They may possess intellect, but they lack wisdom

They may possess intellect, but they lack wisdom.

Many so-called intellectuals, whether on the right or the left, live in a world detached from the realities of everyday people and the world around them. They exist in an insular environment of ideas, theories, and debates but have no direct experience or practical grounding to understand the full scope of life that ordinary people face.

The truth is, most intellectuals have never built anything of substance. They’ve never shouldered the responsibility of creating a business, hiring employees, managing a payroll, or navigating the challenges of contract negotiations. The practical, hands-on work of dealing with suppliers, collaborating with blue-collar workers, and meeting deadlines on a project—they’ve largely escaped these demanding realities.

Few, if any, have faced the grit and challenges of physical labor. They’ve never held a tool, scraped their hands, developed a calous, or taken pride in constructing something tangible with their own sweat and effort. They have no concept of the satisfaction—or the struggle—of creating a product or service that must meet a customer’s needs or withstand the discerning eye of a critical client.

This lack of experience extends beyond work; for many, they’ve never tested their resilience or toughness in sports, faced physical adversity, or dealt with high-stakes situations that demand quick thinking and courage.

Compounding this is the fact that intellectuals rarely, if ever, venture outside their own circles, where nearly everyone shares their worldview. They surround themselves with people who hold similar values and live similarly sheltered lives, reinforcing a collective detachment from the lives of everyday citizens. Consequently, they’ve never contributed anything meaningful or useful to society, nor have they cultivated the skills to do so.

As @LukeWeinhagen aptly notes, they are divorced from Nature’s feedback—a natural barometer of what is effective and valuable in the real world. They lack the humility and insight that come from navigating reality directly, making it impossible for them to grasp why figures like Trump resonate with so many. They misunderstand what drives people to seek a leader who, in their eyes, represents a break from the out-of-touch elite class.

Devoid of access to natural feedback and lacking real-world experience, they fill the gaps in their understanding with emotion rather than grounded insights, interpreting the world in abstract terms rather than through the lens of everyday reality.