Thomas Sowell

I dread the day he dies, for the selfish reason that he is such a valuable voice.

Last week he was on Rush Limbaugh with guest host and fellow economist Walter Williams. It was literally spine tingling. Try to get a tape of those two talking.

As a civilization, we are sooooooo far down the toilet already.

Not ALL intellectuals...
"You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you" Leon Trotsky

when was this done. its like a prophesy on Obama.

tom, the Marxist fellow traveller Liberals think Trotsky and his ideological heirs are just funin us.

Kathy - I'm sure you've seen the Milton Friedman series "Free to Choose" - check for a young, articulate, Thomas Sowell, this is part II of III of the discussion at the end of one episode:

http://tinyurl.com/yb8v9dh

I really like the way he recognizes what is most important for a human being - FREEDOM.

And Francis Fox Piven - blech!

The last 30 seconds are a casual, wonderful exposition on intellectual courage.

I believe we've had such an extended period of peace because of two things

1. Nuclear Arms build-up - preventing major nations from getting too trigger happy (with the side effect of smouldering conflicts characterized by small arms weaponry, eg Africa)

2. Decreased reproduction rate in the Western World, reducing "surplus population" - using the term advisedly. Where would the west be now if there hadn't been the deaths of millions in war since 1914? (Let alone the effects of birth control.)

However, I'm not overly optimistic about the future - because now smaller nations are acquiring nuclear weapons. And, these nations also seem to have a "surplus population".

Those two findings don't point towards stability. There's a reason that wealthy city-states erected walls.

Oh well, at least I'm on the countdown.

Is the word 'Intellectual' derived from 'intelligent' ? As in, 'to be intelligent'?

Intellectual: One who earns a living just by thinking not actually doing anything.

How does one earn the title or the right to be known as an intellectual? By being referred to as such by TV anchors?

Is there such a thing as an Intellectual Degree? Doled out by other University Intellectuals?

Dumblectuals.

ron in kelowna - I'm looking forward to being an "elder". Then anything I say about my spiritual traditions will be written into Canadian law.

If only Thomas Sowell had been the first Black President. It would have been a good thing for all, ALL races.

ron in kelowna, amen e^10. It would have also been a great thing for the world. A true "intellectual", a thinker, a visionary.

Ron

I had this same discussion with my wife regarding "philosophers".

Philosopher: someone who specializes in philosophy.

Of course she was trying to say that her philosopher was better than mine by claiming mine wasn’t a philosopher at all.

There is a reason for the 0.45 calibre in my closet and the bayonet under my pillow...

Anybody visiting my house in the wee hours will get an appropriate reception...

Cheers

Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief

1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North"

You know, the song "One Tin Soldier", where the peaceful mountain people let in the vicious hordes only to get slaughtered? That song at least realistically portrays the outcome for peacelovers who are against war but don't prepare for it. You go extinct. But at least they can look down on them from their high moral ground from six feet under.

Paul Harvey always said "American mothers cannot make enough boy babies to defend this country against the hordes of other armies ready to take us on, and we have to defend ourselves through technology". Thomas Sowell is indeed a national treasure for any country that still values freedom, it would be wise to listen to Sowell and not the morons on the MSM, for they are the intelliduncias of this world!

Intellectuals.....

Everything is realative...

I recall a saying about the East German Police....

They always go in 3's.
1 with the ability to read....
1 with the ability to write....
1 to keep an eye on the 2 intellectuals......

"Let me get you some more ice for your margarita, Señor Trotsky."

I have a feeling I'm being followed. I put he very same interview up on my blog earlier this morning, but from a different source. It's the full thing, which is considerably more easy to view than the short little segments Uncommon Knowledge uses.

Thomas Sowell is one of my heroes. Too bad he's not better known. He's the perfect antidote to the blithering idiots that infest so many of our universities and their mentors like Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn. (Sorry to have to contaminate your comments section with the mention of those two names.)

Paul Johnson (look him up) defines an Intellectual as "someone who cares about ideas more than people". I don't necessarily endorse (I think the guy is erudite but pretty mad), I merely report.

Where is part 5?

Once again SDA has taught me something. Thomas Sowell was not a name I'd recognize before but now I realize that there are "intellectuals" that actually have their feet on the ground and realize that "reality" is not an absurd concept. The man is a delight to listen to. Thanks Kate.

Thomas Sowell is THE best argument available for putting a black man in the White House. If the Republican party had an ounce of brains between them, they'd draft that guy and run him against Barry in 2010.

I mean 2012. D'oh!

But Phantom, even that's hitting it wrong. There doesn't need to be an "argument for putting a black man in the White House". If a black man is the best candidate, run him. Sowell is not a politician; frankly, he's too good for it. Too smart, and not nearly sleazy enough. Barry Obama is/was a politician who was never anything else and isn't up to being President.

To pick an obvious example, was Margaret Thatcher "an argument" for putting a woman in Downing Street? Or was she just awesome?

Serious politics can't be run on pity profiles.

Mamba, please. This is American politics we're talking about here. Its dueling victim groups all the way.

You're just confusing the issue with facts.

Well, scr*w it, I guess. My favorite country might as well be Italy, or Mauritania, or Albania.

But if we've reached that point, who cares who's in the White House, or anywhere else, for that matter?

Exaggerated cynicism is as corrosive as naive optimism, and nowhere near as upbeat.

p.s. every lefty I know who qualifies as "not brain dead" is Mr./Mrs. "Get Real". Cynicism has it's place, but it's not a life philosophy. There's no hope in it.

Black Mamba - I hope you're right, but I doubt it

Just watched another video of Sowell where he made a comment along these lines,

I did not stop being a Marxist after taking a class with Milton Friedman, I stopped being a Marxist after working for the government and seeing how badly they ran things.

And just watched this video of quotes from Sowell,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaouMZGICcc&feature=fvw

Each and everyone of them qualifies for signature block content.

How in the blazes had I never heard of him before?

Erik - "right" about what? Seriously?

If you look in the Uncommon Knowledge archives for July 2009, Dr. Sowell did an excellent 5 part series on the housing crash.

Black Mamba

you hit the nail on the head, there is NO rite or wrong time for a black president, only the best person available, and in the running should get the job.

Thomas Sowell has been a must read for my for a number of years now.

and as to intellectuals, and philosophers, they are fools who can waist an hour of your time saying what a normal person can say in 5 minutes:-)))

Black Mamba - just trying to be funny, and failing miserably, with my comment attempting to reflect "cynicism"

PS GYM 7:26 - that's a very interesting comment and summation!

Erik - Oh, I see, funny ha-ha. Kill my faith in life, why don't you? I don't mind. Very "meta".

GYM - what Erik said.

Glad to be reminded of Mr. Sowell.
Went to the archives on
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/
and will be able to read his columns.

WOW. This guy is brilliant!!!!
***
ps. I also never heard of him before. I am putting his books on my "must read" list.

"When a nation decides that a war is unwinnable, it becomes unwinnable."

MASSIVE parallel to MSM tactics on Afghanistan.

Black Mamba - You're right about those last 30 seconds, it's what you take away with you after watching the piece. Wrong about Paul Johnson, he wrote for years for the Spectator, probably the oldest magazine in the world, not just a great historian and art critic, but one of the most capable users of the English language alive today.

On the matter of British magazines, let it be known that the much hyped Economist is about as left wing as one can get. On Yahoo news tonight they do a number on Harper's prorogation of parliament, like our own media don't do a thorough enough job of criticizing the P.M..

Thomas Sowell is one of my favorite columnists it's cool to see and hear him as I've only seen the little picture that accompanies his columns on townhall. and phantom I agree that since the US was brow beaten into electing a black guy it's too bad it wasn't someone like Sowell instead of the D-Bag they have now...but then again Sowell isn't a race hustling "victim of racist America" and therefore isn't considered a real black person.

He's brilliant but in the least imposing, least flashy way imaginable. He has the unique (for an academic) ability to speak plainly, to be accessible to the "commoners". This reveals a man confident and self assured in his knowledge and understanding.

And you may have noticed how short most of his columns are. I'm always amazed at how much he delivers in so few words, and so directly and simply. You gotta know your stuff to do that!

How wonderful to read thrilled commenters above who didn't know Sowell before this thread. Now that's the blogosphere at its non-pathological best.

God bless Thomas Sowell.

Re: Paul Johnson

For all those who haven't heard of Thomas Sowell - start buying his books, they are a real treasure.
"Basic Ecomonomics" should be mandatory reading before anyone is allowed to vote.
His trilogy on culture is a must read:
Races and Cultures
Migrations and Cultures
Conquests and Cultures
Buy them, read them, and PASS THEM AROUND!
Thanks for the link Kate, haven't seen him for a while.