The Academic Elites: Enlightened or Deluded?

           Image: Dave Cutler

 The “intellectual” class of academic elites has a powerful role in policymaking in this country. Although they have no direct responsibility for practical affairs—little or no first-hand experience, they wield ideas and words to advocate their values. Since their ideals are circulated through university teaching, the press, the media, scholarly journals, etc., their influence is disproportionately strong. Members of the class might even suppose that their disproportionate influence is deserved—after all, they did have the highest grades and test scores. Indeed, the elite class often writes abstrusely, which, perhaps paradoxically, enhances their influence through a halo effect (“I don’t understand it so it must be right”). So, is the influence of the academic elites for the better or worse?

            Success as an academic depends almost entirely upon one’s ability to publish and to be cited by other scholars. The pressure on professors to publish de-emphasizes the importance of effective teaching and leads to prolixity. The requirement to publish frequently favors overly critical and negative viewpoints and disfavors support for the status quo and tradition. Publications in the social sciences, liberal arts, and legal studies are, in effect, nihilistic. This is the case because it is easier (and more appreciated) for scholars to criticize and point out weaknesses of current policies and theories (and those of other postulating academics) than it is to publish support of tradition or to adequately promote a positive theory (this problem is most prevalent in “critical theory,” which doesn’t even try to assert any positive theory to replace what it criticizes). The tone of academic writing is decidedly negative-- which gives an impression that things are worse than they really are.

A recent study found that the ratio of Democrats to Republicans among humanities professors is eight to one. Perhaps largely, this is the case because liberals self-select to become professors while elite conservatives tend to go into practice. However, the hard liberal slant certainly favors liberal academics and the propagation of liberal thought. Although the left slant of academia is doesn't seem to block conservatives from entering the career field, they have more hurdles to clear to establish themselves in the profession once they get there. Scholarly discourse unduly proceeds on a level of liberal assumptions and liberal groupthink.  Academics, in general, become more leftist through their career due to a desire (or necessity) to conform with other academics and to join the "cutting-edge" conversation, which often proceeds on egalitarian assumptions. Many professors benefit financially from liberal politics (e.g. high tuition, cheap and easy student loans, high government employee benefits, etcetera). Some scholarly journals even have, at one point or another, discriminated against conservative authors in choosing who to publish (e.g. here). As a result of all these facts, radical egalitarian thinking disproportionately and for no adequate reason influences culture and politics; especially through the most impressionable among us, e.g. college students and less-educated cable news watchers.

That said, academic thought has had many beneficial results (even in the liberal arts—the hard sciences and engineering have had tangibly good effects on life, aren’t ideologically as slanted, and are not the subject of this post). Academia has had a constructive effect, for example, in bringing about civil rights for racial minorities and women. I would argue that American professors have encouraged the improving tolerance worldwide and even to a more peaceful world. Academia also serves to counterbalance some of the excesses of a market driven economy (e.g. environmental concerns). However, the beneficial results of academic discourse in these areas during the past century, in my opinion, would have worked just as well without the scholarly disregard for tradition, religion, and moral absolutes.

It is my contention, however, that academia has contributed to increased decadence characterized by an erosion of self-restraint and moral traditions of our society. Although individual scholars profess moral codes and many indeed write for good causes, in practice and in the whole, scholarly discourse and university curriculum promotes the notion that moral truths are arbitrary and subjective unless confirmed by scientific evidence. It encourages moral relativism. In place of the pillar of Judeo-Christian morality of American history, academics build a vapid chamber that echoes “tolerance” (which is frequently conflated with “acceptance”—or else you’re a bigot) and  “do what you want as long as you don’t hurt anyone else.” As G.K. Chesterton points out, “When people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing, they believe in anything.” Too many classes today are cynical towards American tradition and religion. For one example, I had a professor who smugly chided Christopher Columbus for not having discovered America and for instituting slavery then, that very class, cited Nietzsche and called him a "discerning" thinker. Why not mention that the Carib indians Columbus enslaved practiced cannibalism and that Nietzsche suffered severe depression throughout his life? Or that Columbus, a true underdog, overcame many obstacles to discover America? The bad should be put in perspective with the good. Today, we are supposed to applaud everyone's religious and moral beliefs (unless your Christian) and everyone's heritage (unless you have European blood). Such a view is skewed. Regardless of creed, culture, race, or socio-economic background, the good and the bad of history and our heritage should be taught on equal footing and in proper perspective.

Academia, as a whole, is failing to bring about enlightenment; it shames the only solution to the collective action problem: faith and morality. It has utterly failed to supplant Judeo-Christian ethics as a source of community good will, temperance, freedom, and wisdom in America. Abraham Lincoln observed, “The philosophy in the classroom in one generation is the philosophy of government in the next.” Academics are leaving students with a confused moral compass. They prepare students only to deconstruct (and disrespect) tradition and the current situation through Marxist, feminist, Freudian, and other critiques. Students are not taught prudence, gratitude, or morality. As the radical egalitarian and morally relativistic project of academia gains traction in politics and culture, Americans will need to trade in more liberties for safety and more collective virtue for equality and “tolerance.” If you ask me, the bargain is a poor one.

Individual academic elites are both enlightened and deluded. But, the incentives and structure of the tertiary education system are in trouble. They need to be reworked if we are to best progress towards a more virtuous society. Superior teaching is equally important as research and publication. Schools should accommodate faith and morality. The heritage and positive theories within subject matter areas (the good) should be emphasized with critiques of the past and present (the bad). Institutional diversity in schools should be encouraged by national policy. Critical thinking is good; but so is gratitude and prudence. We need to align the education incentive structure to continue reaping the benefits of critical thought without incurring the costs of academic nihilism.