Wright explained radical intellectuals as jealous aspirants to power

Evidence

Still, in this his most devastating criticism of Communism, Wright was relying on a notion of class struggle: … These men who rise to challenge the rulers are jealous men. They feel that they are just as good as the men who rule; indeed, they suspect that they are better. They see the countless mistakes that are being made by the men who rule and they think that they could do a more honest, a much cleaner job, a more efficient job. — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1412