Attribute to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

Charles Krauthammer: Intellectual for the Ruling Class
by Dale Steinreich

In “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, F.A. Hayek contrasted intellectuals with scholars, original thinkers, and specialists. The intellectual is a public figure who is a “secondhand dealer in ideas” who is not necessarily very bright but can speak and write with confidence and authority about a wide range of subjects with which he or she has little direct knowledge or experience. What can make the intellectual class so dangerous is its insularity combined with its unprecedented power (via Big Media) in modern democracies to influence public opinion over the long run.

One has to wonder what Hayek would have made of Charles Krauthammer. The ex-psychiatrist and conservative commentator recently died on June 21 after a ten-month battle with cancer. To say that the eulogies of Krauthammer (that are still coming in) have been fawning is an understatement. “Unparalleled genius”, “intellectual giant”, and “scintillating brilliance” have been just a few of the superlatives offered on Fox News Channel and other media.

Four ideas that Krauthammer embraced provide insight into why he was so adored by the U.S. ruling class and media establishments.

1. Civilized societies do not allow their citizens to own firearms.

“It is simply crazy,” Krauthammer wrote , “for a country as modern, industrial, advanced and now crowded as the United States to carry on its frontier infatuation with guns…Ultimately, a civilized society must disarm its citizenry if it is to have a modicum of domestic tranquility of the kind enjoyed in sister democracies like Canada and Britain.”

[Read More].

Now, I had never heard of this Kruthhammer person. I go out of my way to avoid the imitation news they have on the TV. And I especially avoid the people on the TV that "comment" on things. So when this slime-ball died, I was surprised by all the whoop-de-doo about him that showed up in the various "news" aggregatetors I use to try and filter out at least some of the propaganda and nonsense that The Powers That Be use to try to manipulate Us The People.

So, after reading this, all I can say is I am glad he is dead and I wish he had died decades ago. Fookin Slaver!