It is a crystal clear fact that throughout the decades the intellectuals and writers have not been given the position and the status they deserve. We hear that during the monarchies and aristocratic regimes the poets and writers were given rewards and presents but they were mostly to display the grandeur of the kings and the rulers and to pay for the excessive praise they would receive in the works of those poets and writers, not to pay them what they deserved as the reward for their work on truth and reality.
It can be observed in our society that the values of the commodities are gauged as per their appearance and external worth; people only see the material benefits they can gain from them. And they seem to be very hasty in order to gain such benefits. In such a scenario it is really difficult for them to develop any sort of interest for poetic thoughts and philosophical discussions. If they have the authority, they will definitely declare thinking and curiosity to learn as crimes – crimes that have no other punishment except death. It has to happen in a society where, though, philosophy and literature have some sort of respect but they do not have the capacity to fulfill the requirements of the society. It is claimed that they have neither cured any sick person, nor have given food to the poor; however, they themselves have been convicted and punished and given a poison to drink; therefore, they try to remain silent.
In the modern technological and scientific world, people do not find any achievement of philosophy and literature, as they are not directly involved in inventions and discoveries. They do not seem to need any poet or philosopher in their routines and daily activities; therefore, it is not possible for them to realize their importance and their status.
However, this sort of thinking is not only business-oriented but at the same time it is logically incorrect. If everything in the society is measured as per their capacity to fulfill the temporary material benefit, the whole system of the society would collapse and the whole world would become nothing else except a market, where people can only sell and buy commodities. Though, the world has almost been turned into a market, there is still some respect for values and ethics, which can be a ray of hope in complete darkness.
The most tragic and unfortunate aspect of this sort of thinking is that it does not try to see the actual reasons of the incidents and happenings. The whole society, based on the same sort of thinking, starts accepting the material advancements as miracles and tends to neglect all those pillars on which the building of all these advancements is placed. If the modern technological and scientific era is analyzed, there would be few ideas of some thinkers and few thoughts of certain intellectuals and today’s materialistic advancement is based on the same ideas and thoughts.
It has to be understood that the material advancement itself is not an achievement; rather it is a source to satiate the psychological and spiritual thirst. While, the wisdom and the experience, which are shared through philosophy and literature, are the real achievements – thereal creativity of human capacities. And, on the other hand the attitude of the society towards such wisdom and experience is nothing more than a bad joke.  And a bad joke can never be considered a solution to the issues and problems of life.
Our society really needs intellectuals. It is really weird to note that the intellectuals are totally dependent on society and their favors, whereas, the society should depend on them and seek their favors for proper guidance. If there is any relation between the real beauty in nature and the society, it is because of the intellectuals. If there is no intellectual in a society, such a society is really orphan, as far as aesthetic sense and spiritual guidance is concerned. It is really important that in a society the intellectuals must have the authority to set the standards; only then the society can have balanced development and advancement. The advancement then would not be limited only to the materialistic aspects but would also include the emotional and the aesthetic aspects of life.
Nonetheless, it is also important to understand: “Who are the real intellectuals?”
Every profession needs some sort of practice and hard work. Even a beggar has to practice and then he is able to earn money; otherwise, he won’t be able to earn even a penny.  However, our poets can be the authors of tens of books and poetry collections without even reading a single book. With such a scenario how would it be possible to face the society and ask for reputation, respect and proper status? Yes, it is a fact that the intellectuals and writers must have the most reputable status in the society; however, have they really fulfilled the requirements of being the real intellectuals and have they proved themselves deserving enough for such elevated position?