Sowell's review of Liberal Fascism reminds me of a section in Mark Mazower's "The Dark Continent" which notes that govt first became involved in the health care business during the 1920s. Why?

Since eugenics was all the rage back then and the social planners believed in the "perfectability of man." In its most benign form, public health care meant fountains, swimming pools in cities, and social workers. Its most troubling form of course, was the euthanasization of the handicapped and eventually the Holocaust - facilitated by an ever-expanding, value-neutral, and soul-destroying bureaucracy.

Let us not forget - the Nazis were also known as National Socialists.

uhm, because he'd blow their cover?

kate !....sowell in the second essay mentions your 'application of unworkable solutions to imaginary ills.."...or whatever you said somewhere...

Bravo, Thomas Sowell! Now, IF, unlikely as it would be, he were the architect of a black school—I’m sure he’d deep six the “Afrocentric” misnomer—I’d support it in a flash. (With someone like Sowell in charge, he’d even let a teacher—white, like I am—teach in his school. That would be an honour and a privilege.)

In fact, the kind of school he’d promote is just the kind of no-nonsense, no dumbing down, “Eurocentric” academic standards institution that he and I experienced when we were in school. I use such an approach with my disadvantaged black students: it works. The “soft racism of lowered expectations”, the model favoured by Canada’s Charter-besotted and Charter-whipped educational bureaucrats doesn’t. In fact, their moth-hole ridden, impostor model has proven to be an utter disaster. It doesn’t help black—or, for that matter, struggling white—students: it almost ensures their continued failure.

My heart sang when Sowell quoted a principal who was willing to make tough decisions: “Won’t you get a lot of flack?” asked Sowell. His reply was: “You just take the flack.” Sowell then said, “That is not an attitude you find among most public school administrators.” You can say that again.

When will we ever learn?

Or the brilliant economist, syndicated columnist and author, Dr. Walter Williams.

http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/wew/

I've always enjoyed Sowell's writing -- several of his books have strongly influenced my views. He writes with a simplicity and clarity which lies in stark contrast to the tedious byzantine doublespeak of most leftists. If I had school-aged children and he were principal of a school, I'd do whatever it took to get them into it. The kids would be greatly advantaged studying under this great mind.

Can anyone give me an answer. The average Canadian says we live in a democracy. This is what I see.

Our media is controlled by a few hands- you ask for proof - sponsorship scandle-an honest beuracrat exposed it no media investigation

We host the olympics the US media uncovers that Canada was cheated out of a medal?

Sheila Fraser says the the senior mounties stole their pension

Junior mounties complain their investigation into the mob comtrol of our ports was blocked -some had to go witness protection

Cop stopped a car found 70 kl of cocaine. Cop lied to court etc...Supremes said protection of society was more important than constitution ????

So unelected people choose which laws they will follow.

What drives me nuts is the average Canadian isnt screaming

P.S. The kind of school Sowell and I would support would, in fact, be colour blind. It would provide, for ALL students, both a rigorous curriculum—narrow and deep for early learners so they can MASTER the basics—and high behavioural expectations, with real consequences for infractions, flack be damned. In a nutshell, that’s all that’s needed. (Assuming we could get the Charter off our backs.)

If, as we used to, we had administrators and teachers of character, dedicated to the behavioural and academic excellence of the students in their charge—forget all the big $$ and utopian interventions—all of our students would benefit.

And so would the rest of us.

Thomas Sowell would never get elected of anything - he makes far too much sense and would step on far too many toes.

Taboo is not a word in his vocabulary.

Hey lefties, read this and comprehend

"""""Isn’t it a shame that blacks don’t have enough money to be able to hire attorneys to go over into white neighborhoods and create lawsuits to keep white hoodlums in school, so that the people at Stanford and similar places could understand the consequences of what they are doing?""""""

Lookout

your lucky you never had me in your class

you'd still be pulling your hair out:-))))))

I wonder what Thomas Sowell must think about Barrack Obama? Does he see him as a clever student that just never had the right teachers or just a wonderful ham actor that could impress people without ever having an idea in his head?

GYM, I'm sure we'd have reached a mutually agreeable accommodation!

This guy is equally impressive:

http://www.allenwestforcongress.com/

Dean Barnett interviewed him on Hugh hewitt last week. Makes Obama look like he has the maturity of a teenager.

Before we have T. Sowell comment on B. Obama lets wait till Barrack says something besides 'Save The World'... 'Peace on Earth'... 'Yes We Can'...

perkunas, the average canadian is a socialist idiot and are more than willing to throw away any and all freedom that we have. look around you.

old white guy @ 8:20, wrote, “perkunas, the average canadian is a socialist idiot and are more than willing to throw away any and all freedom that we have. look around you.”

Too true and so sad. A good friend of mine, an intelligent person of integrity, whom I highly respect, a person sitting very pretty financially, recently outed herself, at my dining room table, as a Liberal!

1) She thinks Jim Flaherty’s present “troubles” over $120 000 are absolutely on a par with the Liberals’ decades of mafia-style corruption and graft—of which she’s probably quite ignorant (she reads The Star). 2) She positively likes the idea of Justin Trudeau “saving” the Liberal brand, and 3) she was unaware that Liberal underfunding of the military, done before they sent our troops to Afghanistan, has anything to do with our casualties, which 4) this person thinks are too high. 5) When I said that the helicopters, cancelled by Chretien, could have reduced our casualties, she looked absolutely blank. She was probably unaware of the helicopter cancellation fiasco—which cost the taxpayer $ mega millions for nothing. 6) She couldn’t figure out, either, how helicopters would reduce casualties. The light dawned when it was pointed out that, if our troops are able to go from A to B, flying ABOVE land mines and roadside ambushes, such travels would be much safer. All of this occurred in a matter of 5 minutes! Of course, the context was that Conservatives and Harper are “scary”.

What’s really scary is not the Harper Conservatives—IMO, the best thing, politically, to happen in Canada in decades—but the gullability of this, apparently intelligent, useful idiot, who has a responsibility to be better informed and use her God given intellect to THINK, rather than fall for mindless, left-wing propaganda, the default position of all Canada’s poisonous elites. My very high regard for this person has slipped. (Being a sucker for “equality” over facts and substance, I dare say her regard for me has suffered a similar fate.)

And, as expressed in one of the letters in support of Kate’s National Post article, who’s the person likely not to be invited to the next dinner party?

So, what else is new? From 2 Timothy 4:3—that would be from the Bible, New Testament—“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires”. Too true. How about this motto for “progressive” Canada?

“FEELINGS—OVER INTEGRITY, FACTS, COMMON SENSE, AND SOUND ANALYSIS—R US”.

Kyrie eleison.

Thomas Sowell's writings have sustained me for many years -- not sure I could have made it through the Chretien/Martin years without them.

For those interested in learning more about this brilliant economist's thoughts, you can find an archive of his columns, dating back 8 years, at this site:

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell1.asp

Enjoy.

"Our media is controlled by a few hands- you ask for proof - sponsorship scandle-an honest beuracrat exposed it no media investigation"

So true. But at least they re even handed about it. Not hearing much about the Mulroney Airbus scandal - its getting a lot more coverage in Germany than it is in Canada.

"perkunas, the average canadian is a socialist idiot and are more than willing to throw away any and all freedom that we have. look around you."

And here I was under the impression that Liberals were the ones who thought they knew best. Guess you know better eh, old white guy?

I dont get the complaining syndrome. Either participate in the political process or stop whining about how democratic. Ever considered running for office old white guy? Even as an independent. Nothing stopping you. Well, apart from the fact htat you think that average Canadians are socialist idiots.

Every democratic country has its ills. Which country do you honestly believe is flawless? Sure Canada's got a couple of problems here and there, but which country doesnt? And if you're so hassled by it and not inclined enough to do anything about it through the political process, then stuff it. Or move out. Plenty of countries on this planet.

"Too true and so sad. A good friend of mine, an intelligent person of integrity, whom I highly respect, a person sitting very pretty financially, recently outed herself, at my dining room table, as a Liberal!"

A person with views different from yours???? Thats a crying shame. I mean all Canadians should know that the views of lookout reign supreme. How can an intelligent person of integrity and respectability (and who apaprently earned some money - dont know what that has to do with anything) does not think like lookout does. By golly. Left wingers are all about conformity. Like lookout.

"but the gullability of this, apparently intelligent, useful idiot, who has a responsibility to be better informed and use her God given intellect to THINK, rather than fall for mindless, left-wing propaganda, the default position of all Canada’s poisonous elites. My very high regard for this person has slipped."

All I can say is Thank God Canada is a democracy, and that you, lookout, are not in power.

Its too bad not all of us are as acutely brilliant as lookout, who as you know would be a sureshot for PM if he ran for the position, because, well, he doesnt fall for leftist propaganda.

Its too bad he hasnt mentioned whether he does or does not fall for right wing propaganda.

"“FEELINGS—OVER INTEGRITY, FACTS, COMMON SENSE, AND SOUND ANALYSIS—R US”."

But not you apparently. You are ostensibly open-minded enough to not fall for a certain kind of propaganda. But not open-minded enough to respect someone who disagrees within the rules of the game. I think by not inviting her ever again, feelings have overcome your own integrity.

You accuse lefties of being elitists, but dont you think your entire attitude is elitist - I mean th eone thing that is clear is that you, apparenlty, know best. Anybody who disagrees is wrong, and an insult to the country.

Heh!!! I luv Thomas Sowell. Got lots of his books. Great man with a great mind. I love how he skewers leftie group think and leaves it shattered on the floor.

And Shelby Steele.

Sput[tering], you attempt to make me look petty by leaving out the facts about which my guest was uninformed. If you have reason to disagree with my understanding, please elaborate.

You've also misinterpreted my dinner party observation. It's not my friend who won't be invited again . . .

I expect my students to inference from a text: that's a sign of higher level thinking. However, using a text to fantasize things that it doesn’t suggest is not on—well, not if one wants to be taken seriously.

ha ha, lookout just got owned

sput[tering] - Is that really the best you can come up with?

I'll bite again.

"I expect my students to inference from a text: that's a sign of higher level thinking. However, using a text to fantasize things that it doesn’t suggest is not on—well, not if one wants to be taken seriously."

Do you mark your students on the basis of what they infer, or what you want them to infer. I suspect your teaching methodology might be like your ideology. You want everybody to think like you and if a student dares challenge it, they are wrong. Or not taken seriously.

You know, for those of us who have experienced higher learning, the emphasis is on being clear in what you write and in considering how it can be intepreted. If you follow that general rule, no one will "infere" incorrectly to the extent that they are fantasizing.

"Too true and so sad. A good friend of mine, an intelligent person of integrity, ... as a Liberal!"

Ergo - Liberals cannot have integrity or intelligence. Or am I fantasizing?

Sounds more like right wing propaganda than substantive fact. Do you disagree?

"1) She thinks Jim Flaherty’s present “troubles” over $120 000 ..."

Listen, like I noted earlier, just because nobody is writing about the Airbus scandal, does not mean that it didnt happen. The liberals are corrupt. The conservatives are corrupt. And I expect more than a couple of newspaper editors are corrupt in keeping the stories quiet. Thats the way it goes.

"2) She positively likes the idea of Justin Trudeau..."

Given that you re not a liberal, thats her and the Liberal's problem. Not yours. She isnt talking about Stockwell Day or Preston Manning and the conservative party. Judging her on the basis of this is a bit bizzare. Unless of course you feel that Stephen Harper should be the head of the Liberal Party.

3, 4, 5, 6...

Did you ask her if she was unaware or did you just decide that since she was a Liberal, she probably didnt know. By the way, and correct me if I m wrong, but werent the helicopters meant to replace Sea Kings. And given that they were replacement for Sea King, which as the name suggests, operated primarily with the navy, what in the world would they be doing shuttling soldiers around Afghanistan. Canada's Navy is oriented towards Anti-Submarine operations, and one would expect that these helicopters would be fitted out for such operations and not transporting troops. In any case, the Americans have more helicopters than anyone, but they still lose troops travelling by road from point A to point B. Helicopters have more roles than being airborne transports and they re used very sparingly as airborne transports- usually when theres no other option.

There, those are some of the more specific issues I had with your little rant.

"but the gullability of this, apparently intelligent, useful idiot, who has a responsibility to be better informed and use her God given intellect to THINK, rather than fall for mindless, left-wing propaganda, the default position of all Canada’s poisonous elites."

Prey, what can I, or anybody for that matter, possibly infer from this? Other than what I inferred above.

And is it entirely unfair to ask how influenced you are by rightwing propaganda, after reading the above?

"My very high regard for this person has slipped. (Being a sucker for “equality” over facts and substance, I dare say her regard for me has suffered a similar fate.)"

Again, what can one infer from this? Did you ask her if her regard for you fell? Though I wouldnt be surprised if it did, especially if you thought aloud and said what you wrote here about integrity and intelligence.

"And, as expressed in one of the letters in support of Kate’s National Post article, who’s the person likely not to be invited to the next dinner party?"

"It's not my friend who won't be invited again . . . "

So I am wrong to infer that your friend will not be invited to dinner. Which leaves us wondering who wont be invited to dinner?

Mother Theresa? Stephane Dion? The pigeon that visits your porch?

You know, you are petty. Theres nothing I have written above that you can refute. Its all based on what you wrote.

Take a deep breath, sput, and have a good evening.

I take it I was right on the helicopters? Which really is kind of strange, because you seemed to assume all along that the basis of your criticism of the liberal was sound.

Yeah, I know. Its gotta suck when you get silenced by someone who, by virtue of defending the liberals, lacks your intelligence. Run, boy. Run.

I m having a great evening already.

What part of the CROOKED Liberal Party du Canada do you not understand sput?

Speaking of Shelby Steele, here's a great interview with him on the subject of Barrack Obama.