Intellectuals choose correctness over consensus

Related to Identity, IQ, and Incoherence of the Alt-Right

Intellectuals care more about correctness (or what they perceive as being correct) than consensus; for collectivist and identity-driven movements, it’s reversed. For example, Francis Fukuyama, considered one of the intellectual ‘founders’ of neoconservatism, went from in 2001 ‘co-signing William Kristol’s September 20, 2001 letter to President George W. Bush to “capture or kill Osama bin Laden”, but also embark upon “a determined effort to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq”‘ to, just two years later, demanding Rumsfeld’s resignation. Fukuyama signed a similar letter in 1998 directed at Bill Clinton. Although the subsequent deterioration and financial cost of the occupation vindicated Fukuyama, such an abrupt about-face after only two years did reek of perfidy and betrayal. Not surprisingly, Fukuyama and Kristol are no longer close friends.