Thomas Sowell is Genius

I have heard a lot of good things about Thomas Sowell over the years, so last week I decided to get his latest book, "Wealth, Poverty, and Politics" from Audible. I was immediately struck by the quality of Sowell's writing, which is clear, concise and refined without being pretentious. Throughout the book, he pushes his arguments forward with skill and tenacity. I'm probably going to pick up a physical copy of this one, because I'd like to lend it out to other people who really need to understand these concepts.

Sowell starts out with a discussion of geography and its effects on human culture and prosperity. He goes into great detail about how physical and cultural isolation, much more than natural resources, serve to impoverish and stagnate a people. He contrasts this with how civilizations and peoples that can trade easily and are open to absorbing new ideas from other cultures often thrive. Add to this the attributes that make up their human capital, such as honesty, work ethic, level of education, and, combined with geographical features, you get a much better idea of why some people are wealthy, while others are impoverished.

The next part of the book talks about various immigrant populations that started out very poor and became affluent within a few generations. He talks about the Jews, Chinese, and Germans who came to America and made better futures for their children, but also discusses how these and other groups spread into Europe and Asia, and, because of their culture, were able to prosper, becoming wealthier than the majority populations.

Sowell's latest book carries a message of hope. That message is that hard work, integrity, and willingness to learn and adapt can allow any people to survive and thrive, even while living within the borders of a host nation that is openly hostile to that people, as in places such as Malaysia, Chinese immigrants are openly discriminated against. Contrast this with the narrative that states that it is only through forced wealth redistribution that poor populations can attain prosperity. That narrative is self-fulfilling to those who believe it, and who never even try to build a better life for themselves and their children.

Social justice warriors will reject this message, giving it little consideration. They really have no way to assimilate it into their worldview. The idea that poverty is the result of anything other than racism undermines their rhetoric and discredits their entire cause. They will claim that Sowell is racist (or a race traitor), that he is a biased conservative, that he hates the poor, and other attacks that would never cross most people's minds to level at another human being.