Discovering SOWELL
Some of the greatest minds of our time- over time- are slowly forgotten. The Great Thomas Sowell is one of them. Who is Thomas Sowell? In short, he is an American economist, author, and social commentator. He started his academic career working as an assistant professor at Cornell University and became a well-known voice in the American Conservative Movement as a prominent black conservative. He is STILL one of the prolific thinkers of our time. Currently, he is 93 years young.
I think you will agree that the following quotes offer incisive insights into economics, politics, and society:
“Some things are believed because they are demonstrably true. But many other things are believed simply because they have been asserted repeatedly—and repetition has been accepted as a substitute for evidence. In other words, evidence is too dangerous—politically, financially and psychologically—for some people to allow it to become a threat to their interests or to their own sense of themselves.”
“When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear…”
“Open-ended demands are a mandate for ever-expanding government bureaucracies with ever-expanding budgets and powers….The real goal should be reduced government spending, rather than balanced budgets achieved by ever rising tax rates to cover ever rising spending.”
“Since this is an era when many people are concerned about 'fairness' and 'social justice,' what is your 'fair share' of what someone else has worked for? I have never understood why it is ‘greed’ to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else's money…When people get used to preferential treatment, equal treatment seems like discrimination.”
“Racism does not have a good track record. It's been tried out for a long time, and you'd think by now we'd want to put an end to it, instead of putting it under new management. If you have always believed that everyone should play by the same rules and be judged by the same standards, that would have gotten you labeled a radical 60 years ago, a liberal 30 years ago and a racist today. …The word ‘racism’ is like ketchup. It can be put on practically anything – and demanding evidence makes you a racist.’”
“There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs…The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best.”
P.S. My favorite Thomas Sowell Timeless Truth Quote: “It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.”
B.P.S. “The hypocrite in me- hears that Loud & Clear.” ...From the Lookout Post