Yes. I couldn't agree more. He would have been a good one because he is actually a deeper thinking man than most.

+CottonCube Agreed!

+CottonCube Friedman lasted well into his 90's, and was sharp as a tack until the end. I hope we are blessed with Sowell for as long.

+CottonCube I know! He is such a gem. It would be a shame to lose him.

+CottonCube Ron Paul and Noam Chomsky are still trucking too. Let's hope that age doesn't slow any of them down.

+Joshua S. Grant you should see his earlier videos in the 1980s. He was in his fifties but he looked like he was in his 30s!

Because you know it's true haha, yet we still pass laws that give more authority to government.

It is brilliant, I think the original is 'If the Federal Government took control of the Sahara desert, in five years there would be a shortage of sand'

Hans Dowmerpantz wasn't that said by Milton Friedman?

_yjm_14 Yep

So True. Coz schools have rheir own agendas and propagandas and it varies from school to school, private or public or a mix of both. Its for the schools to provide education but we as an individual are free choose our knowledge and how we apply in the world.

"This shit is wack" ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

:D

If I were President, I would make him my vice president and resign.

And he would say thanks but no thanks---as he did to Reagan when chosen to be Secretary of Education.

LOL

+feroxlara21 Amen, brother

+Joshua John Igoe Boss Level over 9000!

Thomas Sowell converted me from Liberal to Free market libertarian

jason quinn The correct term is "Marxist." That it what he admitted to be and there is notable differences. And one must also understand the difference between a Classical Liberal and a Modern Liberal. Additionally, it should be a even greater sign that he converted from such an avid stance to the opposite side of the spectrum.

+jason quinn me too :)

Robinson's best questions are always, "Explain that"!

RustyHeels06 You should listen to Claude Anderson and Nelly Fuller as well.

RustyHeels06 I can almost vouch for this. I am extremely happy with my degree in criminal justice but almost every other class outside of my major was worthless and taught me close to nothing helpful, relevant, or factual.

Australia has plenty of fat poor people.Our welfare state is far more generous than the US especially to illiterate muslims with four wives in contravention of Australian law who have been here on occasion for 18 years, can't speak English despite 500 hours of free government lessons, receive over $200,00o per year in cash, free medical and prescription for $5.20 free after $1000. Add a free people mover every 3 years.

I think you need to calm down a bit

Dutch Martin knowledgeable

Dutch Martin dozens, as in 24+ books? wow you are indeed amazing. I have only read 7 of his books. Please list them for us.

duke of york There are just so many. Go to Amazon and type in Thomas Sowell.

I find Dr Sowells take on the take on America very refreshing. he shines a spot light on the stupidity of our institutions and the pest there in.

Sowell is a genius.

Bill Richardson white people love blacks who never criticize them, the same way they loved Muhammad Ali when he could no longer speak. Yet they hated him and threatened him when he was critical. What a bizarre people.

duke of york If anyone sounds hateful it is you.

duke of york You couldn’t be more wrong, believe it or not most human beings want to see their fellow human beings succeed. Not only for virtuous reasons, but because of the social and economic strain they place on society when they don’t succeed. We see a man who has thrown off the shackles of victimhood, refused to cower in the face of adversity and has succeeded. Why do you not see hope in him? You’re so desperate to find monsters that don’t exist to validate your inability to move forward in life. Do you really believe blacks are the only group of people that have suffered injustice? Do you believe blacks haven’t oppressed people? You cherry pick history to confirm your narrative, every group has suffered injustices, so what! Why do you only blame whites, why do you not hold arabs accountable, who quite literally still enslave blacks today. I’m European, I feel no guilt. My ancestors held no slaves and each generations fought and many died for the freedoms you enjoy today. Just remember the best way to control a group of people is to convince them of their shared victimhood and then toss a few crumbs their way. Are you so attached to your victimhood, does it really mean that much to you that you’re willing to take the crumbs. Maybe you are? Because letting go of it would mean taking responsibility for yourself, admitting you are where you are due to your own actions. Poverty and trauma can be passed generations to generations, but it doesn’t have to be and people of every race have suffered intragenerational trauma, I’m sorry but you don’t have a monopoly on suffering. Can I recommend you read Dr. Bruce Liptons book on epigenetics, the science is in its infancy but it’s very interesting. Also may I recommend Eckhart Tolle, and his speech on Ego.

+Jason Bush I can only hope that mind did!

+J Danner mine?

+Jason Bush, Sowell has that effect on people.

+lahey ACutally.. it's the other way around.. of COURSE he wouldn't be seen more on such big. Oh does that sound conspiritorial? did you just get that feeling to reject/skeptic what i just said? Explore that 'feeling'? ask urself Why.

its too easy to pick holes in his narrow thinking thats why.

I love your story, it's true and authentic! Thank you

He IS a treasure. A newly college-educated acquaintance of mine completely changed his politics after being exposed to Sowell, Steyn and Friedman. How is it that you "are just learning about him?" I suspect you just left the US Public School System, yes? Welcome aboard and enjoy the cruise!

BarbaraJoanneBJ I graduated many years ago. I didn't learn much from public school, they definitely didm't teach this stuff. I'm not sure why I haven't come across Thomas before...I guess I've spent too much of my life hanging with Lefty's. As I've gotten older and watched the "victim card" that's being preached to minorities in this country, I've started looking into facts and statistics to see what's really happening out there. Thomas should be required reading in all schools. especially inner city poorer schools where the students are constantly told the playing field in America isn't level for them because they're black or latino. That's the wrong message to pound into their heads.

I siad the same thing when I first heard him.

good question mate. I have just read 5 of his books. He is a hero of mine now.,

Probably because you grew up with extremely Left-wing biased education, like most people in the west did.

Uber Genie Did he also trap White farmers in poverty after decades of welfare in the form of subsidies, given to them to not grow crops and in some cases to burn their crops to keep the prices inflated? There has always been more whites on welfare than blacks, so he destroyed this segment of white welfare recipients as well?

+Seyi 116 Because he "echoes" your core sentiments. I'm happy for the conservative academic. However, I've been in environments in the northwest where his conservatism wouldn't protect him for the slings and arrows suffered by his fellow men of color. Hayden Lake, for example. Then, too, a Lake Oswego stockbroker who befriended me, although I was just a parking lot attendant, told me that on vacation in the Coeur d'Alene area, he and his wife noticed "that old feelin'" coming from some of his associates there. So as long as the good professor is careful of his venue, those oohs and aahs will keep coming. his way. But away from that cocoon, I'm afraid reality sets in. I, too, happen to remember that once upon a time even the brightest of African American students weren't really quite in the door socially speaking. For instance, the Panhellenic Clinics were veritable battlefields and to rush a black or Jewish student, once upon a time, was to invite the wrath of the business communities who would fly in with threats of ex communication and eternal damnation. The only social option was International House for the "non white" student. I think Congressman Pete McCloskey, a Stanford man, addressed this lamentable issue. Then, too, I do remember that the entire Bay Area was none to hospitable to persons of color, even those as accomplished as Dr. Sowell. I do not lean towards radical social though. However, I do wonder from time to time whether the so-called and self anointed black conservative isn't really living an imitation of life in pretty the same manner a closeted gay person living as straight. Apologies, please. I am not a strident, left wing radical, merely someone who has paid attention to life's vagaries.

+Jay Young I don't know if you should congratulate your stockbroker friend on his empath abilities or not considering he has to "feel" racism emanating from his associates but you are completely misunderstanding Thomas Sowell. He has never said racism hasn't held black people back. He pointed out in this very video that despite facing overt discrimination, blacks had their largest period of economic growth from 1940 to 1960. The point was also made that the number of single parent households were significantly fewer during those times. Racism simply cannot account for all of the failing happening in the black community today.

OnlyTheSunCanFly I think I'll hold to my position. And may I ask you to do this. The next time you visit South Africa, you'll notice these same patterns resulting from conquest and loss of tradition. Listen, pre European, the family in African tradition was the centerpiece of life. You see, the family had meaning other than mere procreation. It was in other ways a form of "life insurance," if you will, for those reaching senior years and unable to care for themselves. I am disappointed in the good professor's quality of thinking in that rather than merely criticizing a situation we can all stipulate is a bad situation, he could've used that brain to explain this unfortunate syndrome away through cause and effect. There's almost nothing that cannot be examined and explained away through that very device, cause and effect. Yes, I stipulate that the broken family syndrome is a train wreck. But then the question becomes, why? Take this example, if you will. Compare life of black immigrants to the country to that of the lower rung of African American life. I said lower rung deliberately because that's where that unfortunate syndrome the good professor describes takes place. You do not find unwed mothers among black America's uppercrust. And, believe me, there's an uppercrust. For example, for uppercrust black Americans there are character building social organizations such as the Jack n Jill,plus the many professional organizations for character building, which apparently the good professor and white America are totally ignorant of. So, yes, we can stipulate this unfortunate and visible lower run social order in black America. But there's more to than broken families, unwanted pregnancies, and crime. Trust me!

Jay Young Did you even watch the video? Sowell makes the claim in this video that the welfare state manged to do what years of slavery and generations of Jim Crow laws couldn't: Destroy the black family. Also, no one is suggesting that there aren't black people who go out and do great things. I'd say Sowell is one of them. I fail to see what point it is you're trying to make. I suggest that you re-watch the video but this time pay a little more attention to what is being said.

OnlyTheSunCanFly I'll do you one better. I suggest you 1) get a better understanding of African American history from a much better source than your beloved Sowell. Professor Ira Berlin, University of Maryland, can help you immensely get a better grip on African American history. For your information, many African Americans were born in states where there was no such thing as welfare. You seem tethered to stereotypic thinking. Unfortunately, the good professor did nothing more than reinforce your stereotypes. There's more to black America than your beloved Sowell. Then after speaking with Dr. Berlin, you might try visiting Howard University there at Washington, D.C., to get more depth to your thinking. As it stands, you're quite entrenched in your "welfare" argument. I don't think I will be interested in hearing more from you since I think I have a much stronger grasp of African American history anyway.

+Peter Kapeel This country will lose a national treasure when Dr. Sowell passes away.

+Peter Kapeel Tom Woods!

+Taewon Yoon I would add Walter Williams to the list, too.

Peter Kapeel Claude Anderson and Nelly Fuller are next!

Peter Kapeel. Jay Richards

great point

not always. You only think about survival then

actually in the past only rich people who had much time did science

Inner G *

Most concise definition,speaks volumes in six words and an equals sign.

John Mitchell it is basic intro level Logic and Statistics. No you can't argue the statistics but one can easily argue correlation vs causation! Seems that many are you here are impressed to easily or is it that Thomas's words ease your guilty conscience. Claude Anderson uses the exact same statistics as Thomas to present a totally opposite point of view. it's not hard at all!