Thomas Sowell on Liberal Creationists
George Savage ·
April 10, 2012 at 10:12pm
Today, economist Thomas Sowell gives us one of his "random thoughts" columns. I find the following observation irrestible:
People who believe in evolution in biology often believe in creationism in government. In other words, they believe that the universe and all the creatures in it could have evolved spontaneously, but that the economy is too complicated to operate without being directed by politicians.
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Jun '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on Liberal Creationists
God also had the advantage of being independently wealthy. He didn't have to sell treasury bonds.
Jan '11
Re: Thomas Sowell on Liberal Creationists
Sowell is a little late to the game on this -- Matt Ridley wrote an excellent piece on the subject back in 2009, and it was an old argument then -- but it's a great point that can't be made too often.
A similarly-minded friend and I have been calling liberal Keynesians "Economic Creationists" for some time.
May '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on Liberal Creationists
Moreover they believe that even the small lives of individual citizens are too complicated to operate without being directed by politicians.
I guess it all depends on whether it is the God in heaven or the "god" in the White House that you trust to run the show.
(Great quote, btw, typical insight from Sowell)
Mar '11
Re: Thomas Sowell on Liberal Creationists
I like this sentence:
"In politics, few talents are as richly rewarded as the ability to convince parasites that they are victims."
That's what worries me about Mr Obama's surprisingly good poll numbers - that tipping point, again, that we may have passed.
Nov '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on Liberal Creationists
Left-liberals like anything that grows purely organically--except the economy, which must be artificially stimulated.
Jun '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on Liberal Creationists
My mind has toyed with this a lot. Sowell states it succinctly.
Here's a crucial distinction that a friend of mine pointed out:
The crucial difference is this simple fact: the marketplace is made up of highly intelligent entities making (random looking) choices and this results in the manifold nature of our various measures of the markets and commerce.
We who do not think that evolution is unguided also really don't think that the marketplace is unguided -- rather it is guided by intelligent agents and this guided process appears unguided.
Mar '11
Re: Thomas Sowell on Liberal Creationists
Having worked with many a liberal evolutionary biologist I must take some issue with the second part of Sowell's zinger:
Evolutionary biology is about the genetically advantaged driving the disadvantaged into oblivion. An extension of this view onto human markets would propose that some players have non-genetic advantages (education, connections, pre-existing wealth) which will drive their less well-equipped competition (the poor, uneducated class) into fiscal and perhaps even physical extinction.
The problem for many liberals is not that the economy is somehow too complicated to operate on its own (as Sowell believes), but rather that, left to its own devices, the free market will inevitably result in the less advantaged suffering the fate of the dinosaurs.
Jul '11
Re: Thomas Sowell on Liberal Creationists
These are my 5 kids this weekend.
We know where the world came from. We do not trust the government economically or otherwise.
Conservative atheists can be great people. Liberal atheists make their own gods and worship them vigorously. Strange folks these government worshipers.
Jun '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on Liberal Creationists
Even if it's an old argument, Dr. Sowell has a way of saying it that is unique. Shakespeare stole his plots and then turned them into art.
Jun '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on Liberal Creationists
What did F.A. Hayek believe? Or not believe? Hmm.
May '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on Liberal Creationists
I also find it very interesting that the same kind of reasoning that leads people to doubt the historicity of the Biblical text (I mean those parts of the Bible which claim to be historical accounts, especially the Gospel accounts of the life of Jesus Christ) also seems to be used by those who wish to discard the text of the Constitution.
Feb '11
Re: Thomas Sowell on Liberal Creationists
Evolution is NOT spontaneous. It is following a set of rules. Thermodynamics above all else. Even with mutation it is randomness within constraints, and most of the time mutations don't work. With a set of rules you can establish very patterned results from randomness. That's one of the things that becomes very clear if you work with artificial intelligence techniques such as genetic algorithms or artificial intelligent agents.
Re: Thomas Sowell on Liberal Creationists
Tom, I love "Economic Creationists." Do you mind if I borrow your formulation in the future?
Feb '11
Re: Thomas Sowell on Liberal Creationists
Mandel, note that Sowell qualifies his comment by saying "people who believe...often believe". In my experience, many on the left do in fact believe government can be both more benevolent and more effective than competetive markets while simultaneously celebrating Darwinism.The analogy also has its limits. Greater freedom increases the supply of resources by improving productivity, which has resulted in better outcomes for the "less-advantaged". Competition for resources does not have the same effect in nature.
Mar '11
Re: Thomas Sowell on Liberal Creationists
I agree that a great number of liberals think that a government-sponsored market can also be more productive, as well as "fairer," than a laissez-faire system. But I still think Sowell misses the point that the majority on the left feel that free markets have too much Darwinian evolution, and government intervention is required to protect us all from it.
But it speaks to Sowell's genius that two sentences of his can produce so much discussion.
Jul '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on Liberal Creationists
People who believe in evolution in biology often believe in.... global warming.
Well, I've seen so many movies and computer models illustrating to Me what Our world is going to look like after eons of "global warming."
Where are the movies and computer models illustrating what creatures will inhabit the earth in a few eons? What will Humans slowly morph into? Where are the evolutionists' predictions?
Jun '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on Liberal Creationists
Jimmy Carter:People who believe in evolution in biology often believe in.... global warming.
Well, I've seen so many movies and computer models illustrating to Me what Our world is going to look like after eons of "global warming."
Where are the movies and computer models illustrating what creatures will inhabit the earth in a few eons? What will Humans slowly morph into? Where are the evolutionists' predictions? · 15 minutes ago
There are few interesting theories. It's been addressed in Scientific American and other publications but the notion of precisely how the species will evolve entails an enormous amount of variability based on diet, based on who mates with who, and resistance or lack of resistance to disease based on an over reliance on medication. Some have postulated that our little toes will eventually disappear, that blondes will all but disappear because millions of women color their hair blonde to attract mates resulting in a preponderance of humans over time that are dark-haired. Given the steady increase in height, it's not inconceivable that humans will be much taller than we are today which means the NBA will have to raise the baskets accordingly.
May '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on Liberal Creationists
We know Obama disapproves of Social Darwinism. Does that means he's a social creationist? I wish someone would ask him.
Jan '11
Re: Thomas Sowell on Liberal Creationists
George Savage
Tom, I love "Economic Creationists." Do you mind if I borrow your formulation in the future? · 20 hours ago
Absolutely, George; use it as you please.
Edited on April 11, 2012 at 8:42pm