As Gerard Henderson articulates, for our leadership to have policies, thoughts and ideas that challenge the bien-pensant opinion led by Australia's culturati lieutenants is akin to swimming outside the flags. In a parody of Australians, Playwright Williamson turns his attention away from our leaders and towards the canaille. It is the Smith family, Julie, Barry and their uncontrollable offspring Rodney and Maddison that irritates Mr Williamson.

You are correct Mr Williamson; some Australians are shallow. But these same people who worry about the size of their plasma screens also kick the can when asked to dig deep (again?).

Mr Williamson, why not make a burlesque of the arts community? The constellation of characters could be drawn from: the director of an art gallery who invites us to stare and marvel at a very expensive large canvas finished in white (do you think the money might have been better spent on the poor Mr Williamson?); an 'artist' who hides items of varying value in different locations that conveys the theme 'treasure is where you find it'; and as a backdrop, 40 elm trees in Yarra Park painted in blue to reflect our sad mood (at a reported cost of $96,000). Just imagine $96,000 being given to a soup kitchen. Yes, I too find the that thought disturbing.

If we emptied out the world's art galleries and converted all art objects into cash I'm sure we could rid the world of poverty. What a novel idea.

Mr Henderson, it should read so-called intellectuals.

I don't want to defend David Williamson's words because I haven't seen his play and I don't agree with eveything he's said in the past.
But if, as you say, "Australia was relatively well governed before, during and after World War II." and, by implication, we haven't had decent government since, and the intelligentsia, for all their failings, are feeling deeply alienated, then what chance that the majority is right?
Or do you believe that the majority is always right?

Well done on a good informed article.Without Intellectual Discipline, we are a cooked goose that is why we have slid into the abyss, not all the way but close to the edge.
If our intellectual leaders are fantasizing about some concocted idiosyncrasies they possess and flirt more with positioning than profession, we need to weed them out of the tax trough a make them earn their money, they might just drop this Idea of Communism of the Intellectuals and hit mother earth once more, “The real World”. One can not argue the existence of the hoards of DhP’s and a rarer moment of an actual PhD of meaning. Epistemology has gone up the shoot in favour of Agitprop. Hoards of Elitist self serving Grubb’s. We want our real Intellectuals back, our real epistemologically advanced professionals. The ones that give Civilization direction in Philosophy and real explanations of what is and what is not.
Hello, anybody out there. We need Help.

I have always wondered why “intellectuals” in every western country have such an all consuming hatred of their own culture and their own people. I can only surmise that it is some sort of fashion statement.

Fashion is merely indicated social aspiration, and of all the people in society, “intellectuals” appear to be the ones most caught up in a panic about what their social position is. In the past, society was pyramid shaped, with the majority of people on the bottom and a few fat cats at the top. But today, society is more egg shaped. The top is more rounded because of separations of power, while the people who may once have been at the bottom now reside in the lower middle.

But where “intellectuals” sit in the egg, nobody really knows. Some “intellectuals” like Wiliamson are doing very well and live at the top, while others work for wages in humble government departments, or are alternative lifestylers and professional social welfare recipients.

The usual rules economic social positioning, they vehemently claim, do not apply to them. Because if they did, they would all be classed as either bourgeoisie middle class, working class or disadvantaged class. Such an idea strikes them all with horror. What is worse, is that many working class people have wage scales significantly higher than the majority of “intellectuals”, hence the utter detestation of Williamson towards “Howard’s aspirational voters.” Thus his “ship of fools” rant is primarily a means of displaying class solidarity towards those within his unsuccesful "creative" caste.

But whether they are rich or poor, it is their anti everything attitudes and political commitment which sets them apart from the rest of society. They just love to play the champions of morality and consider their own opinions as the epitome of intellectual enlightenment. The only problem with this attitude is, that the “angry young men” have always had the uncanny knack of backing the wrong political or social horse. Whether the cause be Socialism, Independence for African countries, Multiculturalism, or aboriginal self deturmination, eveything that they endorsed has been an utter catastrophe.

It is the intellectuals who have, in the last 30 years, displayed their absolute lack of intelligence to the point of stupidity.
Everything and anything was OK, providing it was not white, not Australian. There has been an intense cultural cringe that showed such a loathing for the population of Australia that it verges on insanity.
Thus we have multiculture. An insane idea that could only hatch in a lunatic mind.
And carried out by those who should be inmates of an asylum.