Professionals or Intellectuals?
Matthew Yglesias: Base/Superstructure
This post by MY follows up on something Kevin Drum wrote about (and Mark Schmitt followed up on) with respect to the ideological slants in the blogosphere. The point being that the right is generally represented by libertarian-ish folks and that the left tends to be an amalgam of center lefties like yours truly.
Matt and others have posited that this is an unsurprising result of the demographics of bloggerville, given its preponderance of "students, academics and professionals." I am a bit confused, though, by the inclusion of professionals because Matt goes on to say that these people are not engaged in the real world. I think perhaps a better classification might be intellectual.
The term can be applied both to academics and non-academics alike. Many folks who work for a living are also intellectuals, whether they be lawyers, consultants, carpenters or plumbers. An intellectual is someone who looks for deeper meaning in life and the events around her. And it is not inconsistent to have one's head in the clouds while both feet are planted firmly on the ground.
I would also like to believe that one can blog and still be engaged in the real world. While there is a danger of becoming lost in a world of ideas, I find that a trip to the grocery store or the gym usually rouses me from my intellectual daydream.
This post by MY follows up on something Kevin Drum wrote about (and Mark Schmitt followed up on) with respect to the ideological slants in the blogosphere. The point being that the right is generally represented by libertarian-ish folks and that the left tends to be an amalgam of center lefties like yours truly.
Matt and others have posited that this is an unsurprising result of the demographics of bloggerville, given its preponderance of "students, academics and professionals." I am a bit confused, though, by the inclusion of professionals because Matt goes on to say that these people are not engaged in the real world. I think perhaps a better classification might be intellectual.
The term can be applied both to academics and non-academics alike. Many folks who work for a living are also intellectuals, whether they be lawyers, consultants, carpenters or plumbers. An intellectual is someone who looks for deeper meaning in life and the events around her. And it is not inconsistent to have one's head in the clouds while both feet are planted firmly on the ground.
I would also like to believe that one can blog and still be engaged in the real world. While there is a danger of becoming lost in a world of ideas, I find that a trip to the grocery store or the gym usually rouses me from my intellectual daydream.
posted by Anonymous at 3:09 PM
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