It’s not “intellectually inaccurate,” it’s the Marxist understanding of class. The vanguard do not form a second class, they are of the proletariat (and peasantry, if applicable). Administration is not a class, but a type of labor that is necessary for production and distribution. The leaders of the Cuban, Korean, Russian, Chinese, etc. were proletarian intellectuals. Intellectuals are not a class of their own, they are a subcategory of every class, and the job of the political party is to create intellectuals and bring that class up to the level of the intellectuals in terms of thought.

Further, the masses are not stupid. Blaming individuals for systemic exploitation is extremely classist. The idea that there is no wisdom in the people, and that they instead are helpless to fall for whoever speaks to them most convincingly is absurd and ahistorical. Political parties do not command the people, the people command the parties, and the parties are there to guide the people. All legitimacy for the vanguard comes from its direct connection with the masses.