts on political economy, purchase my book at amazon.com/author/altondrew.