Why Do Intellectuals Oppose Capitalism?

Robert Nozick, in his essay “Why Do Intellectuals Oppose Capitalism?” proposed that many highly-educated public intellectuals tend to lean towards collectivism and authoritarianism because they expect society to work best in the way that schools and the academic system (which is the system they are most familiar with) operates. Was Nozick’s theory right? Why do academics, philosophers, journalists, sociologists, and other “wordsmith intellectuals” tend to skew left?

Show Notes and Further Reading

Robert Nozick’s influential short essay “Why Do Intellectuals Oppose Capitalism?”

Friedrich Hayek’s essay along similar lines, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”.

George H. Smith also wrote about Hayek’s views on intellectuals in this column: “Intellectuals and Libertarianism: F. A. Hayek”.

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