The crisis of Arab intellectuals

If a French intellectual publishes a poem or writes a novel, he often transforms into a commentator on the entire universe, speaking on politics, economics, technology and science, in addition of course to culture in all its forms and reflections on the future of humanity. This is what writer Carlos Alberto Montaner says in his book Las Culturas y Los Valores del Progreso – or in English, Cultures and the Values of Progress.

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Not all intellectuals, of course, but it is a common trait. There would be no problem with this free cultural preaching and search for a public role if it did not shape public consciousness. What intellectuals say is not necessarily correct. On the contrary, it can poison ideas and hinder progress. The writer adds that intellectuals in Latin American countries were infected by this French “disease,” issuing opinions on every science and art, and the tragedy was that many of their ideas proved harmful and destructive to their societies.

Among the most dangerous ideas they promote is hostility toward the West, toward market values, globalization and rational culture. Most of the wealthy countries in the G20 are Western nations. Market values and globalization helped shape the modern world, and scientific rationalism is the foundation of successful societies. Yet these intellectuals preach against the very values that made those nations prosper, causing serious damage to the way their own societies think.
Newspapers, magazines and television networks have turned into factories for producing and spreading these ideas on a wide scale. They promote dependency theory, warn of the hidden dangers of globalization, and speak of the threats posed by corporations and sinister conspiracies allegedly being plotted in Washington and London against their peoples.

Universities, institutes and schools have become centers for producing revolutionary leftist thought. Instead of serving as hubs for creative, forward-looking ideas connected to the modern era, and instead of nurturing generations equipped with skills and critical thinking abilities, they have produced resentful graduates ill-suited to the demands of the market. Ironically, these universities and academic institutions are funded by taxpayers’ money. In other words, families are paying to harm their own children. It is therefore no surprise that many Latin American societies suffer from failure and poverty, for many reasons of course, but the intellectual elite has played a prominent role.

Something similar is happening in our region. Arab intellectuals are part of the problem. Aside from some bright exceptions, they have done almost exactly what their counterparts in Latin America did. Ideas of victimhood, hostility toward the West, demonic conspiracies, colonialism and imperialism, the evils of globalization, and opposition to rational thinking have seeped deep into the culture because of them, making it difficult to uproot these notions.

The same pattern appears in newspapers, magazines, media outlets and social media platforms, where these ideas are constantly recycled and promoted. In universities, where students pay tuition to attend, these outdated ideas are planted and reinforced. This has been happening for decades, and large segments of society still believe that conspiracies are being plotted against them, even as they live below the poverty line. We do not blame the public, of course. They are victims of the ideas spread by intellectuals who still speak of colonialism even though it ended in Arab countries more than half a century ago, and who rebrand defeat as merely a setback or a bruise.

Of course, Arab intellectuals are not solely responsible, but they bear a significant share of the blame. It is noticeable that the more their influence declines within a society, the more that society progresses, simply because it frees itself from the intellectual narcotics it has been consuming. This cultural phenomenon becomes a lethal mix when it aligns with extremist movements of all sects, as they end up singing the same song to different rhythms.

Breaking free from the influence of these intellectuals is essential for any society or state that seeks success and wishes to embrace rational values and the principles of the modern age, away from illusions of conspiracy, targeting and perpetual victimhood.

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