Theodore Dalrymple:Proletarianised Bohemian Intelligentsia

The proletarianised bohemian intelligentsia

Imagining it has a divine spark (as opposed to what it thinks of as the bovine self-contentment of the bourgeois), the proletarianised bohemian intelligentsia

• claims political allegiance with the proletariat
• pretends to some of the tastes of the proletariat, for example that for association football
• has a bohemian lifestyle and at the same time claims the economic advantages and privileges of a bourgeoisie

The proletarianised bohemian intelligentsia is the enemy, writes Dalrymple, of

thrift, honesty, reliability, respectability, solidity, respect for learning, willingness to postpone gratification and politeness.