Delaware's Long-Standing Conservative Organization
VOLUME 43, ISSUE 2
INSIGHTS
Distributed quarterly by mail and email, the Conservative Caucus of Delaware's newsletter contains relevant information and insights from noted leaders, authoritative stakeholders and like-minded members who demonstrate their passion for the truths we hold dear by putting pen to paper!
Thomas Sowell - A National Treasure
In my early thirties, I happened to cross paths with a small, weekly opinion newspaper called The Conservative Chronicle, which I’m sure I heard about it on the Rush Limbaugh program. This was just before the Internet explosion when people still got their news from the
Mainstream Media.
As I read the opinion pieces authored by various pundits, which included among others, Michelle Malkin, Cal Thomas and Walter Williams, there was one writer who made the biggest impression on me at that time and indeed, right up until today – Dr. Thomas Sowell. Dr. Sowell’s views on how the world works, revealed in simple, easy-to-read opinions, made me want to learn more about him. I discovered his education and background as an economist was solid but that his op-eds were chock full of philosophical messages that rang true to me.
I went to the bookstore (Barnes and Noble back then, no Amazon!) and bought his book Basic Economics – A Common Sense Guide To The Economy. At the time, I was
attending night school then and had just finished my micro and macro economics courses so I was eager to learn more. Dr. Sowell’s book could have been used as a textbook for these courses, not only because they were much more readable than the assigned textbooks, but also because they explained economics more effectively. College economics textbooks are filled with theory and dry statistics, but Dr. Sowell’s book was full of stories from everyday life that illustrate how policy from the various levels of government try to confound economic realities and, in most cases, fail to achieve the goals of the policy.
In this book, Dr. Sowell reviews topics such as: Prices and Markets, Industry and Commerce, Work and Pay, Time and Risk, “Special Economic Issues.” He has great sections such as “Myths About Markets, Non-Economic Values” and in his section about the international economy, he spends time discussing the theory and reality of international trade, transfers of wealth, the true meaning and usage of trade deficits and many more topics, in a way that made it meaningful to a non-economist (i.e., me). Even if you are not an economic expert, it is great reading.
In my opinion, Dr. Sowell’s greatest work of Philosophy, is A Conflict Of Visions – Ideological Origins Of Political Struggles.
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In my own words, this book explains how the political parties and philosophies that exist today are based on social visions that have been with us since the dawn of civilization.
His book explains how people have different visions of how the world works. He writes that “It would be good to be able to say that we should dispense with visions entirely and deal only with reality. But that is the most utopian vision of all. Reality is far too complex to be comprehended by any given mind.”
The crux of this book is that there are two competing visions of the nature of man: The constrained vision and the unconstrained vision. The constrained vision of the nature of man posits that man has moral limitations. An example of this vision can be found in Adam Smith’s work Theory Of Moral Sentiments, written in 1759. Smith suggests that if an earthquake
swallowed up China today and every single person disappeared, a man in England, upon hearing this news, would lament for the loss of life and at night, before he falls asleep, he will wonder about the impact of this loss on the future of the world. But then he will sleep well and go to work as usual the next day. He will realize that there is nothing that he can do about it so he will have to go to work as usual.
The unconstrained vision of the nature of man posits that people are capable of being perfected and that man can be “improved,” meaning that even though man can never really be perfect, it is the role of the species to grow nearer and nearer to perfection. Of course, the everyday working men and women do not realize that the need to move closer and closer to perfection. They need to be told that, or they need to be moved in that direction by someone who does know it. Guess who that would be? Take a step back from this discussion and ask yourself: which part of the political spectrum wants to let you alone to figure life out for yourself and which part wants to change your behavior? Of course, Dr. Sowell presents a great deal of evidence-based detail to make these points and as I could never hope to be as eloquent as he is, I suggest that you consider getting a copy of his book and reading it for yourself.
Dr. Sowell has authored numerous books, which are so well researched, and well written, that he should be
considered one of the pre-eminent American philosophers and economists in our history. In my opinion, all of his books are worth reading (and I have them on my shelf!). The following is a brief list of what I’d call the Thomas Sowell primer:
Intellectuals and Society: Defines “Intellectuals” as people whose stock in trade are ideas, not results. The
influence of intellectuals is not only greater than in previous eras but also takes a very different form from that
envisioned by those like Niccolo Machiavelli and others who have wanted to directly influence rulers. One of the most surprising aspects of his study is how often intellectuals have been proved not only wrong, but grossly and disastrously wrong in their prescriptions for the ills of society—and how little their views have changed in response to empirical evidence of the disasters entailed by those views.
The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy: Dr. Sowell presents a devastating critique of the mind-set behind the failed social policies of the past 30 years. Dr. Sowell sees what has happened during that time not as a series of isolated mistakes, but also as a logical consequence of a tainted vision whose defects have led to crises in education, crime, and family dynamics, and to other social pathologies. In this book, he describes how elites have replaced facts and rational thinking with rhetorical assertions, thereby altering the course of our social policy.
The 13-page essay, “Trickle Down Theory” and “Tax Cuts for the Rich:” This essay unscrambles gross misconceptions that have made rational debates about tax policies virtually impossible for decades.
The next suggestion is a short memoir by Dr. Sowell that provides a look into his life and influences. A Personal Odyssey: This is the gritty story of one man's lifelong education in the school of hard knocks, as his journey took him from Harlem to the Marines, to the Ivy League, and a career as a “controversial” writer, teacher, and economist in government and private industry. It is also the story of the dramatically changing times in which this personal odyssey took place.
Dr. Sowell was born in 1930 and will turn 95 years old on June 30th. He is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and has received the National Humanities Medal from President George W. Bush in 2002. Read his books, commentaries and op-eds and you will know why I believe Dr. Sowell is a national treasure! ■
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