In responding to a letter writer in the latest Commentary, Hillsdale College historian Paul A. Rahe makes an interesting observation about progressives and their “wisdom.” (You’ll find a subscriber link here.)

Let me suggest that what Mr. Zuckerman has to say about the progressives applies to the Marxists as well. Both movements presuppose the existence of an aristocracy uniquelt equipped to govern. The nomenklatura of the old Soviet Union was a privileged ruling class, and the snobbishness of the self-styled progressives in this country is a sign that they entertain similar pretensions. Those within the nomenklatura thought — and our progressives think — that they possess an esoteric wisdom that confers on them the right to rule others with or without their consent.