On one hand I don’t want to underestimate them. Intelligence is contextual and the skills required to assert dominance and consolidate power don’t have a ton of overlap with the traditional definition involving literacy, math, spacial reasoning, etc. People have been successful at amassing massive amounts of influence while battling substance addiction or late-stage syphilis. And even someone who’s bad at retaining power is dangerous if you give them enough power right out the gate. And there’s also the issue of people accusing evil people of stupidity in order to rob them of their autonomy, which is an inherently ableist premise.

On the other hand, yeah, the owning class is full of idiots who have no idea what makes the world spin and believe their own propaganda.