Earlier quoted context omitted.
He was also a creep.
He was?
No, it was a COINTELPRO operation. They made up a bunch of propaganda for character assassination that, to no surprise, never got released because it didn't exist.
Thomas Sowell interview
61–70 of 457 posts
Re: Thomas Sowell interview
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's a pretty uninformed reading of the situation as it happened. If you followed conservative media throughout the process it wasn't at all obvious that establishment Republicans were going to actually mount a defense of the President. There was a lot of wavering back and forth as the narrative evolved and was fought over. It was not automatic at all.
Your reading of the situation seems predicated on a conveniently pedantic definition of "automatic" from my perspective. I watched the entirety proceedings as they transpired and don't recall witnessing much hesitation from Republicans, but it's definitely possible that by not "following conservative media" I overlooked the actually agonizing deliberation that transpired behind the scenes. I would love to educate mys…
> but it's definitely possible that by not "following conservative media" I overlooked the actually agonizing deliberation that transpired behind the scenes.
This is actually exactly what I'm talking about, not the proceedings themselves. With the exception of the potential wildcard of the Bolton testimony (which never ended up happening) at that point the party had essentially been whipped and it was just theatre.
Here are the names that were discussed incessantly in conservative media: https://www.vox.com/2019/10/14/20908684/senate-republicans-t...
Up until Matt Gaetz did his stunt disrupting the private/secret hearings of House witnesses there wasn't very much fire on the Republican side which was why these close-door pre-impeachment vote hearings happened in the first place. Remember that at certain point there was a pseudo-impeachment process occurring prior to any impeachment vote having taken place. Even convincing Republicans that they needed to fight to get an actual vote on the record was not an simple process.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/10/23/20929023/...
Re: Thomas Sowell interview
#63In this time of ultra conformism and cancel culture. It is refreshing to read an articulate alternative view points. Sowell has an experience of with sides of the debate and brings that experience to his writing. I can't recommend him enough
What objective measure of conformism are you using?
Sum of squares of the differences on all important issues between you and the average?
So basically the same formula as variance in probability theory.
Re: Thomas Sowell interview
#64In this time of ultra conformism and cancel culture. It is refreshing to read an articulate alternative view points. Sowell has an experience of with sides of the debate and brings that experience to his writing. I can't recommend him enough
What do you mean by "Cancel culture" here and what specifically do you think might apply to Sowell?
Re: Thomas Sowell interview
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
The best criticism of Marxism I've read is in the introduction to Human Action by Mises where he shows that the concept of class struggle, specifically class itself, is illogical. Also FWIW I have been upvoting you as you get downvoted.
Rothbard (and later Mises) are both on my reading list, I'm nothing if not open-minded. Thanks.
Personally I would recommend starting with Human Action by Mises as it represents essentially the purest distillation of that school of thought and the culmination of a lot of Mises' earlier works. Rothbard studied under Mises so it would serve as a good introduction to him as well.
Re: Thomas Sowell interview
#66In this time of ultra conformism and cancel culture. It is refreshing to read an articulate alternative view points. Sowell has an experience of with sides of the debate and brings that experience to his writing. I can't recommend him enough
What do you mean by "Cancel culture" here and what specifically do you think might apply to Sowell?
It's just an excuse to complain about how bigotry is becoming less socially acceptable.
Re: Thomas Sowell interview
#67Thomas Sowell has had a huge impact on me and my views on economics. I'm from a poor working-class background and am often irritated by the needless language barriers of academics. > “Too many academics write as if plain English is beneath their dignity,” Sowell once said, “and some seem to regard logic as an unconstitutional infringement of their freedom of speech.” Sowell is unique in this respect. He's book, "Basi…
I wish other writers would take this to heart. Reading The New Yorker it’s as if their language is a shibboleth and if they didn’t use it, it would alienate their audience for using average language, yet they are the same people who pontificate and pretend they advocate for the lower classes.
The New Yorker is an upper-middle class publication. That is its target audience. Other magazines owned by the same media conglomerate, Conde Nast, are broadly similar in orientation: Vogue, Bon Appetit, Vanity Fair, GQ, Architectural Digest. I don't think they 'advocate for the lower classes', subjectively or objectively. I read very few socialists and communists in the New Yorker!
Re: Thomas Sowell interview
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
What exactly do you disagree with?
The idea that calling out systemic racism is like a Nazi propaganda tactic. Look up any of his other views on literally any social issues, it's just whatever Fox News-esque conservative would want to hear. Like, somehow it's not the government snatching people up in vans that is Nazi-like, it's actually the anti-racist protesters that are Nazi's to the genius brain of Thomas Sowell. How do people idolize this guy?
if you define “conservative” as “wrong”, then I understand your point, but then your statement is trivial - it’s a statement of opinion, “sowell is wrong”, masquerading as evidence and using 12 times as many words as needed.
Re: Thomas Sowell interview
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
[flagged]
Agreed, it's a purely reductionist take on taxes while showing complete ignorance on who decides how much people earn in society. I wish people would stop listening to Sowell like he was the Jesus of economics. Outside of theory, he fumbles all the time.
I'm not trying to be obtuse... but isn't "who decides how much people earn" always the two people that enter into free association with one another, either by an employment contract or a sales contract?
Re: Thomas Sowell interview
#70Basic Economics is a very good book. Even if you taken University economics you will learn something and you will definitely learn how to explain things to those who did not. His debates are also great to watch highly recommended.
I very much prefer his older TV appearances to his more recent ones as he used to elaborate and present you with evidence on the spot. Nowadays, he keeps his input to a minimum on a given interview which is often unconvincing and borderline dismissive. I should keep in mind that he's 90 of age, though.