My philosophy teacher told me,
“Lesser people won’t be able to appreciate art.”
“Lesser people?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said.
“But aren’t we all the same?”
“No. There are vulgar elements in society that want to destroy beauty, and lofty thinking.”
“I don’t think you can say that
in the public schools,” I said.
“That’s my point, exactly.”
I looked at him.
He was dressed like a philosopher. He wore a cashmere sweater. He drank sherry and read Nietzsche, until the twilight hours.
I don’t know why I respected him.
“Listen,” he said. “There are people who scream in the theater.
There a feminists who splatter Van Gogh with Tomato Soup.
They think… he’s a white male artist worth hundreds of millions of dollars, but he shot himself in an empty field, with empty pockets, because he couldn’t live with them. We should cut their throats, and use their blood for sacrifice on the alters of supermen—those statues they want to tear down. The educated ignorant are the most dangerous human beings to have ever lived. They have just enough knowledge to believe they are right.”
I looked at him, with big eyes.
He said what he thought, so casually.
“I don’t think you can say that—even after public school hours,” I said.
“Let them come for me,” he laughed.
My philosophy teacher was a great man (there was no doubt in my mind)—maybe not a superman, but a great man, just the same.
Intellectual Shaman 
Yup. Beware the “intellectuals.” I would include your teacher in that, too.
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Ha Ha! Too true, River! 🙂
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I stand by the feminists who ars trying to make a statement on the climate crisis in Britain. The teacher was absolutely right, educated ignorance is dangerous, which is why we should buy him a mirror to see that what lies before the altar is a face of a smarty pants, someone who think he knows it all.
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I loved that you used “Smarty Pants”. I would frame this response!
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Definitely a great man.
These lines: “The educated ignorant are the most dangerous human beings to have ever lived. They have just enough knowledge to believe they are right.”
This reminds me of some people that I came across. The truth is sitting right in front of them. But because they are more knowledgeable than others, sometimes, they go blind with ego.
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I found these people at university.
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They exist everywhere, and come in all ages ;). The best way to deal with them is to ‘smile and wave’. Let them do their thing and, we do our thing.
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Yes… too true. It is difficult to explain reason to an irrational person. They probably think the same thing of me!
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Ha! I can understand.
But I choose peace over drama and endless arguments. You should make your choice too, the rest will not matter…much 😉
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