Discrimination and Disparities

Thomas Sowell continues to be the most important teacher in my life. His classes (books) are informative, inspiring and thought provoking. It would be near impossible to quantify how important they have been in my life.

The man is an American treasure. How that useless punk Obama got a Nobel Prize, but Dr. Sowell has been left out in the cold is beyond me.
If you have any young adults in your household, give them his most popular works. It will give them an intellectual leg up, an advantage not provided in our government indoctrination mills.

I listened to the reading by Robertson Dean on the MP3 CD, a performance which presents the 200-page book over five hours of listening. Robertson's clear enunciation and pacing were ideal for this book of facts and ideas.

Sowell begins with the disparities that abound in nature, especially in what results from complex factor combinations, illustrated by intriguing examples from weather, among other things, for example that something like 90% of lightning occurs in Africa, and a similar proportion of tornadoes in America's Midwest (who knew?). Human conditions are even more complex and subject to the presence or absence of factors or conditions, any one of which may be necessary but not sufficient to account for give phenomena. For example, Jewish culture has valued literacy and study for many centuries but few Jews were prominent in European intellectual/cultural history until the 19th Century at which time they became statistically over-represented. The cultural values that enabled this were present for centuries but needed other conditions to change to allow this cultural group to become prominent. Sowell's point is that simple explanations which attribute cultural/economic success or the lack thereof to a single cause (like social prejudice) are misguided.

Sowell's second point is that assuming that characteristics like height, intelligence, or social standing should be randomly distributed is not empirically demonstrable, and thus the quest to "correct" such imbalances is fated to fail when the the complex factors for such are reduced to simple explanations thus used as the basis for correction.

Sowell's third point is that discrimination is real, but that there are differences between a prejudice that is animus-based and one that is fact-based. The fear that one's car will be stolen in a poor Black neighborhood is one shared by the Black residents of that neighborhood, not just by White visitors, and the fear is fact-based. This is where Sowell's expertise as an economist leads to insight, for when people allow animus based prejudice to influence their decisions, there is an economic cost. If women are paid less for the same work, then crafty entrepreneurs would advance their business by hiring mostly women and maximize their profits. This is originally an insight of Booker T. Washington who famously said, the freed slaves, "Be the best carpenter in your town and even the prejudiced will hire you to build their homes."

Sowell discusses a number of issues where animus prejudice is commonly held as an explanation, and policy solutions based on this assumption have proven dysfunctional. For example, who pays the price when Black criminals are treated leniently? Since most Black criminals commit their crimes in the Black community, it is that community that must suffer, not only the human suffering from violent crime, but the economic cost of higher prices from retailers, car insurance, home security, etc.

Sowell observes that humans sort themselves out naturally, and social planners sometimes do not like the results and attempt to sort people by law. This was unjust in the days of Jim Crow laws, and also in the days of busing, and while the latter was portrayed in news and analysis as White prejudice against assimilation, Black families affected also objected, especially those who had moved to suburban neighborhoods to get away from ghetto conditions, only to see their children sent back.

Another area where Sowell provides valuable insight is in the complex social phenomenon of assimilation, and the historical objection (or resentment) of settled immigrants toward newer unassimilated settlers of the same ethnic/racial origin. The fear of being associated with unassimilated newcomers as well as having to put up with conditions (like parking cars on lawns, to choose a trivial example) are fact-based rather than animus-based. The bottom line seems to be that more than simple prejudice is at work in human decisions individually as well as in groups.

When talking about discrimination it's easy to get emotional and to have a predefined view about the world - what's wrong with it and how to fix it. In classic Thomas Sowell style, this book presents clear facts and clear reasoning that disproves most of prevailing myths regarding discrimination. If people don't get the facts and the explanation for the fact right, they will demand and implement "solutions" which even if they have good intentions, will have disastrous effects. I very highly recommend this book.

I can't say enough about this book, which systematically demolishes much of current thinking on social-justice issues, and what passes for policy making nowadays. Sowell does not manage this through a political point of view, but rather through statistical evidence, history, and clear assessment of outcomes. The book is a slim volume, but it packs a powerful wallop. I'll be reading it again, and sending it to others to read. I have learned so much.

This small, pricy book of 125 pages plus 30 pages of footnotes should be required reading by all college students and professors. This could well be Dr. Sowell’s greatest book and continuation to mankind. It shows time and time again that “disparite impact” as stated by the SC is horse manure. I’m buying two more copies to send to my twin grandsons, who will be taking economics and statistics as college sophomores this fall. Hopefully this will keep their minds clear.

Another great book by Dr. Sowell. I would say for people that have read Sowell in the past, it's a great refresher and also gives an interesting look at the different types of discrimination in society and why people may or may not use those types of discrimination.

For new readers of Sowell, I would definitely read this books - but if you want a more comprehensive look at the correlations between Gov policy, discrimination, race, and outcomes I would read the following (these are all Dr. Sowell books)

Affirmative action around the world: an empirical study
The economics of politics and race
Economics Facts and Fallacies

And if you're feeling really adventures, Wealth, Poverty and Politics.

Thomas Sowell does a thorough job of deconstructing differences amongst groups beyond the sound bite of discrimination or racism. Various factors such as geographic area, age, and birth order can have a much more empirical effect that different types of discrimination. Sowell also provides insightful critique into supposed solutions that have been tried throughout history and provides data from which to make some thoughtful inferences. This should be a required read on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. and for every teacher.

Such a sharp mind. He breaks down ideas, often muddled by media and shouting voices, into a clear understanding of complex social problems. You won't think the same way after you read his latest work.

I can't say enough about this book, which systematically demolishes much of current thinking on social-justice issues, and what passes for policy making nowadays. Sowell does not manage this through a political point of view, but rather through statistical evidence, history, and clear assessment of outcomes. The book is a slim volume, but it packs a powerful wallop. I'll be reading it again, and sending it to others to read. I have learned so much.

This small, pricy book of 125 pages plus 30 pages of footnotes should be required reading by all college students and professors. This could well be Dr. Sowell’s greatest book and continuation to mankind. It shows time and time again that “disparite impact” as stated by the SC is horse manure. I’m buying two more copies to send to my twin grandsons, who will be taking economics and statistics as college sophomores this fall. Hopefully this will keep their minds clear.

Another great book by Dr. Sowell. I would say for people that have read Sowell in the past, it's a great refresher and also gives an interesting look at the different types of discrimination in society and why people may or may not use those types of discrimination.

For new readers of Sowell, I would definitely read this books - but if you want a more comprehensive look at the correlations between Gov policy, discrimination, race, and outcomes I would read the following (these are all Dr. Sowell books)

Affirmative action around the world: an empirical study
The economics of politics and race
Economics Facts and Fallacies

And if you're feeling really adventures, Wealth, Poverty and Politics.

Thomas Sowell does a thorough job of deconstructing differences amongst groups beyond the sound bite of discrimination or racism. Various factors such as geographic area, age, and birth order can have a much more empirical effect that different types of discrimination. Sowell also provides insightful critique into supposed solutions that have been tried throughout history and provides data from which to make some thoughtful inferences. This should be a required read on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. and for every teacher.

Such a sharp mind. He breaks down ideas, often muddled by media and shouting voices, into a clear understanding of complex social problems. You won't think the same way after you read his latest work.