Rudzinski, Walter W.

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MANUSCRIPTS 37Walter W. RudzinskiOnce, long ago, in a faraway land called Scholastica, men shoutedpraise to learning. They had seen the wonderful things learning haddone for them-freedom from disease; power unimaginable by break-ing apart a speck of matter; boxes of colored, speaking images; beauty;wealth, and prosperity-and they made the Intellectual their hero.But the Intellecutals began to assume authority in areas outside oftheir knowledge. The prophets cried, "Sham," but they were ignored.In Californiam (Western Scholastica) an entertainer of men becameruler. In the capital, a pediatrician became an authority on the con-flict with the Yellow People in the East.The Intellectuals began to think their beliefs were beyond ques·tion. In the schools the Intellectuals gave their students only certainhooks and told them what to find in them. The students learned well.They knew all of the great periods of literature; they could tell aneighteenth century rationalist from a nineteenth century romanticist.And when tests came, the students wasted no time in fil ling-in the littlehlack boxes. But somehow the Great Ideas meant little to them andwere quickly forgotten after the test.In the government, also, the Intellectuals could not bear to seetheir authority questioned. Some students who thought the fightagainst the Yellow People was not fair were jailed. The students becameangry and talked so much against the government and so much for thelittle Yellow People that they began to believe that the little fellowswere really good.Then a new and explosive condition arose in the East-the YellowPeople had united and started a terrible war against all of Scholastica.The Intellectuals again assumed authority outside of their knowledge.They became the generals (and were the first to succumb). The menof Scholastica knew the difference between an eighteenth centuryrationalist and a nineteenth century romanticist, but they could notrespond to this personal situation. They knew what they were sup·posed to feel, but they had no thoughts of their own....And the little Yellow People feasted upon the hones of theIntellectuals and the rotted fruit of Scholastica,

The Rise of the Intellectual and the Fall of Civilization

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The Rise of the Intellectual and the Fall of Civilization

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