GM 24 September, Jürgen Habermas & George Wallace.

As a result, the distance grows between the culture of the experts and that of the larger public. Modernity – An Incomplete Project, Jürgen Habermas. 103

Habermas’ statement reminds me of former Alabama governor and presidential candidate George Wallace’s comment, “an expert is someone from out of town, wearing a thin tie; carrying a briefcase.” Wallace made that comment in the 1960’s and in connection with state’s rights, segregation, and what he perceived as federal government meddling in Alabama politics.
Looking at the “culture of experts” today, Wallace would have a field day. When I was a child, my parents made sure that my brother, sister, and I all went to the dentist several times a year for check ups. We all had cavities, my sister had braces, and I had wisdom teeth removed; all done by the same dentist. Today, there are specialists, with special fees I might add, for each step that was once handled by one dentist. Root canal work alone is a separate and big business and crowns, I don’t even want to talk about crowns. The costs have become so high that I’m no of several people who have actually left the country, usually in an eastern European country or India, to have dental work done, all by the dentist. This sounds extreme but I think it’s an extreme example of shortening the “distance…between the culture of the experts and that of the larger public.”
You can see this “distance” in all areas of our culture throughout the entire medical field. The legal field is another area, for example, where specialization in ones field is the typical. New law school students enter first year law school already knowing what area of law they intend to practice in: criminal, corporate, government, federal, state, or international law. I see the “distance” growing only larger and larger.