Thomas Sowell on the Point of No Return
As promised, a report on my Uncommon Knowledge interview this afternoon with Dr. Thomas Sowell:
I wish I could tell you otherwise, but Dr. Sowell is deeply pessimistic. Economic disarray, the loss of national self-confidence, the debasement social and moral norms (Dr. Sowell had some particularly choice words for Judge Vaughn Walker), and an administration in Washington fundamentally opposed to the principles of individual liberty and personal responsibility on which the United States was founded--all bode ill, very ill, for the future of the country. Dr. Sowell is particularly pessimistic about the war on terror.
"While Iran advances step by step toward acquiring nuclear weapons," he said, to quote him from memory, "the Europeans wring their hands, the UN holds endless debates, and the Obama administration takes no serious steps." Once it acquires nuclear weapons, he said, the regime in Teheran would almost certainly provide terrorists with nuclear materials of their own. "Osama bin Laden said in 2004 that he would punish Americans who voted for President Bush. We ignored him. Suppose he makes the same kind threat in 2012, but this time he has nuclear weapons?"
Dr. Sowell sees the November election as a point of no return. If voters repudiate the statist, liberal agenda, then we may yet rescue our liberties and our pride and defend our way of life. "But if it isn't stopped then," Dr. Sowell argued (and again, I'm quoting him from memory), "it will never be stopped.
I see the November election as a critical historical moment, like the battle of Poitiers in 732 or the seige of Vienna in 1529. If those battles had gone the other way, then the history of the entire world would have been different. The November election will be like that. The country is at stake.
The moment this episode of Uncommon Knowledge appears, I'll let you know, believe me.
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Jun '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on the Point of No Return
Glenn Beck had a graphic the other day, showing how many firefighters (from I forget what city) it would take to reasonably support the pension of one retiring firefighter. It took 19. If the formula didn't change, when those 19 retire, it would take 361 to support them, and so on, and so on. But of course, it doesn't work that way. The pensions come out of the taxpayer's pocket. Public employee contracts are structured like ponzi schemes all over the nation, and it's absolutely unsustainable. So, what will they do? Using government logic, they'll reduce the size of the fire department, and the police department, and your house will burn down while you get mugged on the corner, but the pensions will be safe.
Jul '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on the Point of No Return
I hate it when Sowell talks like this because he is so very smart. And here I am in Canada, with no possibility of helping out. My friends and I (a very small group) are aware that it will not be a nice world if the USA doesn't get it together. I quote Gildas a lot; And have plenty of opportunities to defend Sarah Palin (most people I know get their news via CBC and not much else.)
One of the best books I have ever read was Sowell's "Ethnic America."
Re: Thomas Sowell on the Point of No Return
Ah, but Heather, you'll be able to help a lot. It's your job to start scouting real estate in Manitoba for displaced American conservatives.
Jun '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on the Point of No Return
This American conservative is not moving anywhere. We will fight them in the courts and on the floor of Congress. We will fight them in the schools and the ivy towers of academia. We will fight them in the voting booths and on the streets. We shall never surrender!
Jul '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on the Point of No Return
My father, of late memory, said that the 2 coldest things he EVER SAW were:
a raven standing on a lightpole, in Mayo Yukon, in 40 below weather at night.
and
a Mountie, standing on main street Winnipeg, in 40 below weather at night. The mountie had on a buffalo fur coat.
Just sayin'
Jul '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on the Point of No Return
i understand the pessimism that Dr. Sowell expresses, and I am by no means as learned or experienced, however I have come to believe in an almost libertarian inspired version of Marx's historical materialism. I think that, metaphysically speaking, something like an "imperative to freedom" is baked into the actual structure of existence and that no matter what humans do, our social forms will of their own internal force progress toward more freedom rather than less. Especially as we try to broaden the reach of government, the seeds of such an expansion's collapse are sown. The ordering of such a creatively chaotic system as human society is nearly impossible in any long term way. Further, with such a "connected" populace as exists today, would-be dictators springing up to enact crack downs will find their jobs increasingly more difficult. The trick for the freedom lovers will be to persist and endure and keep alive the flame of freedom in their own hearts. When the bureaucratic structures collapse, human ingenuity will step in to reconstruct those parts of society.
maybe i am just an optimist.
Jun '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on the Point of No Return
" . . . a Mountie, standing on main street Winnipeg, in 40 below weather at night. The mountie had on a buffalo fur coat. "
In Winnipeg it could not have been a Mountie, it would have been a Winnipeg city police constable. Mounties never wore the famed and now extinct buffalo coat. You know its cold in Winnipeg when the refers that are now controlled via satellite become heaters, because the ambient temperature is so low that it would damage the cargo being shipped through the city.
Jul '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on the Point of No Return
Thomas Sowell is a towering figure who is seldom wrong. But his pessimism is not a call for giving up, but a signal that we need to get out there and make a difference in November. Take nothing for granted, lay out the stakes as clearly as possible for the American people . Let's go get 'em!
Jun '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on the Point of No Return
Home maintenance and family considerations are keeping me offline for much of today. But in the realm of news topics that perhaps we should be paying attention to, John Hinderaker posted at Powerline about the proposed major drawdown of the British military.
November matters, and continued pressure from conservatives on the need to rollback the entitlement culture is critical. The pressures causing the British to even consider drawing down to WWI strength levels are the same pressures we are facing. If Britain does draw down as a major military power, someone will fill the vacuum - and likely not an ally.
I think some manual labor today will be good to refresh my spirit and attitude. Have a good day, all.
Jun '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on the Point of No Return
~Paules
This American conservative is not moving anywhere. We will fight them in the courts and on the floor of Congress. We will fight them in the schools and the ivy towers of academia. We will fight them in the voting booths and on the streets. We shall never surrender! · Aug 6 at 9:53pm
We will fight with increasing confidence and growing strength on the internet! We will defend our island, whatever the cost may be. And if, in that good time, we become starving and subjugated, the half dozen in Canada will come to our aid, helping each other as good comrades do, and bring the liberation of the old.
Jul '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on the Point of No Return
Cas Balicki: " . . . a Mountie, standing on main street Winnipeg, in 40 below weather at night. The mountie had on a buffalo fur coat. "
In Winnipeg it could not have been a Mountie, it would have been a Winnipeg city police constable. Mounties never wore the famed and now extinct buffalo coat. You know its cold in Winnipeg when the refers that are now controlled via satellite become heaters, because the ambient temperature is so low that it would damage the cargo being shipped through the city. · Aug 7 at 8:31am
they did in my father's day, Cas.
Jun '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on the Point of No Return
I agree with Dr. Sowell. Over the past two years there has been a fundamental change in the zeitgeist, and it is not a change for the better. There is a sense out there that America is at a tipping point, a point beyond which there is no return. The progressives have done so much harm to our culture and economy over the past 100 years that no election will be sufficient to get the country back on track. More drastic measures are necessary, and the implications of that have people scared.
Jun '10
Re: Thomas Sowell on the Point of No Return
Heathermc, perhaps my memory dose not serve, but as far as I know the Winnipeg Police force was the only constabulary to wear the buffalo coat in all of Canada. But, if you can find evidence that this is untrue, I will gladly come to your opinion.