The problem with having an intellect, is that the sheer nature of rational thought can lead to the disqualification of other people’s thinking.  I haven’t done the research, but I would guess, (rationally), that intellectuals are a product of some combination of nurture and nature.  Certainly, there are those whose draw in the genetic lottery affords them a greater facility for complex reasoning, but without an encouraging or minimally accepting environment that gift could remain unwrapped.  Nevertheless, thinkers, the ones who embrace history and science and fact-based theses are faced with challenging times.   The Alt-Wrong has risen to near equal prominence, not only in the United States, but, increasingly, around the globe.  Perpetrators of radical disenfranchisement, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, the deniers of unconscionable disregard for our shared ecology and the importance of all species to exist within it, hate mongers, greedy opportunists in commerce and religious punditry are rising to powerful stations and are poised to trump, (totally intended), intellect at every turn.  This is where it all goes to shit and uncontrolled chaos ensues.  I’ve spent the last twelve days trying to complete a full calming breath, without whimpering, in an attempt to find a sense of balance.  After all, a truly smart person questions their truths on the journey to empirical satisfaction, right?  One should, at the very least, parse opposing thought to mine any nugget of merit.  So far, I’ve come up empty.  We are watching a runaway train carrying the most heinous choices possible to their seats at a policy table that will fuck up everything good and just.  Oh, and how am I doing?  I am thoughtfully terrified…thanks.