A scholar earns respect everywhere

Some day, when I have time and my Devanagari in front of me I’ll analyze this a bit more. But until then, what do you think? Is a learned person respected everywhere? Or is America a big exception to this rule?

My own response is that I wish this were true, that a learned person would be respected everywhere. But I know that learning has little value amongst some people in America. I have the feeling that the same is true amongst some in other developed countries, as well as in developing nations. What good is a philosopher amongst the starving and diseased?

But I hope this is only due to problems that can be overcome, and not a deeper ideology against learned persons. Anti-intellectualism was a facet of Nazi Germany as well as Maoist China, much to the detriment of each. Let us hope that nations today learn from past errors and embrace, as much as possible, the many varied ideas and insights of the intellectual class.

Perhaps we intellectuals needn’t be understood or praised in our home or city or kingdom, but we do need support. Our thirsty brains need nourishment, not only in terms of books and good conversations.

If you care for your nation, you should care for the intellectuals. And for most of you in the US, that means acting at a state level. I have heard that while in the 1970s and 1980s the state of Montana contributed over 70% of the cost of tuition for Montana students at our state schools, that number has dropped to only 21% in 2009 and 2010. Why the reduction? When education has been so valued by American society for so long, how could it be cut by over 70% in just a couple decades? Have we been asleep at the wheel? Have politicians been cutting deals? With who?

These are just questions. If your state has similarly cut educational spending so dramatically, you need to ask why. Ask now.

Ancient societies knew the value of scholars. These are the societies that lasted many centuries. Other societies fell into lavish enjoyment of their wealth. These societies lasted a few decades at most. Think about it.