That is very much the truth. Just perusing the bookshelves of my elderly relatives (now in their 90s) reveals that once the middle class had a vibrant intellectual life of its own.

It was nice to stumble upon your blog, Mr. Raley. We attended the North State Symphony concert at your church last Christmas: it was wonderful! My children play the violin and piano and always benefit from these things. Perhaps one day our families could get together for some musical fun. God bless.

Jeff,

I entirely agree with your comments. I feel strongly that egalitarian dogma is at the root of bitter intellectualism. The key error in the logic is, as you stated it, “we should all be equally intellectual.” People have different roles in their cultures, and healthy cultures see the necessity for all sort of roles.

A lot of forces created the American middle class. Bourgeois life 100 years ago wasn’t as depressingly uniform as it is now. I think egalitarianism has a lot to do with that too.

Your comment that it is “hard to go back to the catacombs” is right on target. I think we are in the throes of convulsive social changes, and that the fall of Christendom is at the root of believers’ grievances.

Thanks for commenting!

Very well said. Do you suppose this trend has to do with the increasing de-Christianization of our society? In times past both “low” and “high” culture had Christian overtones, or at least a backdrop of assumptions informed by the Christian faith. That is no longer the case. Christian “populists” and Christian “intellectuals” now find themselves disaffected and marginalized. Hence, the grievance mentality. It’s hard to go back to the catacombs …

I think we need our elites, our intellectuals. One problem is that today’s elites are forced, along with everyone else, to deny that they are elites and to deny the necessity for an elite class. This denial leads to the dysfunction you have noticed along with contempt for one’s fellow man. The logic goes like this: I’m an intellectual; we’re all supposed to be equal; therefore we should all be equally intellectual; my neighbors are obviously not intellectuals; therefore my neighbors are contemptible.

I’m presently reading a history of Stanford University, whose founders had strict egalitarian ideals. And once again I’ve noticed a paradox – the same paradox one finds in the history of experiments in communism – and that paradox is this: the more egalitarian a culture strives to be, the more vicious and brutal and dishonest will be the inevitable class system that emerges. There is no escaping class or social hierarchy. A healthy culture acknowledges this reality and makes a place for it. In the best cases the various classes have a healthy respect and appreciation for each other.