Bacevich: The Blight of Public Intellectuals
Andrew Bacevich, professor emeritus at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, called public intellectuals “a blight on the republic.”
The quip came in a March 8 op-ed in the Huffington Post entitled “Rationalizing Lunacy: The Intellectual as Servant of the State.”
In the op-ed, Bacevich states:
“Policy intellectuals — eggheads presuming to instruct the mere mortals who actually run for office — are a blight on the republic. Like some invasive species, they infest present-day Washington, where their presence strangles common sense and has brought to the verge of extinction the simple ability to perceive reality. A benign appearance — well-dressed types testifying before Congress, pontificating in print and on TV, or even filling key positions in the executive branch — belies a malign impact. They are like Asian carp let loose in the Great Lakes.”
You can read the entire op-ed here.
Bacevich is Professor Emeritus of International Relations and History at Boston University. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, he received his PhD in American Diplomatic History from Princeton University. Before joining the faculty of Boston University, he taught at West Point and Johns Hopkins.
Bacevich is the author of Breach of Trust: How Americans Failed Their Soldiers and Their Country (2013).