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Some of us of a certain age have been asking the same question for a long while now. Since when are Americans so compliant, so acquiescent, so, so…fearful? Historians of the future will have a hard time figuring out how so many organized groups of strident jackasses succeeded in leading us around by the nose and morally intimidating the majority into silence. — Thomas Sowell (@ThomasSowell) June 22, 2020 Worse than silent really, complicit. Whether we are talking about COVID or BLM, facemasks or prostration, people can’t wait to get onboard the train. Good training for your lives under Islam...

For decades, there has been widespread anxiety over how, when or whether the educational test score gap between white and non-white youngsters could be closed. But that gap has already been closed by the Success Academy charter school network in New York City. Their predominantly black and Hispanic students already pass tests in mathematics and English at a higher rate than any school district in the entire state. That includes predominantly white and Asian school districts where parental income is some multiple of what it is among Success Academy students. New York’s charter school students are predominantly black and Hispanic,...

People sometimes ask if I have tried to convince black “leaders” to take a different view on racial issues. Of course not. I wouldn't spend my time trying to persuade the mafia to give up crime. Why should I spend time trying to convince race hustlers to give up victimhood? * * * * * * * * * * A higher percentage of Republicans than Democrats voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It was Republicans whose “Philadelphia Plan” in the 1970s sought to break the construction unions' racial barriers that...

For that reason, I commemorate Juneteenth by re-reading Thomas Sowell’s classic essay, “The Real History of Slavery,” written in part to debunk popular misconceptions spread by the likes of Alex Haley’s Roots. A part of his collection of mainly original essays in Black Rednecks and White Liberals, Sowell's essay teaches politically incorrect lessons no longer taught in higher education or pop culture. First, slavery impoverished rather than built societies, by stigmatizing work and thrift while exalting as role models a slave-owning leisure class. In some respects, slave owners were like Hollywood stars, widely envied, and notorious for their conspicuous consumption...

Last week’s column discussed Dr. Thomas Sowell’s newest book “Discrimination and Disparities,” which is an enlarged and revised edition of an earlier version. In this review, I am going to focus on one of his richest chapters, titled “Social Visions and Human Consequences.” Sowell challenges the seemingly invincible fallacy “that group outcomes in human endeavors would tend to be equal, or at least comparable or random, if there were no biased interventions, on the one hand, nor genetic deficiencies, on the other.” But disparate impact statistics carries the day among academicians, lawyers and courts as evidence of discrimination.

“Even the best things come to an end,” wrote Thomas Sowell in a December, 2016, column headlined “Farewell.” At the age of 86, the great economist had decided to stop writing his column and “spend less time following politics and more time on my photography.” Since then, Sowell has been rather quiet, but current political trends have prompted him to re-emerge. “Socialism is a wonderful sounding idea,” Sowell recently told Fox Business. “It’s only as a reality that it’s disastrous.” A former Marxist, Sowell began to see the difference between reality and rhetoric. “When you see people starving in Venezuela...

Seventy-one years ago this month -- in January 1948 -- a black, 17-year-old high school dropout left home. The last grade he had completed was the 9th grade. He had no skills, little experience, and not a lot of maturity. Yet he was able to find jobs to support himself, to a far greater extent than someone similar can find jobs today. I know because I was that black 17-year-old. And, decades later, I did research on economic conditions back then. Back in 1948, the unemployment rate for 17-year-old black males was just under 10 percent, and no higher than...

In this era when there has been more information available to more people than at any time in the past, it is also true that there has been more misinformation from more different sources than ever. We are not talking about differences of opinion or inadequate verification, but about statements and catchwords in utter defiance of facts. Among the most popular current catchwords are "climate change deniers." Stop and think. Have you ever -- even once in your entire life -- seen, heard or read even one human being who denied that climates change? It is hard even to imagine...

People who follow politics, even casually, learn not to expect high moral standards from politicians. But there are some outrages that show a new low, even for politicians. Among the consequences of Democrats' recent election victories, especially at the state and local levels, is the election of officials who have publicly announced their opposition to charter schools, and their determination to restrict or roll back the growth of those schools. What have the charter schools done to provoke such opposition? Often located in low-income, minority neighborhoods, these schools have in many cases produced educational outcomes far better than the traditional...

Thomas Sowell is a prolific author and brilliant economist and he is about as good at distilling conservative wisdom into pithy quotes as anyone you will ever read. If you think there’s not enough extraordinary brilliance left in the world, let me introduce you to Thomas Sowell, one of the greatest minds of our generation. 30. “The problem isn’t that Johnny can’t read. The problem isn’t even that Johnny can’t think. The problem is that Johnny doesn’t know what thinking is; he confuses it with feeling.” 29. “One of the consequences of such notions as ‘entitlements’ is that people who...

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It's easy to dismiss Kanye West. It's easy to dismiss him because he's nutty. This is a fellow who tweets about antique fish tanks and fur pillows. This is the guy who calls himself Yeezus (after Jesus) and suggested that then-President George W. Bush didn't care about black people in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He isn't exactly known for his bouts of emotional stability. And in our celebrity-driven culture, we shouldn't pay too much attention to those who haven't spent a lot of time studying policy. That's how we end up with celebrity politicians, emotion-driven policy and reality television...

Discrimination and Disparities by Thomas Sowell, Basic Books, New York, March 20, 2018 (143 pages, $28.00, hardcover) "Just the facts, ma'am." That was Joe Friday's interrogation refrain on Dragnet. The same comment could serve as the subtitle of Thomas Sowell's recent book, Discrimination and Disparities. Few works on politically explosive topics maintain such a consistent focus on empirical evidence while avoiding rhetorical jabs at opponents. On the other hand, empirical evidence cuts deep, especially when critics can't protest the author's "nasty" style. As radio talker Larry Elder observes, "[f]acts are to liberals what kryptonite is to Superman." Sowell's title, if...

YouTube reportedly demonetized an interview with Dave Rubin of the popular internet show the Rubin Report and American political philosopher and author Thomas Sowell. The video was monetized shortly after Rubin publicly demanded an explanation from YouTube. Dave Rubin, the host of the Rubin Report, an internet series in which Rubin interviews a number of media and internet personalities, took to Twitter to reveal that an interview he conducted with political philosopher and author Thomas Sowell had been demonetized. When a video is demonetized, it means that the creator of the video no longer receives a percentage of ad revenue...

"Dr. Thomas Sowell (Economist and Author) joins Dave [Rubin] to discuss his new book “Discrimination & Disparities.” They dive into Dr. Sowell’s Marxist past, free speech on college campuses, the role of government, minimum wage laws, his experience as a black conservative, debunking systemic racism, and more."

Sowell - I am Trying to Find His Example of the Failure of Affirmative Action in His Books. I think it was the Cultures series, He spoke about a small country or island that implemented affirmative action policies for its minorities and ended up with civil war and genocide. Has anyone read his books and can come up with the example for me? I have looked but I do not have all his books. I think it is an important example to disseminate far and wide.

Clarence Thomas, one of nine members of the Supreme Court and the second black to ever join the Court, is not in the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. Asked to explain Thomas' absence, the chief spokeswoman for the Smithsonian said, "The museum's exhibitions are based on themes, not individuals." Yet the museum plans to add a popular local D.C. television news broadcaster. The museum's founding director, Lonnie Bunch, said the broadcaster "symbolized that it was really important that America was changing and his presence was a symbol of that change." And Thomas, raised in...

In my opinion, there is no economist alive today who has done more to eloquently, articulately, and persuasively advance the principles of economic freedom, limited government, individual liberty, and a free society than Thomas Sowell. In terms of both his quantity of work (at least 40 books and several thousand newspaper columns) and the consistently excellent and crystal-clear quality of his writing, I don’t think any living free-market economist even comes close to matching Sowell’s prolific record of writing about economics.

Zero proficiency in math, English in probe of 6 inner-city schools. In an astonishing outcome, an investigation of six Baltimore schools found not a single student passed the state’s proficiency test in the subjects of math and English. ... In February, columnist Thomas Sowell, noting “most public schools in most low-income, inner-city neighborhoods produce educational outcomes that are far below the outcomes in other neighborhoods,” observed that many teachers who use unorthodox methods to reverse that trend encounter opposition from the education establishment. He said that in his 40 years of observing successful minority schools, he was struck “by how...

One of the painful realities of our times is how long a political lie can survive, even after having been disproved years ago, or even generations ago. A classic example is the phrase "tax cuts for the rich," which is loudly proclaimed by opponents, whenever there is a proposal to reduce tax rates. The current proposal to reduce federal tax rates has revived this phrase, which was disproved by facts, as far back as the 1920s -- and by now should be called "tax lies for the gullible." How is the claim of "tax cuts for the rich" false?...