Video: Thomas Sowell - Cultural Prerequisites for Developing Wealth

Thomas Sowell has a relatively new book out now called “Wealth, Poverty and Politics, An International Perspective.”

See the image for the book below.

Again that's  “Wealth, Poverty and Politics, An International Perspective" available on Amazon.

Video: The Real History Of Slavery

One of the most profound points that Thomas Sowell makes is that those who cry the loudest about Euro-centric oppression of black Africans in fact have a Euro-centric view of the institution of slavery...for who would intentionally downplay the history of slavery?

He frames it much more clearly than I do above.

But the basic idea is that slavery existed far longer than emphasized. It has also affected more people -- whites -- than emphasized.

In an interview, Sowell points out that slavery exists as long as we have ancient documents. But that's only true if you discount the Holy Bible as a reliable historical document, which it is.

He also points out that very conservative religious people dreamed up the idea of ending slavery, people whom he says are the equivalent to today's "religious right." As he immediately says after pointing out that fact, that's very "politically incorrect."

He also points out that it took 18 centuries after the Lord Jesus Christ's Sermon on the Mount to abolish slavery.

Pick up his book "Black Rednecks and White Liberals"  from Amazon to read Sowell's unique insights on race.

Treating Human Beings as Livestock

An excerpt from Thomas Sowell's column "Race, Politics and Lies":

You cannot take any people, of any color, and exempt them from the requirements of civilization — including work, behavioral standards, personal responsibility and all the other basic things that the clever intelligentsia disdain — without ruinous consequences to them and to society at large. Non-judgmental subsidies of counterproductive lifestyles are treating people as if they were livestock, to be fed and tended by others in a welfare state — and yet expecting them to develop as human beings have developed when facing the challenges of life themselves.

Gun Control Advocates' Ignorance of Russia, Mexico, and Brazil's Higher Murder Rates

Gun control zealots' choice of Britain for comparison with the United States has been wholly tendentious, not only because it ignored the history of the two countries, but also because it ignored other countries with stronger gun control laws than the United States, such as Russia, Brazil and Mexico. All of these countries have higher murder rates than the United States.

Thomas Sowell, Invincible Ignorance 

Thomas Sowell on the "Talented Phony" Barack Obama

Via Creators.com:

Like other truly talented phonies, Barack Obama concentrates his skills on the effect of his words on other people — most of whom do not have the time to become knowledgeable about the things he is talking about. Whether what he says bears any relationship to the facts is politically irrelevant. 

A talented con man, or a slick politician, does not waste his time trying to convince knowledgeable skeptics. His job is to keep the true believers believing. He is not going to convince the others anyway.

An Excerpt from Thomas Sowell: The Economics of Medical Care

The Economics of Medical Care || Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell on What Fascists, Socialists, and Leftists Have In Common

What socialism, fascism and other ideologies of the left have in common is an assumption that some very wise people — like themselves — need to take decisions out of the hands of lesser people, like the rest of us, and impose those decisions by government fiat.

Thomas Sowell, Socialist or Fascist?

Video: Thomas Sowell on the second edition of Intellectuals and Society

Conservative Heavyweights William F. Buckley, Thomas Sowell, and Walter Williams are against the Drug War

William F. Buckley, pretty much the founder of the conservative movement, spoke about "emancipating ourselves from the superstition that that which is legal is for that reason something we approve of" in a 1988 ABC TV special, publicly debated liberal Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) in 1991 on drug legalization, then he argued before the New York Bar Association in favor of drug legalization, and then again in 2004 wrote for the National Review on marijuana legalization.

We have, at the very least, a span of 16 years of Mr. Buckley on record questioning the status quo in regards to the drug war.

Thomas Sowell, no conservative lightweight and quite the opposite, has argued in favor of drug legalization.

And finally, Walter Williams, another conservative intellectual, has argued in favor of the very same thing in The Freeman magazine.

All of these men are conservative giants.

And while people tend to place Thomas Sowell (he called himself a libertarian in a Salon interview) and Walter Williams (he said he's a Jeffersonian Liberal) in the libertarian tradition, which may be rightly deserved, no one can say that William F. Buckley is a libertarian (Well, except for Buckley himself).

*Skim over sentences for sources

Video: Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell on Poverty

This is the video I was referring to in the second paragraph of this blog post.

Thomas Sowell on the Media's Love Affair with Big Government

Government intervention may look good to the media but its actual track record — both today and in the 1930s — is far worse than the track record of letting the economy recover on its own.

Thomas Sowell, An Unusual Economy?

Thomas Sowell on Liberal Thinking

“Liberals seem to assume that, if you don't believe in their particular political solutions, then you don't really care about the people that they claim to want to help”

Thomas Sowell, Think Exist

Sowell on the heart of the debt-ceiling issue

Regardless of what it is supposed to do, what the national debt-ceiling actually does is enable any administration to get all the political benefits of runaway spending for the benefit of their favorite constituencies — and then invite the opposition party to share the blame, by either raising the national debt ceiling, or by voting for unpopular cutbacks in spending or increases in taxes.

Thomas Sowell, Debt-ceiling Chicken

Sowell: Judge policies by what they do, not what they intend

Too many policies, programs and institutions are judged by what they are supposed to do, rather than by what they actually do and the consequences of their actions.

Thomas Sowell, Debt-Ceiling Chicken

Thomas Sowell asks: Is Democracy Viable?

Is it?

Free and democratic societies have existed for a relatively short time, as history is measured — and their staying power has always been open to question. So much depends on the wisdom of the voters that the franchise was always limited, in one way or another, so that voting would be confined to those with a stake in the viability and progress of the country, and the knowledge to cast their vote intelligently.

Thomas Sowell, Is Democracy Viable?

Thomas Sowell on "Millionaires and Billionaires"

President Barack Obama's constant talk about "millionaires and billionaires" needing to pay higher taxes would be a bad joke, if the consequences were not so serious. Even if the income tax rate were raised to 100 percent on millionaires and billionaires, it would still not cover the trillions of dollars the government is spending.

Thomas Sowell, Slaves to Words

Thomas Sowell on the Question of the Millennium

"Why are politicians so focused on one set of people, at the expense of other people? Because “saving” one set of people increases the chances of getting those people’s votes." Thomas Sowell, 'Saving' the Housing Market

Don't 'Save' The Housing Market

Thomas Sowell explains the fallacy of the seen and the unseen in the effort to "save" particular people with prospects of home foreclosure:

We hear sad stories about people whose homes are “underwater” or who are facing foreclosure. But why should our attention be arbitrarily focused on these particular people, rather than on the many other people who would benefit from being able to buy those same houses at lower prices? The government is artificially keeping the prices up with subsidies and with pressures on lenders to accommodate the current occupants.

I have felt this and have been saying this for quite some time in other areas. Read the rest of the article here.

Tax Cut Clarity

Thomas Sowell recently debunked the current rhetoric of the Bush Tax cut debate. I always knew there was something fishy going on.

Here are the key points:

1)

Let's face it, politics is largely the art of deception, and political rhetoric is largely the art of misstating issues. A classic example is the current debate over whether to give money to the unemployed by extending how long unemployment benefits will be provided, or instead to give "tax cuts to the rich."

2)

Not only are the so-called "tax cuts" not really tax cuts, most of the people called "rich" are not really rich. Rich means having a lot of wealth. But income taxes don't touch wealth. No wonder some billionaires are saying it's OK to raise income taxes. They would still be billionaires if taxes took 100 percent of their current income.

3)

It also takes a lot of brass to talk about taxing "millionaires and billionaires" when most of the people whose taxes the liberals want to raise are neither. Why is so much deception necessary, if your case is good?

4)

Another fashionable political and media deception is making a parallel between giving money to the unemployed versus giving money to "the rich."

When you refrain from raising someone's taxes, you are not "giving" them anything. Even if you were actually cutting their tax rate – which is out of the question today – you would still not be "giving" them anything, but only allowing them to keep more of what they have earned.

Read the rest here.

Thomas Sowell on Congressional 'Gridlock'

The party not in power always complains that they "won't be able to get anything done" because of so-called 'grid-lock'. This has been the fear of Democrats pre-November elections and after; they fear that the "Party of No" will block everything the President and the Democratic party want to do. (Who says these are good ideas anyway?)

But, as Thomas Sowell notes, gridlock is what prevents the worst possible bills from coming into existence. Well, except for Obamacare. You know, the bill that regulates things that has absolutely nothing to do with health care at all (I'm thinking of the regulation on gold. Why Gold? Why in a health care bill?)

Other conservative commentators have noted that our "founders" did not want an "efficient" government. They wanted a government with a little gridlock so that government could not rapidly expand. Nevertheless, pundits complain.

Thomas Sowell gives a history lesson on Congressional 'Gridlock'. Read on.