Product Description
"The desire of individuals and groups to puff themselves up by imposing their vision on other people is a recurring theme in the culture wars" Thomas Sowell takes on a range of legal, social, racial, educational, and economic issues--along with "the culture wars"--in this latest collection of his controversial, never boring, always thought-provoking essays. From "gun control myths" to "mealy mouth media" to "free lunch medicine," Sowell gets to the heart of the matters we all care about with his characteristically unswerving candor. Sowell skewers the "mealy mouth media" that calls terrorists "insurgents" and rioters "demonstrators." He reveals how "the idiocy of relevance" in learning has been particularly destructive in the education of minority students at all levels. He explains how a free market and a strict construction of the 14th Amendment would never have permitted the laws that asked Rosa Parks to give up her seat to a white man. And he clarifies the confusion between equal opportunity and equal results that resides behind many kinds of "spoiled brat politics." With Ever Wonder Why?--drawn from the best of his popular syndicated newspaper columns--Sowell once again takes dead aim at the self-righteous and self-important forces in government, media, education, and other areas of our society, offering the thoughtful perceptions, commonsense insights, and straightforward honesty we have come to expect from one of conservatism's most articulate voices. Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Among his published works are Basic Economics, Late Talking Children, and Race and Culture. He has also published in both academic journals and the popular media including Newsweek, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and 150 newspapers that carry his nationally syndicated column.
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 Sowell Takes on the "Mush Heads" and "Mealy Mouths" ( bookman_from_md )
For such a learned scholar (who has written such technical books as "Culture and Conquest"), Thomas Sowell writes some of the most delightful popular essays. "Ever Wonder Why" is a collection of his newspaper essays written in the last few years.
Sowell is very much a conservative with liberarian tendencies. (In one essay, he calls himself a "conservative radical.") For those who would classify themselves similarly, there is much to love in these essaya. For all others, hang on to your hats.
The book is divided into seven sections: (1) The Culture Wars, (2) Economic Issues, (3) Legal Issues, (4) Poiitical Issues, (5) Social Issues, (6) Educational Issues, and (7) Racial Issues. While the essay topics are quite varied - from the economic harms of environmental politics to whether race correlates with IQ - there are somseveral reoccurring themes.
As Sowell is a (world class) economist, the strongest theme is that no matter how much some might wish differently, the fact is that the world functions by economic principles. Supply and demand are not evil; it is just the way we all think. Policies that try and usurp people's ability to set their own prices and make their own econmic decision will (almost?) always lead to less efficiency and more waste. Sowell explains this by examining things like tariffs, environmental regulations, and housing codes (all straight from the headlines!)
Another big theme is what Sowell calls the "tyranny of visions" (see his books "Vision of the Annointed" and "Conflict of Visions" for book-length treatments.) Here, Sowell excoriates those who quest, chimerically, after policies without a downside and ignore the FACT that ALL policies need to be examined as trade-offs between benefits and costs. Want to save the wetlands? First, think about the cost of not building on that land. Want to make cars safer? First, think about whether you are inadvertently hurting those who suddenly cannot afford the resulting increase in the price of vehicles. The 'tyranny of ideology' that Sowell notes is letting one's zeal for a certain vision blind one to any downsides or costs incurred as a result.
As an educator, my favorite section was that on "educational issues." Sowell is quite hard on the current trends towards less academics and more "self-esteem" in schools, and the gradual lowering of standards. In the name of an egalitarian vision where all children are equal in all respects, we are gradually shunning rigor for the sake of making all children "feel good" (until they realize that they can't read, and then we label them with learning disabilities.)
For all of this, I do have to point out that occasionally, Sowell is inconsistent and just plain wrong. Where Sowell rails about the virtues of small government, he is quite a proponent of abn expansive war on terror. While he extols the virtue of a "strict construction" interpretation of the constitution, in another essay he suggests that the Constitution protects freedom of contract (which is nowhere in the text). Sowell also wrongly defines "judicial activism" as times when judges take a "broad" reading of the Constituiton (rather than the law-school definition of times when judges strike down laws enacted by legislative bodies).
Disagreements aside, I whole-heartedly reccomend this book. As a coleection of short editorial-style essays, one is not going to get much sustained analysis here, it is still a great book of learned opinions written in a very readable style. It will make any "conservative radical" (or libertarian) proud!
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 I've often wondered why more people don't wonder ( ldente )
A very entertaining look at our modern culture. Each essay challenges us to think about issues that should be obvious, but apparantly aren't for a large segment of the population. It seems as though we have met the enemy, and it is us. A real eye opener, I'd be very interested in seeing what all of these annointed folks would come up with to counter Mr. Sowell's views.
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First Rate ( charmikeb )
This is a great read. Sowell addresses key issues in a logical way using compelling data. Each segmengt is abougt two pages, so it is easy to pick up, put down and think a little. Anyone with liberal leanings who is open to seeing another side of things may find Sowell a great source.
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A Great Compendium of Sowell Essays ( royalrhyno )
I found this collection of Dr. Sowell's articles great.
Arranged by topic, it highlights the his incisive logic to everyday problems and "crises".
If you are looking for contra-logic on some of today's problems this book is a most read.
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Good Supplimental Sowell Material
I would not recommend this for first time Sowell readers, as it may come off smug and arrogant; instead, first check out some of his comprehensive, subject driven books so you know that he knows exactly what he's talking about. This is a collection of Sowell's essays and columns that have been published over the years, split into broad categories. As such, the material is condensed and not detailed with much data as in his other books, but the points remain loud and clear. It is an excellent supplimental for true believers, full of essay after essay of light, yet engaging material. If you've ever spent an hour or so browsing through the archives of Sowell columns on your local newspaper's website, this book is perfect for you.
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