Thomas Sowell has published a large volume of writing. His dozen books, as well as numerous articles and essays, cover a wide range of topics, from classic economic theory to judicial activism, from civil rights to choosing the right college. Please contact your local newspaper editor if you want to read the THOMAS SOWELL column in your hometown paper.
It is ironic that the current Middle East conflict is taking place on the 20th anniversary of the Falkland Islands war because both involved the same key factor — war brought on by pacifism. In both cases, a weaker force attacked a stronger force, secure in the...
When the sentence for Andrea Yates’ killing her five children was announced, most of the media reported it as a life sentence and some noted that she would be eligible for parole in 40 years. In reality, Andrea Yates can be freed at any time by any present or...
At tax time this year, some blacks are going to end up paying more than they owe — and not all of it to the Internal Revenue Service. Confidence men are especially targeting elderly blacks in the South, charging them a fee for filing claims for tax refunds based...
The only good thing about the Andrea Yates case is that the jury was obviously not influenced by the months of propaganda for her by radical feminists, while the judge’s gag order kept the prosecution from telling the public the other side of the story. This is...
Random thoughts about growing old: Despite the problems that come with aging, I would not be a teenager again for $1,000 a day plus expenses. I never really felt old until my younger brother retired. This is the period of life that Disraeli referred to as...
If facts carried some weight with those who are politically correct, the recent outbreak of savage and lethal violence in India’s state of Gujarat might cause some reassessments of both India and “diversity.” This is only the latest round in a cycle...
A recent e-mail from a reader said that he could not find the word “shibboleth” in his desk dictionary, even though he had seen this word in my column. That was an unfortunate omission in his dictionary because shibboleths explain a lot about what is said...
If even half the things that Enron is charged with are true, then some of the company’s top brass should get a few decades behind bars to think over what a dirty thing they have done to so many other people, who trusted them and depended on them. But that is...
The Enron scandal was welcomed like an unexpected Christmas present by Democrats who, together with much of the media, have tried to tie the scandal to the Bush administration. However, as more and more information has come out about Enron, it has become clear that...
When California Republicans vote in next Tuesday’s primary, they will face a much less difficult choice for their party’s nomination for governor than they had just a few weeks ago. Until recently, liberal Republican Richard Riordan, former mayor of Los...
What is called Black History Month might more accurately be called “the sins of white people” month. The “sins” of any branch of the human race are virtually inexhaustible, but the history of blacks in America includes a lot more than the sins...
In its reckless disregard of the Constitution when it passed “campaign finance reform” legislation, the House of Representatives has demonstrated dramatically why we need real political reform. The First Amendment to the Constitution begins “Congress...
For many of the politically correct today, it is enough to dismiss George Washington because he was a dead white male.
The compromise education bill just passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush provided some good political theater and even a little humor, with the president embracing Ted Kennedy. But what did it do for American education? Not much. The new legislation...
Too many people who talk about a lack of “affordable housing” seem to think that this is something the government must build or subsidize. It never seems to occur to them that government activity is itself one of the biggest reasons for housing being...
A RECENTLY published housing study says: “San Francisco is one of the densest large cities in the U.S.” That is true in both senses of the word “dense.” Nowhere are San Franciscans more dense than when talking about housing — especially...
One of the sad signs of our times is that we have demonized those who produce, subsidized those who refuse to produce, and canonized those who complain. Sometimes it seems as if love songs are being replaced by sex songs. I am going to stop procrastinating — one...
“Roots” was the only book I knew my teenage son to read, aside from assigned school books, computer manuals and chess books. He was thrilled to receive a copy autographed by Alex Haley, courtesy of George Haley, his brother, whom I had met. Alex Haley...
Most people have to deal with the reality that confronts them. They start with that reality and try to do the best they can within its limitations and within their own limitations. But there are large and growing numbers of people — especially among the...
Our war against terrorism is just a few months old, but already we have had two well-publicized young American traitors. One was captured fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan and the other deliberately flew a plane into a building in Florida, leaving behind a note...
Anybody can be mistaken — except haters, apparently. Whenever others express their hatred of Americans, in words or deeds, the hand-wringers among us want us to ask: “Why do they hate us?” Apparently we should automatically go in quest of those...
Most people seem to have responded to the demands for reparations for slavery in one of two ways. Either they have supported the demands or they have maintained a discreet silence. One of the few people to treat these demands as a serious subject requiring a serious...
Self preservation is said to be the first law of nature, and this applies not only to human beings but also to organizations and movements. The March of Dimes was set up to fight polio but it did not disband when polio was wiped out by vaccines. Nor did civil rights...
How and why had I changed from a young leftist to someone with my present views, which are essentially in favor of free markets and traditional values? In a sense, it was not so much a change in underlying philosophy, as in my vision of how human beings operate. Back...
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