Anti-intellectualism

 Anti intellectualism - hostility and mistrust towards intellectuals

Are  we seeing rising anti intellectualism in the world and in India in particular? What are the underlying reasons for this new trend?

We as a nation used to be reverent towards scientists, authors and thinkers. But of now, we respect only the past glories and those who glorify past.

What surprises me is, by nature one tends hate and mistrust those in power. Be it father in a household, principal in a school, boss in an office or head of the state in a nation. But of late, we have started adoring and worshiping those in power and hating those who talk  the truth instead of parroting. How and why did this change happen?

If things go wrong in our life - as they often do, we tend to blame others for these wrongs. A new rulers are finding  ways to redirect this anger, mistrust and hatred towards others. Convince us that for all our collective and individual problems, the responsibility lies with xyz. This xyz were jews in Hitler regime, african americans in Trump regime and so on. That way, those in power can tell us that they are empathizing with us and telling how sorry they are for our plights.

Now come these intellectuals. They see the truth as it is, not through the colored lenses given to them. They see the mismanagement, the spreading of hatred, the increasing divide in the nation and the reason for all these which is certainly not xyz. And they feel they need to tell their truth, so that the course of the nation may be corrected. 

But most of us tell ourselves " How dare these so called intellectuals tell us what is right and what is wrong. They think they are too smart and we are all dumb. But we also know, we also read - whatsapp and facebook. Where they give us facts with scientific references -even from 2000 year old books."

Am I correct in my understanding?

Reference:

In USA :

Rise of anti-intellectualism