The Intellectuals in the Reichstag Elections

If one wants to answer the question of whether and on which side the intellectuals are interested in the Reichstag election, just as in any political event whatsoever, then one must self-evidently first of all explain what one means by intellectuals. It is immediately clear that the description intellectuals cannot be a general predicate for the possession of certain mental faculties, as for example is the description the educated [Gebildete]. There are very many educated people whom nobody will describe as intellectuals, and who would also reject such a description of themselves. Many a factory-owner, trader, agriculturalist, plant boss, or wage-labourer can hold their own in their experience and keenness of mind [Scharfsinn] with many an academic, but they will not, as conscious as they might be of this fact, for that reason already deny them the name intellectuals. Conversely, it is doubtful whether academic education per se and only academic education makes an intellectual. In modern times, in industry as well as in commerce, one increasingly comes across people with an academic education, some in the uppermost positions, others—and these are the majority—as more-or-less subordinate officials [Beamte].