Περί διανόησης, Huntington's Model

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Nothing so contributes to the reproduction of class in our society, aside from property relations, as the institutionally enforced intellectual division of labor. It dissects knowledge into academic ghettos, and it attempts to freeze working class people out of the intelligentsia altogether. Credentials!

Capitalism needs its credentialed mandarins, and the mandarins often define even who are the "legitimate" critics of capitalism. Specialization and credentialing are the keys to this legitimation, and the keys to the exclusion of would-be transgressors.

Those of us who lack the credentials must be excluded from the intelligentsia, because the inclusion of our voices, the legitimation of our voices, calls into question the legitimacy of the whole fucking system.

I feel this personally, both as a former enlisted man and as a leftist. As a leftist, I have sometimes encountered powerful pressure to circumscribe my own role, and to limit my own public discourse, to criticism of US military policy… to serve the revolution only as a witness.

Leave theory to the experts. Just like the military.

The comrades at Freedom Road don't pull that shit. They include plenty of working class intellectuals.

Working class people can and must become intellectuals. We can and must study diligently, debate, self-criticize, re-study, and continually sharpen our ability to play intellectual hardball.

We can't be lazy about it. It's always easier to pretend you know something than it is to learn about it. It's always easier to be cute than it is to be rigorous. It is easier to talk trash than practice the humility of the serious student. We have to work, harder than the bourgeoisie, because we are at war.

But we can never allow ourselves to be intimidated by advanced degrees – just as we cannot become anti-intellectuals. We can never afford to contain ourselves within predetermined specializations. The experience of working class intellectuals will enrich theory. Our stories will keep things real. Our practice will define the future.

And we deserve to be heard.

Huntington's Model του Stan Goff, έχει κι άλλα στη στήλη Military Matters. Μερικά έχουν πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα οπτική, από πολιτική άποψη. Κάποια άλλα με προσωπικές αφηγήσεις είναι πολύ μαύρα, από ψυχολογική άποψη. Αλλά αφού γράφει γι' αυτά σημαίνει πως έχει αφήσει το σκοτάδι πίσω του.