This
year
is
gonna
be
fun
after
all!
For
years,
folks
on
the
left
criticized
intelligence.
If
you
preferred
that
people
write
in
standard
English,
the
left
said
that
you
were
propagating
systemic
racism.
Since
you,
a
member
of
the
middle
class,
grew
up
using
standard
English,
you
inflicted
that
improper
cultural
norm
on
others.
When
lawyers
suggested
that
you’d
never
win
a
case
in
court
if
you
wrote
briefs
in
non-standard
English,
the
criticism
from
the
left
simply
broadened:
“That’s
because
the
whole
judicial
system
is
infected
with
systemic
racism!
If
the
judicial
system
were
fair,
the
system
would
recognize
cultural
diversity.”
If
the
left’s
criticisms
were
limited
to
written
English,
they
wouldn’t
be
an
onslaught
against
intelligence
generally.
But
no:
Mathematics,
too,
reflects
a
Western-centric
culture,
and
math
is
used
to
perpetuate
inequality.
While
we’re
at
it,
the
entire
typical
college
curriculum
is
unfair,
compelling,
as
it
does,
students
to
read
the
works
of
dead
white
men.
To
be
a
good
liberal,
one
must
reject
learning.
I
was
dismayed
by
all
of
this
until
I
heard
the
response
from
the
right:
Hold
my
beer.
MAGA
chose
to
wage
war
on
the
elites
—
the
folks
who
actually
know
things
and
run
many
of
the
institutions
in
society.
Who
needs
’em?
Throw
the
bums
out!
It’s
funny,
isn’t
it?
Americans
take
pride
in
technological
advances
made
possible
only
by
brainpower.
Folks
huddled
around
television
sets
in
July
1969
to
watch
Neil
Armstrong
take
a
giant
leap
for
mankind.
Thomas
Paine,
the
administrator
of
NASA
at
the
time,
had
a
Ph.D.
from
Stanford;
I’m
pretty
sure
he
qualifies
as
an
elite.
And
I’m
no
rocket
scientist,
but
I
have
a
hunch
that
the
equations
that
took
Apollo
11
to
the
moon
were
probably
solved
by
mathematics,
and
the
memos
exchanged
by
NASA
scientists
were
written
in
standard
English.
The
same
people
who
today
struggle
to
scratch
together
money
for
food
own
fancy
iPhones.
Society
loves
what
smart
people
create.
But
if
you
ask
Joe
Bag-o’-Donuts
how
he
feels
about
smart
people,
he’ll
tell
you
that
he
has
no
use
for
damned
pointy-headed
intellectuals.
And
by
the
way,
do
you
have
another
cruller?
The
Republican
Party
is
now
tearing
itself
in
two
over
this
divide.
Vivek
Ramaswamy
criticized
American
anti-intellectualism
in
a
recent
tweet.
He
insisted
that
American
culture
favors
“mediocrity
over
excellence”
and
the
“jock
over
the
valedictorian”
—
which,
to
his
mind,
means
that
the
H-1B
visa
program
should
be
expanded
to
allow
educated
foreigners
to
fill
jobs
in
the
tech
industry.
Who’d
a
thunk
it?
Vivek,
like
Hillary
Clinton,
thinks
that
many
Americans
are
deplorables!
The
MAGA
crowd’s
response
to
Ramaswamy’s
tweet
was
predictable:
He
should
go
back
where
he
came
from!
(No;
I’m
kidding.
Ramaswamy
was
born
in
Ohio.
But
Ohio’s
in
the
Midwest,
which
is
probably
near
the
Middle
East,
which
means
that
Ramaswamy
is
a
jihadist!
Quick
—
spread
the
word
on
Twitter!)
MAGA
deplorables
think
that
there
are
plenty
of
talented
Americans
to
fill
jobs
in
the
tech
sector,
and
Ramaswamy
is
just
a
misguided
billionaire
who
doesn’t
want
to
put
America
first.
So,
too,
is
Elon
Musk.
As
are
all
of
the
other
fabulously
rich
tech
bros
who
recently
decided
to
buy
their
way
into
government.
Poor
Donald
Trump’s
got
himself
a
heck
of
a
problem
here.
Who’s
he
going
to
support?
The
populist
wing
of
the
party,
which
elected
him?
Or
the
moneyed
wing
of
the
party,
which
financed
him?
The
dichotomy
between
the
two
halves
of
the
Republican
Party
will
reveal
itself
repeatedly
in
the
coming
year
or
two:
Should
America
decrease
regulation
in
ways
that
hurt
the
man
on
the
street
but
increase
corporate
profits?
Should
America
punish
China
with
tariffs
to
protect
American
jobs
or
let
Tesla
build
its
factories
there?
It
turns
out
that
the
billionaire
bros
and
the
MAGA
masses
won’t
always
agree
on
these
issues.
Will
it
be
possible
to
thread
this
needle?
For
me,
this
would
be
easy:
I
side
with
intelligence.
I
prefer
people
who
can
write
in
standard
English
and
understand
math,
and
I
don’t
mind
being
guided
in
fields
that
I
don’t
understand
by
people
with
advanced
degrees
(or
specialized
experience)
in
those
subjects.
But
I’m
obviously
in
the
minority.
In
any
event,
Trump’s
not
one
of
my
people:
Read
Trump’s
tweets
and
you’ll
see
that
he
has
no
command
of
the
English
language.
Look
at
Robert
F.
Kennedy
Jr.,
and
you’ll
see
that
Trump
doesn’t
think
it’s
important
to
understand
a
field
in
order
to
administer
it.
But
standing
by
the
MAGA
deplorables
will
cost
Trump
the
billionaire
bros,
and
Trump
won’t
like
to
be
rejected
by
the
rich.
I
thought
2025
would
be
a
depressing
year.
Perhaps
so,
but
it
will
be
a
heck
of
a
lot
of
fun
to
watch.
Mark Herrmann
spent
17
years
as
a
partner
at
a
leading
international
law
firm
and
later
oversaw
litigation,
compliance
and
employment
matters
at
a
large
international
company.
He
is
the
author
of
The
Curmudgeon’s
Guide
to
Practicing
Law and Drug
and
Device
Product
Liability
Litigation
Strategy (affiliate
links).
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected].