Intellectuals will never accept: visceral hatred for capitalism stems from the frustration of feeling irrelevant.

Bertrand de Jouvenel understood something that many intellectuals will never accept: visceral hatred for capitalism stems from the frustration of feeling irrelevant.

Why do they hate capitalism so much? Because it reveals their lack of utility.

They cannot stand the idea that someone without academic titles, who hasn’t read Marx, and using “the wrong tools,” like selling tacos, can earn more than them. They live in the fantasy that society owes them reverence and resources simply because of their studies and supposed “intellectual contributions,” ignoring that the market has no interest in their empty speeches or careers without real demand.

In a free-market system, intellectuals do not have the power to shape society to their will. Capitalism rewards the ability to meet the needs of others, something beyond the control of the so-called “experts,” who, from their ivory towers, want to impose their worldview.

This frustration is what drives many of them to fiercely defend the idea of living off the state. The state, unlike the market, is not based on people’s voluntary choice but on the coercive power to take money from people and give it to those who have not been able to generate value on their own. Instead of adapting to market reality, they prefer a structure where citizens, whether they like it or not, are forced to finance their irrelevance.

So let’s not fool ourselves. Intellectuals do not hate capitalism because they believe it “exploits the poor” or “destroys the planet.” They hate it because it does not grant them the power they desire. They prefer a system of central planning where they can impose themselves