There is that special group of intellectuals and wannabe intellectuals that crave political power so that they can become social engineers. They are -in my opinion - radicals.
“Whether the conflicts and resentments that exist in every society are peacefully resolved or explode in revolution is largely determined by two factors: the existence of democratic institutions able to redress grievances through legislation and the ability of intellectuals to fan the flames of social discontent for the purpose of gaining power. For it is intellectuals who transmute specific, and therefore remediable, grievances into a wholesale rejection of the status quo. Rebellions happen; revolutions are made.”
The Russian Revolution
Richard Pipes 1990
