The Intellectual Elite In Richard Nixon's A Time For Choosing

In Richard Nixon’s famous 1964 A Time for Choosing speech, which he delivered on behalf of then-Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, he said that the most important issue of that year’s election lay in “whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant Capitol can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves”. Today, some 52 years later, this issue regarding the people’s trust in the ‘elite establishment’s’ ability to govern according to the voter’s interests remains pertinent as ever, though it seems that Reagan’s rejection of these intellectual elites has been gaining popular traction. There appears …show more content…
In 140 characters, politicians essentially have the ability to produce soundbites, tidbits of iconic policy that become a part of said politicians’ political platform, enough characters to convey a message yet not enough characters to allow for the substantiation of said message. This message can take the form of an adversarial rallying cry against the elites in power or a sympathizing voice to share the pain of the voters who have been ignored and rejected by society, both of which messages appealing to supporters’ emotions and eschewing actual facts which are viewed as of secondary importance to the ‘feeling’ being conveyed. In many instances, a reliance on facts and the use of academic jargon makes politics less accessible to the common people who already harbour suspicion against the intelligentsia and resent the educated establishment as elitist and out of touch, preferring to be communicated with in a simple language and have their viewpoints validated, no matter how factually inaccurate their viewpoints may be, simply to feel as though their concerns are being heard, something that isn’t felt under the establishment status quo. Twitter’s reply features also allow politicians to attack their opponent without needing to substantiate their counter argument- they can simply call out their adversaries on the basis of scandals, without needing to be educated regarding the nuances of policy or needing to present a superior comparative. Through Twitter, populist politicians are able to cater to the anti-intellectual culture of their follower’s, framing their positions as emotional/identity-based appeals, clear yet devoid of real intellectual substance, in line with people’s preexisting bias towards the intellectual ‘elites’. Twitter’s cooption by populist politicians to promote