A feather upon the breath of God

Watched Amadeus last night, which aside from putting "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" running through my head for the next weeks has got me thinking about wasted genius.

A british magazine focus, has been running a poll amongst it's readers to find out who the most important intellectual of the twentieth century is. The list is very post 1950 heavy, with people like Chomsky, and the canadian Ondaatje (Naomi Klein?!) as well.

This has me thinking, who is the most important intellectual alive right now, what writer makes me pause and rethink my perspective of the world. Certainly there are reporters out there who make me pause, Seymour Hersh comes to mind. Paul Krugman used to make me think until the recent correction fiasco in the New York Times.

Since the late eighties, early nineties, there has been an intellectual backlash. This is most common in our political arena, we seem hellbent for leather to make sure the politicians we elect are "just like us" and not too smart. This is certainly evident in the US house or representative, a little less so in the Senate. In Canada, we have a smattering of people who can hold their own in a battle of wits. At the risk of perpetuating stereotypes, these people tend to be on the left side of the chamber.