Daniel J. Flynn - Intellectual Morons: How Ideology Makes Smart People Fall for Stupid Ideas

Contents

Introduction
THE TRUE BELIEVER

1
FICTION CALLS THE FACTS BY THEIR NAME
The New Lefts Pop Philosopher

2
SCIENCE!
How a Pervert Launched the Sexual Revolution

3
COERCION IN A GOOD CAUSE
Environmentalisms False Prophet

4
SPECIESISM
Animal Rights, Human Wrongs

5
AND THAT IS MY TRUTH
Liars and the Intellectuals Who Enable Them

6
HISTORY ITSELF AS A POLITICAL ACT
The Three Stooges of Anti-Americanism

7
A TRUTH THAT LESSER MORTALS FAILED TO GRASP
How Ideologues Hijacked U.S. Foreign Policy

8
HUMAN WEEDS
The RealFoundations of the Abortion-Rights Movement

9
ABSOLUTELY SEGREGATE THE RACES
How a Racial Separatist Became a Civil Rights Icon

10
FORGERY BY TYPEWRITER
A Half-Century of Leftist Delusions

11
ITS TOTALLY RATIONAL
The Gospel According to John Galt

12
COMFORTABLE CONCENTRATION CAMP
Feminisms Fitting Matriarch

13
THEREFORE WE WILL BE INCOHERENT
Postmodernism and the Triumph of Ideology over Truth

Conclusion
A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE

To my mother, Janet Flynn,
who read to me.
~
To my father, Ronald Flynn,
who led a readers life.

INTRODUCTION

THE TRUE BELIEVER

A faith is not acquired by reasoning. One does not fall in love with a woman, or enter the womb of a church, as a result of logical persuasion.
Reason may defend an act of faithbut only after the act has been committed, and the man committed to the act.

ARTHUR KOESTLER,
The God That Failed

WHEN IDEOLOGY IS YOUR GUIDE, YOURE BOUND TO GET LOST. Ideology deludes, inspires dishonesty, and breeds fanaticism. Facts, experience, and logic are much better at leading you to truth. Truth, however, is not everyones intended destination.

This is a book about morons. The morons that well meet dont have tobacco juice dripping from their chins, sunburned necks, or any other stereotypical manifestations of dimness. As the title suggests, Intellectual Morons focuses on cognitive elites who embarrass themselves by championing idiotic theories, beliefs, and opinions. It is a quite pedestrian occurrence for stupid people to fall for stupid ideas. More interesting, and of greater harm to society, is the phenomenon of smart people falling for stupid ideas. Ph.D.s, high IQs, and intellectual honors are not antidotes to thickheadedness.

It doesnt matter how smart you are if you dont use your mind. Ideologues forgo independent judgment in favor of having their views handed to them. To succumb to ideology is to put your brain on autopilot. Ideology preordains your reaction to issues, ideas, and people, your view of politics, philosophy, economics, and history. For the true believer, ideology is the Rosetta Stone of everything. It provides stock answers, conditions responses, and delivers one-size-fits-all explanations for complex political and cultural questions. Despite the conviction and seeming depth of knowledge with which ideologues speak, they are intellectual weaklingsjoinerswho defer to systems of belief and charismatic gurus for their ideas. Why bother thinking when the guru provides all the answers? Whats the use of examining the facts when the system has already determined the real truth?

When you submit to a guru, allow a system to predetermine your views, or become a knee-jerk party-liner, you abdicate your responsibility to think. For an intellectual, this is the unforgivable sin. Intellectuals think. This is what they do. When intellectuals let ideology do their thinking, we cant with any justification continue to label them intellectuals. This is not an anti-intellectual book. It is an antipseudo-intellectual book.

And many obviously bright political leaders, academicians, journalists, and artists reveal themselves as pseudo-intellectuals.

Why does Al Gore believe that cars pose a mortal threat to the security of every nation?

In other words, why do smart people fall for stupid ideas?

The answer is ideology.

SYSTEMS

Communism, environmentalism, animal rights, sexual anarchism, feminism, postmodernism, multiculturalism, relativism, deconstructionismforeign ideologies to most peoplehave been embraced without scrutiny by intellectuals at various points during the past century. The intelligentsias enthusiasm for these isms has made it easier for them to overlook the shortcomings of those most closely identified with these systems. The ideologies themselves also get a pass, since their advocates dominate the fields that generally hold ideas up to scrutiny. Since this book argues against formulas, it is fitting that several of the systems and gurus discussed dont fit into this formula. Both Objectivists and Straussians, ideologues on the political Right, operate outside of normal intellectual circles. But like the other ideologues discussed, they function inside a cloistered environment shielded from outside criticism. Society should be so lucky as to be guarded from these isms as the isms are from society, but an ideologys blockers only seem to screen incoming ideas.

The primary and most obvious reason people join mass movements and follow ideology is the issues they address. To view all ideologues as entirely tricked or self-deluded overlooks the fact that at the core of many ideologies is a laudable idea, whether it is the need for a clean environment, a better understanding of other cultures, or equality of opportunity for the sexes. Naturally, people want to correct the failings they see around them. But dangers arise when the perceived morality of the mission allows immoralitylying for the cause, forcing the good upon society, self-righteousness, and so onto corrupt the crusaders. Problems also occur when activists mistake any cause bearing their ideologys name for a noble one. It is intentions rather than outcomes that matter for such people. Thus we must separate the ideological nonsense from the good idea it clings to.

Cant we support equality of opportunity for women while opposing Andrea Yatesstyle fourth-trimester abortions? Does support for a multicultural outlook mean holding your tongue regarding the practice of female genital mutilation, AIDS-curing sex with virgins in South Africa, and Middle Eastern honor killings? Cant one be against cruelty to animals and still enjoy a tunafish sandwich?

To the ideologue, the answer is no. All the ideologythe good, the bad, and the uglyis a package deal.

Defining ones position based on what serves the cause makes the party line triumphant. Allegations of sexual impropriety against Senator Bob Packwood, Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, and California gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzeneggerall Republicanssparked angry campaigns to oust these men from political life. When women accused Bill Clinton of sexual harassment, indecent exposure, and even rape, the same Democrats who rabidly attacked Packwood, Thomas, and Schwarzenegger reflexively defended the president. Hypocrisy is, of course, bipartisan. One president with a (D) next to his name sponsors humanitarian missions in Haiti, Bosnia, and Somalia and the opposition blasts him for nation building. His successor, who sports an (R) next to his name, does the same thing to a greater degree in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Haiti and his partys stalwarts cheer him. What matters to the party-liners in both cases is not the issue involved but how that issue can be used to damage political opponents. The issue is not the issue, 1960s radicals famously remarked. It still isnt, unfortunately.