The Wisdom and Brilliance of Thomas Sowell
One of the World's Greatest Statesmen Since the Founding Fathers
Dr. Thomas Sowell is a U.S. economist and political and social analyst. He’s one of the all-time most brilliant economists in history. His wisdom, intellect and astute observations are off the charts. Too bad governments aren’t run or at least consulted by people like him; the world would be infinitely more prosperous, stable, peaceful and rational.
He’s on my personal ‘Mt. Rushmore’ of the greatest statesmen in my lifetime, along with Ron Paul, Ben Carson and Ronald Reagan. I consider Dr. Sowell on a level with the U.S. founding fathers - themselves among the greatest statesmen in history.
Sowell was a Marine during the Korean War. After leaving the military, Sowell took a civil service job in Washington, DC, and later gained admission to Harvard University where he graduated magna cum laude in 1958 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics. He earned a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University in 1959. Sowell received his Doctor of Philosophy in economics from the University of Chicago in 1968.
Dr. Sowell stated he was a Marxist as a young man, but gave up his Marxist thinking sometime in his 20s. When asked what made him change his mind so drastically, he replied, “Facts.”
Sowell has been a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University since 1980. He has had a remarkably productive career as a teacher, author and analyst. He is an Independent politically, not a member of any political party (we have that in common). Sowell has been equally (and accurately) critical of both Democrats and Republicans, and government and politics in general (something else we have in common).
A Few Gems by Thomas Sowell
The best way to gain a thorough understanding of Sowell’s genius and philosophy is to read a few of his books (listed below; the most relevant in today’s world are in bold) and watch several videos of him talking about his philosophy and observations. A few of my favorite gems are given here (these are just the tip of the iceberg).
“The difference between Traditional Justice and Cosmic Justice”
(A fascinating presentation that differentiates between different concepts of justice - one which is rational, authentic justice and produces positive outcomes, and one which is artificial, politically- and financially-motivated and forced onto populations, like a square peg into a round hole, that produces injustices and inequities.)
“Through its various editions, the fundamental idea behind Basic Economics remains the same: Learning economics should be as uncomplicated as it is informative.”
“Wealth is created when the people who know how to create it are free to do so. One of the things that really pains me during this current crisis is people saying that Congress really needs to do something to make the economy recover. No, they need to let the economy recover. The economy did not get to be the biggest in the world by politicians doing things. All those millions of people whose names we don’t even know - those are the people who made this the biggest economy in the world. And if politicians would get out of their way and let the economy recover, it can do that.”
(Here, Sowell seeks to un-complicate some of the economic issues confronting the country today, from the financial crisis and the role of the Fed to the economics of health care and trade imbalances.)
“The Truth about Thomas Jefferson and the other founding fathers on slavery”
“Many who have dismissed the anti-slavery words of the founders of the American republic as just rhetoric, have not bothered to check the facts of history.”
“Among the most absurd apologies have been apologies for slavery by politicians. When somebody who has never owned a slave apologizes for slavery to somebody who has never been a slave, then what began as mushy thinking has degenerated into theatrical absurdity - or worse yet, politics.”
“Dr. Martin Luther King's message was equal opportunity for individuals, regardless of race. In the years that followed the goal changed to equal outcomes for groups. What now rose to dominance was the social justice agenda.
“If those backing the social justice agenda could have everything they wanted, we’d be killing each other.”
In this episode of Uncommon Knowledge, Peter Robinson interviews Thomas Sowell, on his 5th edition of Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy. In this interview, Sowell brings the world into clearer focus through a basic understanding of the fundamental economic principles and how they explain our lives. Sowell draws on lively examples from around the world and from centuries of history.
“The vision of the ‘anointed’ is one in which ills as poverty, irresponsible sex, and crime derive primarily from 'society,' rather than from individual choices and behavior.
“To believe in personal responsibility would be to destroy the whole special role of the ‘anointed,’ whose vision casts them in the role of rescuers of people treated unfairly by 'society.’ ”
In this interview, Thomas Sowell talks about various facts the left tends to ignore when deciding social policies.
“What do you call it when someone steals someone else's money secretly? Theft. What do you call it when someone takes someone else's money openly by force? Robbery. What do you call it when a politician takes someone else's money in taxes and gives it to someone who is more likely to vote for him? Social Justice.”
“Q: If you could, would you abolish the Fed? (Federal Reserve)
“Dr. Sowell: ‘Yes.’
“Q: ‘What would you replace it with?’
“Dr. Sowell: People ask, if you remove a government program or department, what would you replace it with? When you remove a cancer, what do you replace it with?
“The Federal Reserve represented wonderful hopes, but we've had so many programs that represented wonderful hopes that ended in disaster.
“[People say] ‘The government has to do something!’ Have you ever studied what happens when the government does something compared to what happens when they don’t do anything?”
“The Devastating Legacy of Obama's Presidency”
“Barack Obama is the embodiment, the personification and the culmination of dangerous trends that began decades ago. Moreover, he has escalated those dangers to what may be a point of no return.”
“The America that has flourished for more than two centuries is being quietly but steadily dismantled by the Obama administration.”
Here are some other favorite isolated quotes from Dr. Sowell:
“Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it.”
“The black family survived centuries of slavery and generations of Jim Crow, but it has disintegrated in the wake of the liberals’ expansion of the welfare state.”
“The most fundamental fact about the ideas of the political left is that they do not work. Therefore we should not be surprised to find the left concentrated in institutions where ideas do not have to work in order to survive.”
“What the welfare system and other kinds of governmental programs are doing is paying people to fail. Insofar as they fail, they receive the money; insofar as they succeed, even to a moderate extent, the money is taken away.”
“Intellectuals may like to think of themselves as people who ‘speak truth to power,’ but too often they are people who speak lies to gain power.”
“One of the common failings among honorable people is a failure to appreciate how thoroughly dishonorable some other people can be, and how dangerous it is to trust them.”
“Although the big word on the left is 'compassion,' the big agenda on the left is dependency.”
“Historians of the future will have a hard time figuring out how organized groups of strident jackasses succeeded in leading us around by the nose and morally intimidating the majority into silence.”
Honors Achieved by Thomas Sowell
1982: the Mencken Award for Best Book, from the Free Press Association, for his Ethnic America: A History
1990: the Francis Boyer Award, presented by the American Enterprise Institute
1998: the Sydney Hook Award, from the National Association of Scholars
1998: elected membership to the American Philosophical Society
2002: the National Humanities Medal, presented by President George W. Bush, for prolific scholarship melding history, economics, and political science
2003: the Bradley Prize for intellectual achievement
2004: the Lysander Spooner Award, presented by Laissez Faire Books, for his Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One
2008: the International Book Award, from getAbstract, for his book Economic Facts and Fallacies
Books
1971. Economics: Analysis and Issues
1972. Black Education: Myths and Tragedies
1972. Say's Law: An Historical Analysis
1974. Classical Economics Reconsidered
1975. Race and Economics
1980. Knowledge and Decisions
1981. Ethnic America: A History
1981. Markets and Minorities
1981. Pink and Brown People: and Other Controversial Essays
1983. The Economics and Politics of Race. William Morrow
1984. Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality?
1985. Marxism: Philosophy and Economics.
1986. Education: Assumptions Versus History
1987. A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles
1987. Compassion Versus Guilt and Other Essays
1990. Preferential Policies: An International Perspective
1993. Is Reality Optional?: and Other Essays
1995. Race and Culture: A World View
1995. The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation As a Basis for Social Policy
1996. Migrations and Cultures: A World View
1998. Conquests and Cultures: An International History
1998. Late-Talking Children
1999. The Quest for Cosmic Justice
2000. A Personal Odyssey
2000. Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy
2002. Controversial Essays
2002. The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late
2004. Affirmative Action Around the World: An Empirical Study
2004. Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy
2005. Black Rednecks and White Liberals
2006. Ever Wonder Why? and Other Controversial Essays
2006. On Classical Economics
2007. A Man of Letters
2007. Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy
2008. Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One
2008. Economic Facts and Fallacies
2009. The Housing Boom and Bust
2010. Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy
2010. Dismantling America
2010. Intellectuals and Society
2011. The Thomas Sowell Reader
2011. Economic Facts and Fallacies (2nd Edition)
2013. Intellectuals and Race
2014. Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy
2015. Wealth, Poverty and Politics: An International Perspective
2016. Wealth, Poverty and Politics: An International Perspective (2nd Edition)
2018. Discrimination and Disparities
2019. Discrimination and Disparities (revised)
2020. Charter Schools and Their Enemies
2023. Social Justice Fallacies
Spending several hours reading Dr. Sowell’s books and listening to his presentations would significantly raise IQs, increase understanding of politics and economics, and improve societal and cultural rationality.
For decades, I've loved reading and hearing Thomas Sowell for his very clear understanding of all matters social and economic. If Congress had only listened to his logic in the '60s there might not have been race wars and Black families splitting up and on welfare. Thomas Sowell is a star in many ways! I'm so happy that you highlighted him in this article. He is a hero of mine.