His arguments are self-defeating as he himself is a public intellectual. What he has a problem with is that most intellectuals don't share his set of ideas and values.
It is also outright wrong to assume that public intellectuals only are those with ideas as their end product. Those most outspoken against policies in regards to climate change are scientists in the natural sciences.
Regards to Noam Chomsky he is wrong. He became quite famous outside of linguistics before his political writing
Economist (public Intellectual himself) is a climate change denier; Rants about how public intellectuals shouldn't stray outside their own speciality.
Just a conspiracy theorist who's built a career catering to the right wing / libertarians looking for confirmation bias (hats off, it's worked for him)
@0atheist You are jumping the gun a bit. True, he is an Intellectual himself, but unlike the other public Intellectuals he is referring to, particularly the ones who incite panic about global warming(which personally I can't see why it's such a big deal), he is simply explaining his opinions on the subjects and not trying to maneuver his way into power.
I know squat about running a modern business. Does that mean I can't express myself on the topic on how to manage one.
@0atheist He's talking about the business side of climate change, to them whether its happening or not to people like Sowell people are using it to advance their own agendas and profits.
I have to disagree with Dr. Sowell on Vietnam and Iraq, these were illegitemate wars and a libertarian would rightly oppose them. Also, if you don't try a terrorist in court, then how do you know he's a terrorist.
Even if the top percent were always in the top percent, I'd don't understand why the government thinks they should have to pay more in taxes. People work hard for that extra money and now you want to take it away from them? Isn't America, ideally, the land of Opportunity? Isn't that one of the reasons people came here in the first place, to become more prosperous than where they were before? It just hacks me off. Why can't everyone pay the same amount, no more and no less.
why does Ron Paul seem to be running ahead of others in Iowa - all Ron Paul is doing is coming up with a wish list of ideas that allot of Americans want to see happen - the problem with some of Ron Paul's ideas is that they are only dreams and cannot become a truth unless you had the complete congress and senate behind the president which i do not see happening this time around - stop dreaming - vote for less government
@myboycoltmccoy ,actually he describes and explains many realities concerning worker alienation and the conditions that he saw firsthand. Also,He accurately describes the relationship btwn workers and owners of means of production and the psychological effects of the entire economic system in shaping peoples frame of orientation.
As a PhD, Dr. Sowell's commentary is bang on from my personal experience and reading of history. However, I wish he could make the connection between his work in this area and his views on foreign policy, which are a bit disappointing.
A vote for Dr. Paul is a vote for yourself. He wants to limit gov intrusiveness in our lives & allow US to make our own choices. Stop politicians and the elites from thinking that they are so smart that they know how to run our lives better than we do. He is one of the few politicians that will make difficult decisions, he will balance the budget by his 2nd year, while other politicians plan to balance the budget after their term
@N33DL3R says the man using the internet, electricity, computer, and probably many various other things that "scientists" have discovered the principles of.
I can fully trust these men because what they are saying sounds entirety in sync with reality. Finally, someone who understands intellectuals. Too bad it only has 50k views.
@The1MOA Just research any of the quotes that they are talking about and see that they are wrong. They will lie to you over and over again and you will always accept it because it sounds like it's in line with your views. This video is entirely politically bias, don't be fooled by it. They pretend to be having a fair conversation about intellectuals and society, when all they are doing is attacking the left! Obama this, Obama that - what about right wing intellectuals? they are just as bad!
If anyone is doubting the integrity of Peter Robinson, Dr. Sowell, or Hoover institute in general take a second to consider the lies that they are feeding you! If you Google search "it's like these guys take pride in being ignorant" you can clearly see that they are entirely misquoting Obama. Not only is it a clear misquote, its not even in context! OBAMA IS TALKING ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT- NOT EXPERTS IN GENERAL! It's really a shame that hard working right wing citizens are fooled by this bull!
@Guessmaname The discussion is about so called "experts" in any field. Obama's quote is entirely representative of his and other Ivy league PHD's attitudes about knowledge. Agree or not, their dialogue is completely relevant to that quote in any context.
i'm from europe and after finding this video i hoped that in country populated by over 300 milion people, a more significant number would watch it. sadly, there's only 50k views, i guess it's getting more and more difficult to interest someone in such subjects as the role of todays "celebrity" intelectualls in our life. on the other hand, something like this wouldn't even have a chance to be produced by anyone in the european union, so it's not so bad after all.
@Hofsteder - What "science" of global warming? In science, you start with a question and work towards a hypothesis and then a conclusion. But in "global warming" or "climate change", you start with the conclusion first and work backwards. The tail wags the dog. The cited examples have too small a sample, and ignore anything that doesn't support their quest.
You ignore totally the fact that these scientists are finding what it is profitable to them personally and professionally to find.
@TheMa11lman - They call him one of the great linguists of the 20th Century. I don't dispute that either. But his political and economic views are pure fantasy.
THE DREAM TEAM President Ron Paul. Gov Gray Johnson should be his vice president and for a transition period Thomas Sowell or Robert Tollison to head the federal reserve. Peter Schiff economic adviser and Tom Woods would be his press secretory.
@mpc91 Sowell falls more in line with Milton Friedman when it comes to economic philosophy which deals in a micro manner and leaves macro theory in its place. It would be great to get rid of the federal reserve, but while it is present use it correctly.
so many people on here are criticizing his Economic statements, without even the basic economic knowledge one could accidentally remember from an Econ 101 class.
Dr Sowell seems to accord with so much of what I believe and makes very good sense much of the time, however whenever he talks about the UK, for example apropos Healthcare and the right to arms vs crime, he simply has no ideas what he is talking about. Typical stereo type propagandised and unresearched views. Unfortunately it undermines his arguments. Shame!
his argument about the movement of people through income brackets doesn't really make sense.. if the rich are always getting poorer while the poor are always getting richer then there wouldn't be a discrepancy between any of the income brackets!
@uprooting - Of course it makes sense. He explains it beautifully. You are comparing groups "the rich", and "the poor", as opposed to individual people at different points of their lives.
Let go of the Marxist class language and look at the lives of individual people.
"The work of an intellectual is not to mould the political will of others; it is, through the analyses that he does in his own field, to re-examine evidence and assumptions, to shake up habitual ways of working and thinking, to dissipate conventional familiarities, to re-evaluate rules and institutions and to participate in the formation of a political will" - Foucault
@uprooting LOL!Was this same brilliant intellectual Focault who supported Ayotallah Khomeini during the Iranian revolution and then was shocked!shocked that the latter and his mullah cohorts proceeds to propagate a regressive social agenda which inluded persecution of homosexuals and oppressing women!
@uprooting "The work of an intellectual is not to mould the political will of others; ....... and to participate in the formation of a political will"
This statement itself indicates to me that intellectuals like Focault are utterly lacking in any sense of perspective or even modesty!
Please note that in that quotation Focault says once the intellectual should mould others political will and then follows up with recommendations how to go to about doing just that!Then he goes ahead and advocates intellectuals participation in the political sphere!He is either a hypocrite who wants his ilk to weasel his way into power or a damn fool who cant even frame a sentence without contradicting himself!Either way we can safely relegate him to the dustbin of academia!
@uprooting oops I shouldve said "Focault says that intellectuals should NOT mould the political will of others" and then goes ahead and recommends methods for doing just that ,however in a covert manner!!
problem is top 20% is making ; lets say 100 million, in the later period, they're making 50 million. The lower start off with so little, of course anything they make later on will be higher but its still not enough. I still love the guy. im
Did you ever watch someone talk, know they are saying something clearly, and you cannot possibly tell another person what they just said? I dont know if this is a built in defense mechanism he has or the man is just an absolute genius. I admit I dont know why he sounds like a politician testifying under oath...yet presumebly he is a down to earth guy. Am I missing something when this guy talks?
@MrAlecaf" This guy is pseudo-intellectual imbecile. with no intellectual credibility outside the university of chicago."
This poster like Keynesian who opposed to the "imbecile" Dr Sowell, follows Keynsian geniuses like Paul Krugman who believes that government spending leads to prosperity!
Intellectuals--or those Ivy League graduates who believe themselves to be intellectuals--don't have the answers and they certainly don't have the answers for all of us--patriotic American citizens. In government, they are a disaster! Obama is not really an intellectual; he makes far too many pronunciation errors, misinformation, examples that aren't valid, etc. in his speeches [basically anything that is not delineated on the teleprompter]. He just "thinks" he's a genius...
@Hofsteder Everything you said is true, but I hope you're not debunking everything he's saying JUST on that one point. I don't agree with him on global warming either, or the fact that he thinks the war in Iraq is a good idea, but on other things he is absolutely brilliant and on point.
And the things he's dead wrong about are the things that are not his area of study, so yeah, it's ironic that he proves the point of his own book by example, unintentionally of course! XD
Mr Sowell, Have you ever taken a look (speaking of intellectuals) @ this evaluation of how the events of the future was played out through the NATURAL vengeful antiquated idealizations of a few people who contrived to force their agenda on a beaten down nation?
Youtube "The Six Months That Changed the World | John V. Denson "
I think it may also prove helpful to some of the viewers here to try to evaluate many of the more strident claims of the anti-theist critique ("brights") from a ideological/ metaphysics perspective. Check out the recent article by Jackson Lears in the May 16, 2011 issue of the The Nation entitled "Same Old New Atheism" .The article offers a compelling analysis of Sam Harris' works. Consideration is given to general atheistic social perspectives
Interesting to define an intellectual as a person of ideas who do not produce a product.
But then Sowell plays this role quite well. Scholars live in a culture motivated by upmanship and attach. Dr. Sowell has good content but he also has an agenda to push and belittle those who hold another view. If I read his work and can dismiss his politicizing the discussion, then I can be enlighten. But this hard because of the visceral disdain for any other views.
@pgcaman@hofsteder &@ all others claiming this book's theme is is hypocrisy. Tom is calling for a DECREASE in intellectual influence on locally consequential decisions. Other intellectuals call for an increase, regardless of the subject areas. This increase is expressed in power delivered to the ideas proposed by the individual intellectuals. The purpose of this book is to approach consequential power from the priorities of the people (not person), which hold the other 99% of knowledge. l2read
He didn't say he wasn't an intellectual according to his definition, nor did he say that such intellectuals were bad in themselves, he is condemning a certain proposed role for the intellectual within political society. It is also a role that has come to redefine the term "intellectual" (as someone who occupies this role) which explains the confusion that some people have over what they see as his general disparagement of the term.
I admire Dr. Sowell, but in this interview he did EXACTLY what he accused Noam Chompky of doing and jumped out of his area of expertise to comment on global warming. Even he, who is so well steeped in the idea, can't help but do it.
@christo930 Mmm.. Had he offered his opinion beyond a comment highlighting a flaw in what was regarded as crucial evidence, I might be critical as well. But I'm not seeing that here.
@christo930 It doesnt take a climate change expert to figure out that climate scientists fudge data ,language and reverse cause and effect(in the particular instance that he mentions).
Also his main issue is with the fact the GW alarmists dont like to be challenged and tend to dismiss and ridicule contradictory data or opinions which is true.
His comment is relevant and accurate as it fits the pattern of public intellectual(climate scientists) creating demand for their own services.
Sowell is an interesting person to follow, but it's borderline comedy when he chastises intellectuals for talking about topics outside their area of knowledge, after which he tries his luck as a climate scientist.
@zuffox Only Sowell isn't trying to shape U.S. climate change policy via the EPA or IPCC. Or profiting immensely from eco-priesthood like a certain former vice-president with no scientific credentials whatsoever.
Americans are not guaranteed to have leaders that can fix real life problems because Intellectualism does not equate to what? I am confused. Maybe because I am an intellectual, or because I am nowhere close to an intellectual. This 36:33 is an example of his ideology. A very intelligent man who intellectualizes a thought that should take 3 minutes to discuss and stretches it out past a half an hour. I really hope this was not another Conservative pep rally for educational underachievement.
@drbayoms no, not at all. intellectualism is good when it's in it's proper place. An intellectual is a thinker who has ideas he/she wants to share and most of all wants other people to listen. The intellectuals Sowell is criticizing are thinkers who want their ideas to be spread and want people to agree with them. they are the intellectuals that given govt sponsored positions where they meet out answers for other peoples problems. Practical selection is all but left out of the work of the latter
1) Intellectuals do not believe that they should be in charge. Most of them are liberals, which means, by definition, that they support representative government. 2) Everyone believes that healthcare is a right, even conservatives. This right comes from our ever increasing standards for what life should be. 3) Bash exclusive universities if you want, especially if you didn't get in anyway.
@SMMedina325 2) A "right"? Every right of yours means someone else has a *duty*. If you have a *right* to life, then other people have a *duty* not to take away that life. If you have a *right* to healthcare, then other people will have the "duty" to provide you with healthcare. And this is were your whole proposition falls apart.
@f0b0m To expand on your premise, perhaps the problem with intellectuals is the poeple who empower those intellectuals, to the point where their often erronious ideology can be translate into public policy. From that point their 'intellect' has real world consequences for the society as a whole. An intellectual in his/her backyard isn't much of a threat to your liberties, but in the congress, courts or the white house...may very well be. Admitting limitations seems antithetical to intellegencia.
I absolutely cannot believe how many partisan tools cite Thomas Sowell's status as an intellectual as to why his ideas are fallacious. It is not even remotely permissible to assert that he disavows intellectualism in itself. He posits that adopting the opinion of any person in particular as federal policy is an abjectly terrible idea because knowledge that has economic impact, by nature, is held by everybody other than intellectuals who have no connection with the markets whatsoever.
@Apotheosis1321 I think the thrust of his argument is that intellectuals don't have all of the answers, and I'm pretty sure he includes himself in that judgement.
I would not want this guy to be my dad. "Son you only cleaned your room so that you could gain favour with mom"
His philosophy of politics is bitter and cynical. He is describing a world in which all intellectuals think like he does. Psychological projection gives this guy the confidence to say what he does with the confidence in which he says it.
"Just look at Vietnam!" with no details whatsoever. My B S detector is way off the charts.
Brace, Dr Sowell isn't saying intellectuals are all bad. Many problems can arise because of fallacies that many intellectuals believe and the policies they support, popularize and implement.
I agree with almost everything this guy has to say. Including the fact that Chomsky is a smart guy, but his politics are "utterly absurd" (I would just call them a crock of shit).
Nazi Germanys government was full of intellectuals (extremely high IQ gov.), look where that went. Look at where communism has taken countries with their "elite intellectuals" in charge - over 110 million dead and counting!!
Bottom line, there are NO ANGELS that will run society for us. Say NO to centralizd powr
and one more thing. What Sowell is talking about is similiar to what Dostoevsky was writing about in "Demons", specifically Shigalyovism. I go to Portland State. I feel ripped off by the elitist groupthink that prevails there. Sadly, I'm sure it is not much different everywhere else. I had a professor, Stanford alumni and the best teacher I've ever had, tell us essentially that we knew better than everyone out there because we were in here. Snobbyism is the prevailing ideology of today.
@gabssnake : Its an interesting one: I think he's referring to people who may be extremely well educated but who lack significent life-experience, wisdom or common sense. He seems to be talking about the political class more than anything else, here, and how some with very high IQs are just not equipped to be able to make sound decisions. I don't know how he would describe himself, he's clearly very intelligent, but probably a bit more rounded than your average intellectual?
@MaxTallon Sorry for the late chime in, but he does have somewhat more experience than your avg. intellectual. He was in the military, he has worked for private firms (companies), and he has worked in academia. The people who he was mainly talking about are those who only ventured into their very narrow fields but feel compelled to speak out on issues of which they have little knowledge or information about, or choose to ignore data that is contrary to their narrow ideas.
@goingalt : I couldn't have put it better myself: he's fascinating to listen to. I was very interested in his reference to Chomsky: because I see Chomsky is now telling us all how he knew before the election that Obama would be as bad as Bush. I find this very odd because he was actively urging everyone to vote for Obama during the campaign!
@Goodatconnect4 Well the desire of man is unlimited. So there is no end to others claiming they have a right to be given something at cost of someone else.
It's called Technocracy. It is the system we live in now. Having spent a lot of time in both universities and working class employment I can confidently say that the average labourer has greater insight and depth of understanding of the nature of society than any "expert" who has lived in theoretical worlds within universities.
I find the statement about experrts to be disatisfying. Of course, experts can make great mistakes, they are human. But this does not mean that one should not hear their knowledgable opinions and take them into consideration.
I don't understand Sowell's agreement with the idea that a great chess player should not step into politics because he/she is already rich and famous for playing chess. I imagine that some people, even those who are already rich and famous, feel as though they can and indeed wish to have a greater impact on the world than they could ever achieve by doing something like playing chess. On a side note, I find arguments between political parties to be childish.
As regards excellency within a certain field, I may be using a fairly pedestrian example, but our current crop of Popstars (even going back to the 1960's) seems to conclude that a penchant for catchy melodies means they are able to organize an entire society!
Cross-diciplinary hubris no matter what the field!
The question asked at about 32:00 about the exceptions to intellectual groupthink was answered by Orwell a long time ago, both in his fiction and his essays on language and politics.
"We are becoming a nation of people who are propagandized from elementary school right on through to the graduate school in a certain vision of the world, and only the ones who, for one reason or another, either experience, or insight, or whatever, leads them to say, "Wait a minute!" - only those are the ones we have to depend on." -- Brilliant!
Also, as somebody else pointed out, he quotes that some intellectuals have a "rare ability" to speak with authority on many fields, so he does not say that everybody should stick to one field.
Just FYI, my comment about economics being based on empirical evidence may only be partly true, since Sowell counts Milton Friedman as an intellectual, and I think theoretical economics may exist as a field, but if that's not true (about economics) please correct me if I'm wrong. Thank you
get in the way and misuse their power. If you read his book, he does not necessarily criticize intellectuals who speak outside their field but those who do so AS THOUGH THEY WERE EXPERTS IN THAT FIELD. Here is an example of what I mean: "He held forth on a great range of topics, on some of which he was thoroughly expert, but on others for which he may have derived his views from a few pages in a book...The air of authority was the same in both cases." (note the author is quoting somebody else)
Hmm...a lot of people here seem to be unintentionally constructing straw men of Sowell and pointing out his hypocrisy in criticizing intellectuals. First of all, Sowell is an economist: if you notice at the beginning of the video, he clearly points out that intellectuals are people whose work BEGINS AND ENDS IN IDEAS. Economists, however, use empirical evidence. Also, as other users, thank god, have pointed out, he is not criticizing all intellectuals but only those who let their hubris
The two intellectuals degrading the value of intellectual pursuit in this video appear to harbor a rather ironic sense of themselves. WTF? Do they subsist on the charity of government and academic grants? It seems trite they would argue against the merit of intellectual consensus of which they are a part. It reminds me of Monty Python's "looking for an argument".
@tenmsb - It's clear to me that you're a Leftist. You are completely and utterly unable to take in anything that disagrees with your indoctrination. Thomas Sowell was a Marine. He was a pistol coach in the Marine Corps. He worked for various companies in the private sector. He made his money BEFORE becoming a professor. But you're so indoctrinated you cannot understand this. You're so beyond stupid it's impossible for you to do any research beyond your indoctrination. You're a moron.
Sowell seems to be contradicting himself to me. He criticizes intellectuals for advocating the transfer of power from the masses to those who supposedly know what they're doing, yet at the same time he criticizes intellectuals for commenting on issues beyond their fields, and instead claims that he, an expert in economics, knows best. He's even so bold to claim the great depression could have been avoided if economists had been listened to rather than politicians. Isn't this blatant hypocrisy?
@wowsa0 there is no contradiction at all ... in both/all situations he advocates in favour of free markets and of freedom in general. the 1000 economists, who do not stept outside their field of expertise, wanted to convince politicians not to introduce tariffs on imports because this would lead to retaliation and actually cause unemployment to rise (unfortunately this is what happened). the famous mathematician should have stuck to mathematics ...
@wowsa0 in the experts situation he claims that the combined knowledge of millions of people who are active in the market place is far higher that the knowledge of a handfull of experts and therefore power should not be concentrated in the hands of these experts (who furthermore could have another serious problem given the fact that someone is emplying/paying them).
@wowsa0 it would appear this way only because of your certain set of ingrainged beliefs. what he is sayin is that these supposed "intellectuals" are now the politicians.why would these politicians want to transfer power from the masses,you and me,to them beaurocrats in some far off distant office. the reason is power we no longer have representatives as politicians but a whole and integrated network of elites who profess to "know better" how to spend our income. this the slipperyslopetosocialism
@wowsa0 Those economist wern't saying they knew better then the people, they were saying they knew that economically this would be devastating. Thomas Sowells PH.D is in History of Economical Thought.
One of the first examples Sowell gives is Bertrand Russell, a famous mathematician but also a famous socialist, so I suppose we are to assume that Russell is one of the best examples of what is wrong with these intellectuals. Yet later on Sowell claims that most intellectuals supported the first world war, which is an insult to Bertrand Russell who went to prison campaigning against it.
@wowsa0 this post of yours is proof that you are foolishly trying to poke holes in sowells theory. he is speaking first of how chomsky is a master of linguistics but when he applies his mind to politics his ideas are completley absurd. same with russell noone in their right mind who knows russells work in mathematics would say he wasnt rightminded but when russells ideas and philosophies blend with politics and diplomacy the display his hopless allegiance to communism.
This is an interesting video, although I haven't read his book I was puzzled that one of the first examples given of these troublesome intellectuals was Noam Chomsky. I'm not an expert on Chomsky either, but from what I've heard him say he is very strongly opposed to central planning, and to the 'transfer of decisions from the masses to those who have more intellect'.
@wowsa0 this is the the rub! chomsky is most definatly a student of marxism, he has stated this, knowing this we must assume that he recognizes and supports the use of misleading and misguided propaganda to reach a certain "end" the "means" be damned it matters not , only the intellectuals know whats good for the masses, this is the danger of elitism! the most important question who knows best how to spend your money you or tim geithner?
Thomas Sowell is such a beautiful person, to hear such humility from such an accomplished and extraordinary intellectual is remarkable, it warms my soul ^^
There are more burglaries in Britain than the US? Maybe, but there are more than three times as many homicides in the US, not to mention the countless accidental deaths from gun use. There are also about 25 times as many homicides from firearms in the US than the UK. I'd rather be burgled than shot; I don't know about Thomas Sowell.
@towneslives That's based on the premise that the only thing that leads to more homicides is availability of guns. This would be true if both countries had environments which were exactly the same.
@towneslives Yeah. Violent crime in the UK and US is pretty much at parity. It's just the insane US murder rate because every tom dick and harry is armed.
A good case comparative case is Scotland which has a higher violent crime rate all round than the US but actually has less murders likely because Scott, Duncan and Ian don't have guns.
"But the fact is passing a law doesn't stop people from having guns, it's just makes you defenseless."
That's brilliance.
willabema 1 week ago
I think you have confused Intellectual and Philosopher
Dr. Sowell = Philosopher
amunderdog 1 month ago
His arguments are self-defeating as he himself is a public intellectual. What he has a problem with is that most intellectuals don't share his set of ideas and values.
It is also outright wrong to assume that public intellectuals only are those with ideas as their end product. Those most outspoken against policies in regards to climate change are scientists in the natural sciences.
Regards to Noam Chomsky he is wrong. He became quite famous outside of linguistics before his political writing
astroboomboy 1 month ago
Economist (public Intellectual himself) is a climate change denier; Rants about how public intellectuals shouldn't stray outside their own speciality.
Just a conspiracy theorist who's built a career catering to the right wing / libertarians looking for confirmation bias (hats off, it's worked for him)
0atheist 1 month ago
@0atheist You are jumping the gun a bit. True, he is an Intellectual himself, but unlike the other public Intellectuals he is referring to, particularly the ones who incite panic about global warming(which personally I can't see why it's such a big deal), he is simply explaining his opinions on the subjects and not trying to maneuver his way into power.
I know squat about running a modern business. Does that mean I can't express myself on the topic on how to manage one.
AstroAntaAposAnarch 1 month ago
@0atheist He's talking about the business side of climate change, to them whether its happening or not to people like Sowell people are using it to advance their own agendas and profits.
skydome29 3 weeks ago
I have to disagree with Dr. Sowell on Vietnam and Iraq, these were illegitemate wars and a libertarian would rightly oppose them. Also, if you don't try a terrorist in court, then how do you know he's a terrorist.
htiberian 1 month ago
Even if the top percent were always in the top percent, I'd don't understand why the government thinks they should have to pay more in taxes. People work hard for that extra money and now you want to take it away from them? Isn't America, ideally, the land of Opportunity? Isn't that one of the reasons people came here in the first place, to become more prosperous than where they were before? It just hacks me off. Why can't everyone pay the same amount, no more and no less.
AstroAntaAposAnarch 1 month ago
I love this dude,
blueafghanistan 1 month ago
Intellectuals and society was the first book I read by Sowell. Life hasn't been the same since.
pragmatismnotidealis 1 month ago
why does Ron Paul seem to be running ahead of others in Iowa - all Ron Paul is doing is coming up with a wish list of ideas that allot of Americans want to see happen - the problem with some of Ron Paul's ideas is that they are only dreams and cannot become a truth unless you had the complete congress and senate behind the president which i do not see happening this time around - stop dreaming - vote for less government
nutbagbrew102 1 month ago
There is nothing older than the idea that this is new.
vijaymd44 2 months ago
Regardless of one's political stance, It is absurd to pretend that there are no valid ideas presented in any of Karl Marx's writings.
JimBowie1133 2 months ago
@JimBowie1133 maybe ideas not realities.
myboycoltmccoy 2 months ago
@myboycoltmccoy ,actually he describes and explains many realities concerning worker alienation and the conditions that he saw firsthand. Also,He accurately describes the relationship btwn workers and owners of means of production and the psychological effects of the entire economic system in shaping peoples frame of orientation.
JimBowie1133 1 month ago
As a PhD, Dr. Sowell's commentary is bang on from my personal experience and reading of history. However, I wish he could make the connection between his work in this area and his views on foreign policy, which are a bit disappointing.
PowerCoefficient 2 months ago
@PowerCoefficient "Why not let Iran have nuclear weapons?"
Do you not see anything wrong with this quote.
Ron Paul is not infallible.
gshooting 2 months ago
@gshooting Ron Paul is brilliant on some things, stupid on foreign policy.
chris7777777777777 2 months ago
@chris7777777777777 He has the most brilliant foreign policy. The rest of them would lead us to the third world war.
dreamingWisdom 2 months ago
@chris7777777777777 Israel has tons of nuclear weapons so does America, Iran has NONE. Give peace a chance.
BIueberryPeace 2 months ago
@chris7777777777777 sorry Chris, Ron Paul's foreign policy is the ONLY one that makes any sense.
pretorious700 1 month ago
VOTE RON PAUL 2012
A vote for Dr. Paul is a vote for yourself. He wants to limit gov intrusiveness in our lives & allow US to make our own choices. Stop politicians and the elites from thinking that they are so smart that they know how to run our lives better than we do. He is one of the few politicians that will make difficult decisions, he will balance the budget by his 2nd year, while other politicians plan to balance the budget after their term
LISTEN, UNDERSTAND, DECIDE. RON PAUL 2012
86austinc86 2 months ago
Is anybody as good to listen to as Sowell and Friedman?
sjustinb 2 months ago
Noam Chomsky vs Thomas Sowell. I want to see it.
mixmastermeeks 2 months ago in playlist Sowell
@mixmastermeeks LOL. I was reading Hegemony and Survival started searching for videos on Chomsky then decided to look up Sowell
Sagefrakrobatik 2 months ago
He looks like Keith Olbermann .
forevercold88 3 months ago
@forevercold88 lol true
gshooting 3 months ago
@forevercold88 it's actually his brother!
pseudonominous 2 months ago
Obama's not an intellectual, he's a pseudo-intellectual.
-jcr
NSResponder 3 months ago
Intellectuals should be shot! What have they ever done for society besides be parasites. All we need is GOD, not scientists.
N33DL3R 3 months ago
@N33DL3R wtf man i hope i don't get your irony
myztic123 3 months ago
@N33DL3R says the man using the internet, electricity, computer, and probably many various other things that "scientists" have discovered the principles of.
egokick 3 months ago
@N33DL3R Tell me that you really aren't this stupid?
moediggity28 3 months ago
@N33DL3R what do you refer to exactly by an 'intellectual'?
maxgunn555 3 months ago
I can fully trust these men because what they are saying sounds entirety in sync with reality. Finally, someone who understands intellectuals. Too bad it only has 50k views.
Guessmaname 3 months ago
@The1MOA Just research any of the quotes that they are talking about and see that they are wrong. They will lie to you over and over again and you will always accept it because it sounds like it's in line with your views. This video is entirely politically bias, don't be fooled by it. They pretend to be having a fair conversation about intellectuals and society, when all they are doing is attacking the left! Obama this, Obama that - what about right wing intellectuals? they are just as bad!
Guessmaname 3 months ago
If anyone is doubting the integrity of Peter Robinson, Dr. Sowell, or Hoover institute in general take a second to consider the lies that they are feeding you! If you Google search "it's like these guys take pride in being ignorant" you can clearly see that they are entirely misquoting Obama. Not only is it a clear misquote, its not even in context! OBAMA IS TALKING ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT- NOT EXPERTS IN GENERAL! It's really a shame that hard working right wing citizens are fooled by this bull!
Guessmaname 3 months ago
@Guessmaname The discussion is about so called "experts" in any field. Obama's quote is entirely representative of his and other Ivy league PHD's attitudes about knowledge. Agree or not, their dialogue is completely relevant to that quote in any context.
pretorious700 3 months ago
@Guessmaname Can you back this up?
testmark1 3 months ago
you can't just dis bertrand russel or chomsky like that. I don't necessarily agree with both of them but they are still better then Sowell
TheCrappyaccount 3 months ago
i love this guys voice so much.
Rekopaa 4 months ago
i'm from europe and after finding this video i hoped that in country populated by over 300 milion people, a more significant number would watch it. sadly, there's only 50k views, i guess it's getting more and more difficult to interest someone in such subjects as the role of todays "celebrity" intelectualls in our life. on the other hand, something like this wouldn't even have a chance to be produced by anyone in the european union, so it's not so bad after all.
grymkow 4 months ago
@Hofsteder - What "science" of global warming? In science, you start with a question and work towards a hypothesis and then a conclusion. But in "global warming" or "climate change", you start with the conclusion first and work backwards. The tail wags the dog. The cited examples have too small a sample, and ignore anything that doesn't support their quest.
You ignore totally the fact that these scientists are finding what it is profitable to them personally and professionally to find.
mpc91 4 months ago
@mpc91
Exactly. Whether Global Warming is real or not there hasn't been enough evidence to make it any more than an hypothesis.
ChampionMarauder 4 months ago
@TheMa11lman - They call him one of the great linguists of the 20th Century. I don't dispute that either. But his political and economic views are pure fantasy.
mpc91 4 months ago
THE DREAM TEAM President Ron Paul. Gov Gray Johnson should be his vice president and for a transition period Thomas Sowell or Robert Tollison to head the federal reserve. Peter Schiff economic adviser and Tom Woods would be his press secretory.
AlphaSigma 6 months ago
@AlphaSigma There wouldn't be a federal reserve if they could help it.
runawaymotor 5 months ago
@AlphaSigma - But Ron Paul would look to abolish the Fed, and Sowell would be all for it.
mpc91 4 months ago
@mpc91 Sowell falls more in line with Milton Friedman when it comes to economic philosophy which deals in a micro manner and leaves macro theory in its place. It would be great to get rid of the federal reserve, but while it is present use it correctly.
shamayaify 4 months ago
"There's nothing older than the idea that this is new." Oh man I laughed at that. I love listening to the truth!
Thx for the intro Chapin! You politically incorrect bastard :)
WeighUpJudge 7 months ago
@Hofsteder The AGW hoax has been exposed. Get over it. Climatologists are those that could not find work as weathermen.
DennisOS2 7 months ago
@DennisOS2 'Climatologists are those that could not find work as weathermen' LOL that's awesome - gotta remember that one!
bagzie 6 months ago
LIBERTARIANMONARCHY . COM
ecnerwal999 7 months ago
The quote starting at 0:36 was hilarious!
Coming from a president who hasn't consulted a single Austrian school economist, or anyone who predicted the meltdown!
Sticking with a Fed chief who has got every single decision WRONG!
Obama was told early in his term that he needed to talk to experienced businessmen.
He quickly dismissed it: "That's why I have Valerie around." That would be lawyer, community organizer and Chicago slumlord Valerie Jarrett.
EXPERTS? At WHAT???
hennypenny247 7 months ago
Dr. Sowell: Thank you for speaking the truth!
spacecricket 7 months ago
so many people on here are criticizing his Economic statements, without even the basic economic knowledge one could accidentally remember from an Econ 101 class.
wtube502 7 months ago
Dr Sowell seems to accord with so much of what I believe and makes very good sense much of the time, however whenever he talks about the UK, for example apropos Healthcare and the right to arms vs crime, he simply has no ideas what he is talking about. Typical stereo type propagandised and unresearched views. Unfortunately it undermines his arguments. Shame!
shipitin2 7 months ago
@shipitin2 Please elaborate on why he is mistaken on the UK scenario
ShishirYerramilli 7 months ago
@shipitin2
Cool story, mate.
Sowell referred to empirical examples of a state-run (subsidized) medical service in Basic Econ third edition.
Want to actually address and undermine any of these claims or continue with ad hoc dismissal?
fountainherz 7 months ago
his argument about the movement of people through income brackets doesn't really make sense.. if the rich are always getting poorer while the poor are always getting richer then there wouldn't be a discrepancy between any of the income brackets!
uprooting 7 months ago
@uprooting What? When people make unequal income, there will always be income discrepancy. There will always be a top and bottom percent
tjohn1986 7 months ago
@uprooting - Of course it makes sense. He explains it beautifully. You are comparing groups "the rich", and "the poor", as opposed to individual people at different points of their lives.
Let go of the Marxist class language and look at the lives of individual people.
mpc91 5 months ago
"The work of an intellectual is not to mould the political will of others; it is, through the analyses that he does in his own field, to re-examine evidence and assumptions, to shake up habitual ways of working and thinking, to dissipate conventional familiarities, to re-evaluate rules and institutions and to participate in the formation of a political will" - Foucault
uprooting 7 months ago
@uprooting LOL!Was this same brilliant intellectual Focault who supported Ayotallah Khomeini during the Iranian revolution and then was shocked!shocked that the latter and his mullah cohorts proceeds to propagate a regressive social agenda which inluded persecution of homosexuals and oppressing women!
ShishirYerramilli 7 months ago
@uprooting "The work of an intellectual is not to mould the political will of others; ....... and to participate in the formation of a political will"
This statement itself indicates to me that intellectuals like Focault are utterly lacking in any sense of perspective or even modesty!
ShishirYerramilli 7 months ago
@uprooting
Please note that in that quotation Focault says once the intellectual should mould others political will and then follows up with recommendations how to go to about doing just that!Then he goes ahead and advocates intellectuals participation in the political sphere!He is either a hypocrite who wants his ilk to weasel his way into power or a damn fool who cant even frame a sentence without contradicting himself!Either way we can safely relegate him to the dustbin of academia!
ShishirYerramilli 7 months ago
@ShishirYerramilli yeah his "politics" is based on analysis, not the other way around.. thats the whole point of the statement
uprooting 7 months ago
@uprooting oops I shouldve said "Focault says that intellectuals should NOT mould the political will of others" and then goes ahead and recommends methods for doing just that ,however in a covert manner!!
ShishirYerramilli 7 months ago
problem is top 20% is making ; lets say 100 million, in the later period, they're making 50 million. The lower start off with so little, of course anything they make later on will be higher but its still not enough. I still love the guy. im
Bloodsport1 7 months ago
@Bloodsport1 - again, you fall into the trap of looking at groups of people instead of people. Nobody starts off making 100 million per year.
The top 20% is a different group of people later on, as is the bottom 20%. As the economy works, some people will make more, and some will make less.
There's no problem, except that those who would try to fix the non-existent problem have created real ones through failed social programs.
mpc91 5 months ago
"What would I say to the head of the mafia, to get him give up crime. There wouldn't be a thing that could say to him"
:)
PoppinSean 8 months ago
Did you ever watch someone talk, know they are saying something clearly, and you cannot possibly tell another person what they just said? I dont know if this is a built in defense mechanism he has or the man is just an absolute genius. I admit I dont know why he sounds like a politician testifying under oath...yet presumebly he is a down to earth guy. Am I missing something when this guy talks?
Pakua42 8 months ago
This guy is pseudo-intellectual imbecile. with no intellectual credibility outside the university of chicago.
MrAlecaf 8 months ago
@MrAlecaf" This guy is pseudo-intellectual imbecile. with no intellectual credibility outside the university of chicago."
This poster like Keynesian who opposed to the "imbecile" Dr Sowell, follows Keynsian geniuses like Paul Krugman who believes that government spending leads to prosperity!
ShishirYerramilli 7 months ago
osha for burglars. hahahah. this guy is great
brewskypenquin 8 months ago
Intellectuals--or those Ivy League graduates who believe themselves to be intellectuals--don't have the answers and they certainly don't have the answers for all of us--patriotic American citizens. In government, they are a disaster! Obama is not really an intellectual; he makes far too many pronunciation errors, misinformation, examples that aren't valid, etc. in his speeches [basically anything that is not delineated on the teleprompter]. He just "thinks" he's a genius...
Brontefan47 8 months ago
@Hofsteder Everything you said is true, but I hope you're not debunking everything he's saying JUST on that one point. I don't agree with him on global warming either, or the fact that he thinks the war in Iraq is a good idea, but on other things he is absolutely brilliant and on point.
And the things he's dead wrong about are the things that are not his area of study, so yeah, it's ironic that he proves the point of his own book by example, unintentionally of course! XD
eatthatmeatball 8 months ago
How I wish I had known of this man much earlier in my life-he is great!
dnganga 8 months ago
@dnganga He's my hero! Sowell and Thomas [US Supreme Court Justice] are my heroes.
Brontefan47 8 months ago
Did he teach VooDoo Economics, That a good class He should teach that on or may be that's actually the name of the subject.
comptonproduction 9 months ago
This man hold all the knowledge that is missing from the bay area. Sad. Berkeley and SF schools could learn alot from this brilliant man.
nikeakle 9 months ago
Mr Sowell, Have you ever taken a look (speaking of intellectuals) @ this evaluation of how the events of the future was played out through the NATURAL vengeful antiquated idealizations of a few people who contrived to force their agenda on a beaten down nation?
Youtube "The Six Months That Changed the World | John V. Denson "
dokholliday000 9 months ago
35:05 It isn't necessarily "insight." For me, it's severe contrarianism, to suspect bullshit even at the cost of discovering that it isn't.
theyangist 9 months ago
I think it may also prove helpful to some of the viewers here to try to evaluate many of the more strident claims of the anti-theist critique ("brights") from a ideological/ metaphysics perspective. Check out the recent article by Jackson Lears in the May 16, 2011 issue of the The Nation entitled "Same Old New Atheism" .The article offers a compelling analysis of Sam Harris' works. Consideration is given to general atheistic social perspectives
shieldsff 9 months ago
Interesting to define an intellectual as a person of ideas who do not produce a product.
But then Sowell plays this role quite well. Scholars live in a culture motivated by upmanship and attach. Dr. Sowell has good content but he also has an agenda to push and belittle those who hold another view. If I read his work and can dismiss his politicizing the discussion, then I can be enlighten. But this hard because of the visceral disdain for any other views.
pgcaman 9 months ago
@pgcaman @hofsteder &@ all others claiming this book's theme is is hypocrisy. Tom is calling for a DECREASE in intellectual influence on locally consequential decisions. Other intellectuals call for an increase, regardless of the subject areas. This increase is expressed in power delivered to the ideas proposed by the individual intellectuals. The purpose of this book is to approach consequential power from the priorities of the people (not person), which hold the other 99% of knowledge. l2read
srslysam 8 months ago
@pgcaman
He didn't say he wasn't an intellectual according to his definition, nor did he say that such intellectuals were bad in themselves, he is condemning a certain proposed role for the intellectual within political society. It is also a role that has come to redefine the term "intellectual" (as someone who occupies this role) which explains the confusion that some people have over what they see as his general disparagement of the term.
Aphoresis 7 months ago
"there is nothing older than the idea that this is new"
great quote
Dommo1992 9 months ago
I admire Dr. Sowell, but in this interview he did EXACTLY what he accused Noam Chompky of doing and jumped out of his area of expertise to comment on global warming. Even he, who is so well steeped in the idea, can't help but do it.
christo930 9 months ago
@christo930 Mmm.. Had he offered his opinion beyond a comment highlighting a flaw in what was regarded as crucial evidence, I might be critical as well. But I'm not seeing that here.
mhearstify 9 months ago
@christo930 It doesnt take a climate change expert to figure out that climate scientists fudge data ,language and reverse cause and effect(in the particular instance that he mentions).
Also his main issue is with the fact the GW alarmists dont like to be challenged and tend to dismiss and ridicule contradictory data or opinions which is true.
His comment is relevant and accurate as it fits the pattern of public intellectual(climate scientists) creating demand for their own services.
ShishirYerramilli 7 months ago
Love this & his humility!
jerwgar 9 months ago
This is a great read. Well, great listen. I have the audio. Highly informative.
KenMacMillan 9 months ago
Sowell is an interesting person to follow, but it's borderline comedy when he chastises intellectuals for talking about topics outside their area of knowledge, after which he tries his luck as a climate scientist.
zuffox 9 months ago
@zuffox Only Sowell isn't trying to shape U.S. climate change policy via the EPA or IPCC. Or profiting immensely from eco-priesthood like a certain former vice-president with no scientific credentials whatsoever.
lsudolemite 9 months ago
Is this guy seriously belittling Bertrand Russell? haha
LeoLeoni13 10 months ago
@LeoLeoni13 yes. Bertrand Russell outside of his field was a fool.
leoosiku 10 months ago
@LeoLeoni13
Sure. I would belittle Albert Einstein if he tried to fix my plumbing.
imblessedso 10 months ago
Americans are not guaranteed to have leaders that can fix real life problems because Intellectualism does not equate to what? I am confused. Maybe because I am an intellectual, or because I am nowhere close to an intellectual. This 36:33 is an example of his ideology. A very intelligent man who intellectualizes a thought that should take 3 minutes to discuss and stretches it out past a half an hour. I really hope this was not another Conservative pep rally for educational underachievement.
drbayoms 10 months ago
@drbayoms no, not at all. intellectualism is good when it's in it's proper place. An intellectual is a thinker who has ideas he/she wants to share and most of all wants other people to listen. The intellectuals Sowell is criticizing are thinkers who want their ideas to be spread and want people to agree with them. they are the intellectuals that given govt sponsored positions where they meet out answers for other peoples problems. Practical selection is all but left out of the work of the latter
Ravengaurd6 9 months ago
1) Intellectuals do not believe that they should be in charge. Most of them are liberals, which means, by definition, that they support representative government. 2) Everyone believes that healthcare is a right, even conservatives. This right comes from our ever increasing standards for what life should be. 3) Bash exclusive universities if you want, especially if you didn't get in anyway.
SMMedina325 10 months ago
@SMMedina325 2) A "right"? Every right of yours means someone else has a *duty*. If you have a *right* to life, then other people have a *duty* not to take away that life. If you have a *right* to healthcare, then other people will have the "duty" to provide you with healthcare. And this is were your whole proposition falls apart.
CarlosMarti123 10 months ago
One way or another, this is a very interesting interview.
DreamINfiniteMoment 10 months ago
uncommon common sense
MsMakinwaves 10 months ago
I can't stand liberals in this country anymore.USA is going to hell.
corleonejp 11 months ago
Excellent!
crystalcalia 11 months ago
Intellectuals themselves are not the problem so long as they know and admit their limitations.
f0b0m 11 months ago
@f0b0m To expand on your premise, perhaps the problem with intellectuals is the poeple who empower those intellectuals, to the point where their often erronious ideology can be translate into public policy. From that point their 'intellect' has real world consequences for the society as a whole. An intellectual in his/her backyard isn't much of a threat to your liberties, but in the congress, courts or the white house...may very well be. Admitting limitations seems antithetical to intellegencia.
tungstencarbide100 11 months ago
inteclectuals are rats of libraries
SuperAlexrios 11 months ago
@SuperAlexrios you humor me.
Ravengaurd6 10 months ago
I absolutely cannot believe how many partisan tools cite Thomas Sowell's status as an intellectual as to why his ideas are fallacious. It is not even remotely permissible to assert that he disavows intellectualism in itself. He posits that adopting the opinion of any person in particular as federal policy is an abjectly terrible idea because knowledge that has economic impact, by nature, is held by everybody other than intellectuals who have no connection with the markets whatsoever.
TheFuckingBanshee 11 months ago
I'm a huge fan, but isn't it interesting that Thomas Sowell is an intellectual himself?
Apotheosis1321 11 months ago
@Apotheosis1321 I think the thrust of his argument is that intellectuals don't have all of the answers, and I'm pretty sure he includes himself in that judgement.
pretorious700 11 months ago
I would not want this guy to be my dad. "Son you only cleaned your room so that you could gain favour with mom"
His philosophy of politics is bitter and cynical. He is describing a world in which all intellectuals think like he does. Psychological projection gives this guy the confidence to say what he does with the confidence in which he says it.
"Just look at Vietnam!" with no details whatsoever. My B S detector is way off the charts.
He is a very skillful liberal rabble-rouser.
CineVosh 11 months ago
@CineVosh you need details for vietnam?,,,it was a given...
salupaginahit 11 months ago
Brace, Dr Sowell isn't saying intellectuals are all bad. Many problems can arise because of fallacies that many intellectuals believe and the policies they support, popularize and implement.
M0rmagil 11 months ago
What Dr. Sowell is saying is an idea. The difference is this idea isn't responsible for harming millions.
silentthriller 11 months ago
I should buy this book
anryth 11 months ago
Great interview!
VoiceOfModeration 11 months ago
I agree with almost everything this guy has to say. Including the fact that Chomsky is a smart guy, but his politics are "utterly absurd" (I would just call them a crock of shit).
Nazi Germanys government was full of intellectuals (extremely high IQ gov.), look where that went. Look at where communism has taken countries with their "elite intellectuals" in charge - over 110 million dead and counting!!
Bottom line, there are NO ANGELS that will run society for us. Say NO to centralizd powr
scrembo 11 months ago
@scrembo And say no to government-funded intellectuals.
john42t 8 months ago
and one more thing. What Sowell is talking about is similiar to what Dostoevsky was writing about in "Demons", specifically Shigalyovism. I go to Portland State. I feel ripped off by the elitist groupthink that prevails there. Sadly, I'm sure it is not much different everywhere else. I had a professor, Stanford alumni and the best teacher I've ever had, tell us essentially that we knew better than everyone out there because we were in here. Snobbyism is the prevailing ideology of today.
50percentFirebird 1 year ago
I'm reading the book right now and it is pure pwnage!! XD
50percentFirebird 1 year ago
Is this guy not an intellectual? I don't understand
gabssnake 1 year ago
@gabssnake Well of course he is, but he is not representative of what most intellectuals believe or how most intellectuals deal with issues.
He isn't critizising all intellectuals, but merely the tendencies that tend to be characteristic of intellectuals in general.
mrinsano555 1 year ago
@gabssnake : Its an interesting one: I think he's referring to people who may be extremely well educated but who lack significent life-experience, wisdom or common sense. He seems to be talking about the political class more than anything else, here, and how some with very high IQs are just not equipped to be able to make sound decisions. I don't know how he would describe himself, he's clearly very intelligent, but probably a bit more rounded than your average intellectual?
MaxTallon 1 year ago
@MaxTallon Sorry for the late chime in, but he does have somewhat more experience than your avg. intellectual. He was in the military, he has worked for private firms (companies), and he has worked in academia. The people who he was mainly talking about are those who only ventured into their very narrow fields but feel compelled to speak out on issues of which they have little knowledge or information about, or choose to ignore data that is contrary to their narrow ideas.
goingalt 1 year ago
@goingalt : I couldn't have put it better myself: he's fascinating to listen to. I was very interested in his reference to Chomsky: because I see Chomsky is now telling us all how he knew before the election that Obama would be as bad as Bush. I find this very odd because he was actively urging everyone to vote for Obama during the campaign!
MaxTallon 10 months ago
Peter Robinson is a genius
zuruva 1 year ago
Good question at 21:18 ; Where does this logic of "This is a right" end? Yachts? TVs? Cell Phones? Cars?
Goodatconnect4 1 year ago
@Goodatconnect4 Well the desire of man is unlimited. So there is no end to others claiming they have a right to be given something at cost of someone else.
KurzLuppii 1 year ago
Almost all my "End products" result in questions.
hlcom30 1 year ago
@something9313 That's a misunderstanding of Sowell is saying. He never says that stepping outside of one's field always results in disaster.
chapaev36 1 year ago
It's called Technocracy. It is the system we live in now. Having spent a lot of time in both universities and working class employment I can confidently say that the average labourer has greater insight and depth of understanding of the nature of society than any "expert" who has lived in theoretical worlds within universities.
jimberkt 1 year ago
@jimberkt Amen, brother.
HuggumsMcgehee 1 year ago
@jimberkt Well said!!
33kemit 1 year ago
I find the statement about experrts to be disatisfying. Of course, experts can make great mistakes, they are human. But this does not mean that one should not hear their knowledgable opinions and take them into consideration.
KrfNYC2 1 year ago
@KrfNYC2 Are you suggesting that Sowell is saying this? Because he isn't.
chapaev36 1 year ago
I don't understand Sowell's agreement with the idea that a great chess player should not step into politics because he/she is already rich and famous for playing chess. I imagine that some people, even those who are already rich and famous, feel as though they can and indeed wish to have a greater impact on the world than they could ever achieve by doing something like playing chess. On a side note, I find arguments between political parties to be childish.
KrfNYC2 1 year ago
As regards excellency within a certain field, I may be using a fairly pedestrian example, but our current crop of Popstars (even going back to the 1960's) seems to conclude that a penchant for catchy melodies means they are able to organize an entire society!
Cross-diciplinary hubris no matter what the field!
tedwilson79 1 year ago
The question asked at about 32:00 about the exceptions to intellectual groupthink was answered by Orwell a long time ago, both in his fiction and his essays on language and politics.
OckhamDeRazor 1 year ago
"We are becoming a nation of people who are propagandized from elementary school right on through to the graduate school in a certain vision of the world, and only the ones who, for one reason or another, either experience, or insight, or whatever, leads them to say, "Wait a minute!" - only those are the ones we have to depend on." -- Brilliant!
republicken 1 year ago
Also, as somebody else pointed out, he quotes that some intellectuals have a "rare ability" to speak with authority on many fields, so he does not say that everybody should stick to one field.
Just FYI, my comment about economics being based on empirical evidence may only be partly true, since Sowell counts Milton Friedman as an intellectual, and I think theoretical economics may exist as a field, but if that's not true (about economics) please correct me if I'm wrong. Thank you
MrZany1001 1 year ago
get in the way and misuse their power. If you read his book, he does not necessarily criticize intellectuals who speak outside their field but those who do so AS THOUGH THEY WERE EXPERTS IN THAT FIELD. Here is an example of what I mean: "He held forth on a great range of topics, on some of which he was thoroughly expert, but on others for which he may have derived his views from a few pages in a book...The air of authority was the same in both cases." (note the author is quoting somebody else)
MrZany1001 1 year ago
Hmm...a lot of people here seem to be unintentionally constructing straw men of Sowell and pointing out his hypocrisy in criticizing intellectuals. First of all, Sowell is an economist: if you notice at the beginning of the video, he clearly points out that intellectuals are people whose work BEGINS AND ENDS IN IDEAS. Economists, however, use empirical evidence. Also, as other users, thank god, have pointed out, he is not criticizing all intellectuals but only those who let their hubris
MrZany1001 1 year ago
22:41--OSHA for burglars! LOL
milfrie 1 year ago
Great interview !
MrKiromunist 1 year ago
Thank you for this interview.
Mackingster 1 year ago
The two intellectuals degrading the value of intellectual pursuit in this video appear to harbor a rather ironic sense of themselves. WTF? Do they subsist on the charity of government and academic grants? It seems trite they would argue against the merit of intellectual consensus of which they are a part. It reminds me of Monty Python's "looking for an argument".
tenmsb 1 year ago
@tenmsb - It's clear to me that you're a Leftist. You are completely and utterly unable to take in anything that disagrees with your indoctrination. Thomas Sowell was a Marine. He was a pistol coach in the Marine Corps. He worked for various companies in the private sector. He made his money BEFORE becoming a professor. But you're so indoctrinated you cannot understand this. You're so beyond stupid it's impossible for you to do any research beyond your indoctrination. You're a moron.
thomaserossi 1 year ago
This is important. And damning. I hope that Sowell's book makes an impact on our society.
chapaev36 1 year ago
Sowell seems to be contradicting himself to me. He criticizes intellectuals for advocating the transfer of power from the masses to those who supposedly know what they're doing, yet at the same time he criticizes intellectuals for commenting on issues beyond their fields, and instead claims that he, an expert in economics, knows best. He's even so bold to claim the great depression could have been avoided if economists had been listened to rather than politicians. Isn't this blatant hypocrisy?
wowsa0 1 year ago
@wowsa0 there is no contradiction at all ... in both/all situations he advocates in favour of free markets and of freedom in general. the 1000 economists, who do not stept outside their field of expertise, wanted to convince politicians not to introduce tariffs on imports because this would lead to retaliation and actually cause unemployment to rise (unfortunately this is what happened). the famous mathematician should have stuck to mathematics ...
Radu1137 1 year ago
@wowsa0 in the experts situation he claims that the combined knowledge of millions of people who are active in the market place is far higher that the knowledge of a handfull of experts and therefore power should not be concentrated in the hands of these experts (who furthermore could have another serious problem given the fact that someone is emplying/paying them).
Radu1137 1 year ago
@wowsa0 it would appear this way only because of your certain set of ingrainged beliefs. what he is sayin is that these supposed "intellectuals" are now the politicians.why would these politicians want to transfer power from the masses,you and me,to them beaurocrats in some far off distant office. the reason is power we no longer have representatives as politicians but a whole and integrated network of elites who profess to "know better" how to spend our income. this the slipperyslopetosocialism
libknocker 1 year ago
@wowsa0 Those economist wern't saying they knew better then the people, they were saying they knew that economically this would be devastating. Thomas Sowells PH.D is in History of Economical Thought.
Mezey5 1 year ago
One of the first examples Sowell gives is Bertrand Russell, a famous mathematician but also a famous socialist, so I suppose we are to assume that Russell is one of the best examples of what is wrong with these intellectuals. Yet later on Sowell claims that most intellectuals supported the first world war, which is an insult to Bertrand Russell who went to prison campaigning against it.
wowsa0 1 year ago
@wowsa0 this post of yours is proof that you are foolishly trying to poke holes in sowells theory. he is speaking first of how chomsky is a master of linguistics but when he applies his mind to politics his ideas are completley absurd. same with russell noone in their right mind who knows russells work in mathematics would say he wasnt rightminded but when russells ideas and philosophies blend with politics and diplomacy the display his hopless allegiance to communism.
libknocker 1 year ago
This is an interesting video, although I haven't read his book I was puzzled that one of the first examples given of these troublesome intellectuals was Noam Chomsky. I'm not an expert on Chomsky either, but from what I've heard him say he is very strongly opposed to central planning, and to the 'transfer of decisions from the masses to those who have more intellect'.
wowsa0 1 year ago
@wowsa0 this is the the rub! chomsky is most definatly a student of marxism, he has stated this, knowing this we must assume that he recognizes and supports the use of misleading and misguided propaganda to reach a certain "end" the "means" be damned it matters not , only the intellectuals know whats good for the masses, this is the danger of elitism! the most important question who knows best how to spend your money you or tim geithner?
libknocker 1 year ago
Around the 18:00 mark: What the host says about reading Marx's Communist Manifesto... EXACTLY MY WORDS when I read the bloody thing myself!
JWRandall423 1 year ago
Thomas Sowell is such a beautiful person, to hear such humility from such an accomplished and extraordinary intellectual is remarkable, it warms my soul ^^
killerbee2k 1 year ago
Intellectuals and Society..is this a Fictional or Non-Fictional..;)
Ridgid 1 year ago
Sigh :/ around 15:00 is pretty tragic. To para: "Lets judge things like 'climate change' ad hominem."
CmdrTobs 1 year ago
There are more burglaries in Britain than the US? Maybe, but there are more than three times as many homicides in the US, not to mention the countless accidental deaths from gun use. There are also about 25 times as many homicides from firearms in the US than the UK. I'd rather be burgled than shot; I don't know about Thomas Sowell.
towneslives 1 year ago
@towneslives That's based on the premise that the only thing that leads to more homicides is availability of guns. This would be true if both countries had environments which were exactly the same.
ElNajmaD 1 year ago
@towneslives Yeah. Violent crime in the UK and US is pretty much at parity. It's just the insane US murder rate because every tom dick and harry is armed.
A good case comparative case is Scotland which has a higher violent crime rate all round than the US but actually has less murders likely because Scott, Duncan and Ian don't have guns.
CmdrTobs 1 year ago