Rating: 
Summary: Standard Sowell Fare = Exc.; But Not Best @ Orginization
Review: Knowledge and Decisions, Dr. Sowell's magnum opus which is one of my top 3 all time life-changers, does contain most of the principles of all of his later writings that I've seen. The present work as well as his columns are less technical, for the common-man. A Sowell read generally leaves you feeling liberated (how ironic) through logic and facts from the now-common liberal mania. You feel that your common sense, life experiences, and basic sense of justice need no longer contradict "intelligent thinking," despite the common wisdom.The most hair-raising example is how lives are sacrificed to AIDS so as not to offend liberal mascots. Indeed that is why the liberals are what Dr. Sowell calls "dangerous." The only problem in the book is the poor editing. It seems that the chapters were just pasted together from columns and older books. Ex. Dr. Sowell (rightly) riducles the new he-or-she cant/ speech codes in one chapter, only to use the same expression in the final chapter. (Indeed a reviewer on the back-cover uses he-or-she too -- how ironic). BTW on a personal note, despite being downgraded at college for doing so I long refused to use the he-or-she cant. I was glad to see this book address the sad and feeble-minded attempt at rewritting our language, all on behalf of some voiciferous numbskulls who think that this will "change how people think." Give me a break!
Rating:
Summary: Good platform for debate
Review: This book's main emphasis is the need for "results oriented" social policy. Sowell's fundamental argument is:
1. Social policy is often built based on a perceived, "crisis."
2. That a "crisis," even exists, usually goes unchallenged, or ignored.
3. When said social policy fails to accomplish its stated objective, attempts are made to change the initial objective, or simply ignore the outcome. "The Anointed," as Sowell calls them, are those who identify the crisis, put forth the policies, and then, if they fail, obfuscate the results. They live in a self justifying world, where what they "envision" is correct and moral *a priori.* Those who disagree are demonized as simpleminded and mean-spirited. Sowell offers a lot of examples that support his theory at varying degrees of success. From Sex Ed programs, Low Income Housing, to environment policy. It is certainly a fascinating read. Whether you agree with him or not (I mostly agree with him), what this book accomplishes is that it forces you to refocus on facts and data to make decisions, as opposed to your own moral vision.
Rating: 
Summary: It's all about Sowell
Review: They say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, and if half of what Thomas Sowell says in "The Vision of the Anointed" is true, then the political left is leading us there at a record pace. With his lively mind and devastating pen (or I guess it would be a keyboard, heh), Sowell disdainfully lays waste to every politically correct sacred cow he can get his hands on in 260 pages. In every chapter, Sowell demolishes some bit of liberal "wisdom" with his meticulous research and relentless logic. Sowell is a staunch conservative, bordering on libertarian (I am a libertarian, so take that to mean what you will), and after reading this book's all-out assault on liberals it's easy to see why. Now, plenty of commentators have taken on lefties before, but Sowell may have been the first to connect all the dots and present all of their disastrous ideas as the logical outgrowth of a single vision, what he calls (duh) the Vision of the Anointed. Who exactly are the Anointed and what is their vision, you might ask? Well, there are lots of them, and they tend to be concentrated in powerful and influential institutions like academia, the media, the courts, and of course, elected office. Their vision is of a world where nothing is impossible, and all "problems" can be "solved" by those with the superior wisdom and virtue necessary to do so, if only they're given unlimited power to carry out their programs. Naturally, the government is the best instrument for bringing their vision to bear, with little to no regard for the actual desires of actual people as expressed through the workings of free markets. As Sowell makes clear, often stopping to name names, these people have constructed their own worldview, which has precious little to do with the world in which we live. You've probably heard a lot of the buzzwords they use: "rights," "public service," "social justice," "progress," and on and on they go.
These terms are all very clever when it comes to cutting off reasoned debate; after all, who can be against rights, social justice, or progress? Unfortunately, we live in an imperfect world populated by imperfect people, and any benefits conferred by the Anointed on one group must inevitably come at the expense of another, possibly quite larger, group. While the Anointed like to talk of solutions, in Sowell's Tragic Vision there are only trade-offs. The actions of the Anointed may produce some largely illusory advantages for their mascots, such as bums, criminals, and minorities, but huge numbers of other people typically get the shaft as a result. The book's powerhouse second chapter is an especially powerful example of the practical results the Vision of the Anointed has for the rest of us. Sowell examines the colossal failures of 1960's-era liberalism (although socialism might be a more accurate term), and discusses how exactly the Anointed were able to bring them about. He identifies a common theme to the Anointed's plans: first, they identify a "crisis" that can't be proven to exist, then they prescribe a "solution" that can only be produced through categorical government action, and when their solution only makes things worse they dismiss all evidence much like a man putting his hands over his ears yelling "I'm not listening!" Sowell specifically discusses how the Vision of the Anointed was expressed during the 60's in the areas of poverty, crime, and teen pregnancy. In each area, as Sowell demonstrates quite conclusively, there was no serious problem until massive government intervention created one. And as a quick look at statistics on social pathologies like crime and illegitimacy will tell you, we're still dealing with the results today, especially among the poor and minority people these policies were supposed to help. And so it goes, with Sowell's brutal honesty exposing leftist chicanery at every turn. I think the most important point readers should get from this book is just how disconnected from reality the Vision of the Anointed has become. If we don't start taking a more rational approach to our problems soon things could really get ugly, as the leftward drift of the past few decades must inevitably produce an opposite reaction. Ideas like Sowell's provide some important clues for finding a way out of the current mess while there's still time.
Rating:
Summary: A light in the darkness
Review: Thomas Sowell is one of the most insightful and well spoken intellectuals alive today, and thankfully he's on the side of Good- The Conservative side. Sowell's razor sharp mind slices through the haze of Leftist rhetoric so prominent in today's media and academia. He covers a vast range of social issues, exploring how and why the Left exploit them as the means to their own self centered ends. He shows with cold hard facts how Leftist policies have failed time after time after time. From the war on poverty to gun control and AIDS, Sowell deconstructs and blows away every Leftist preconception that our society has been shackled with. This book is truly a great step for any person towards the liberation of the mind from our lock-step rank and file culture of Leftist elites. I only wish I'd purchased this book before I attended college. If you have a son or daughter heading off to college, buy this book for them. Read it, then get them to read it. Then, buy all of Sowell's other books and keep the tradition alive. Not only is Sowell brilliant and insightful, he has a wry wit that will keep you smiling to yourself- the knowing kind of smile that says you've discovered a secret that the Leftist establishment doesn't want you to know. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Won't be read by those who need it most
Review: (...)If the motives of liberals were truly what they say they are, then these positions would never gather the support that they now enjoy from the liberal community. Liberals are not uninformed; they read the same books, newspapers and academic journals as conservatives or libertarians. So why do they so consistently advocate policies whose results are demonstrably contrary to the results they claim to want? Sowell explains the answer in this wonderful book. The reason, he says, is that the real motives of liberals have nothing to do with the welfare of other people. Instead, they have two related goals: first, to establish themselves as morally and intellectually superior to the rather distasteful population of common people, and second, to gather as much power as possible to tell those distasteful common people how they must live their lives. If a policy moves them closer to those two goals, they will find a reason to advocate it, regardless of how harmful the consequences of that policy may be. Once you read this book, the dishonest posturing of liberals becomes far more understandable. They engage in a preposterous circular argument: They are wiser and more righteous than others because they "understand" the need for the policies they advocate. In turn, those policies are the correct policies because they are advocated by the wiser and more righteous members of society! Many of Sowell's conclusions have become clear to me from personal experience. (...)Few liberals will read Sowell's book, because almost all liberals lack the moral and intellectual courage to confront their own motivations. But those few who read it by mistake will find themselves deeply pierced. Liberals are so accustomed to being able to bully their opponents with name-calling and preemption of the entire vocabulary of debate, that they scream with fury when their pretenses are stripped away. (...) Having said all that, I have to admit that a couple of previous reviewers are right when they accuse Sowell of ignoring the propensity of conservatives to sometimes engage in the same kind of sloppy thinking and self-serving prejudice which he attributes only to liberals. That criticism is fair; Sowell is a conscious partisan. It is only Libertarians (like me, of course! :-) ) who consistently stick to principle.
Rating:
Summary: It's all about Sowell
Review: They say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, and if half of what Thomas Sowell says in "The Vision of the Anointed" is true, then the political left is leading us there at a record pace. With his lively mind and devastating pen (or I guess it would be a keyboard, heh), Sowell disdainfully lays waste to every politically correct sacred cow he can get his hands on in 260 pages. In every chapter, Sowell demolishes some bit of liberal "wisdom" with his meticulous research and relentless logic. Sowell is a staunch conservative, bordering on libertarian (I am a libertarian, so take that to mean what you will), and after reading this book's all-out assault on liberals it's easy to see why. Now, plenty of commentators have taken on lefties before, but Sowell may have been the first to connect all the dots and present all of their disastrous ideas as the logical outgrowth of a single vision, what he calls (duh) the Vision of the Anointed. Who exactly are the Anointed and what is their vision, you might ask? Well, there are lots of them, and they tend to be concentrated in powerful and influential institutions like academia, the media, the courts, and of course, elected office. Their vision is of a world where nothing is impossible, and all "problems" can be "solved" by those with the superior wisdom and virtue necessary to do so, if only they're given unlimited power to carry out their programs. Naturally, the government is the best instrument for bringing their vision to bear, with little to no regard for the actual desires of actual people as expressed through the workings of free markets. As Sowell makes clear, often stopping to name names, these people have constructed their own worldview, which has precious little to do with the world in which we live. You've probably heard a lot of the buzzwords they use: "rights," "public service," "social justice," "progress," and on and on they go.
These terms are all very clever when it comes to cutting off reasoned debate; after all, who can be against rights, social justice, or progress? Unfortunately, we live in an imperfect world populated by imperfect people, and any benefits conferred by the Anointed on one group must inevitably come at the expense of another, possibly quite larger, group. While the Anointed like to talk of solutions, in Sowell's Tragic Vision there are only trade-offs. The actions of the Anointed may produce some largely illusory advantages for their mascots, such as bums, criminals, and minorities, but huge numbers of other people typically get the shaft as a result. The book's powerhouse second chapter is an especially powerful example of the practical results the Vision of the Anointed has for the rest of us. Sowell examines the colossal failures of 1960's-era liberalism (although socialism might be a more accurate term), and discusses how exactly the Anointed were able to bring them about. He identifies a common theme to the Anointed's plans: first, they identify a "crisis" that can't be proven to exist, then they prescribe a "solution" that can only be produced through categorical government action, and when their solution only makes things worse they dismiss all evidence much like a man putting his hands over his ears yelling "I'm not listening!" Sowell specifically discusses how the Vision of the Anointed was expressed during the 60's in the areas of poverty, crime, and teen pregnancy. In each area, as Sowell demonstrates quite conclusively, there was no serious problem until massive government intervention created one. And as a quick look at statistics on social pathologies like crime and illegitimacy will tell you, we're still dealing with the results today, especially among the poor and minority people these policies were supposed to help. And so it goes, with Sowell's brutal honesty exposing leftist chicanery at every turn. I think the most important point readers should get from this book is just how disconnected from reality the Vision of the Anointed has become. If we don't start taking a more rational approach to our problems soon things could really get ugly, as the leftward drift of the past few decades must inevitably produce an opposite reaction. Ideas like Sowell's provide some important clues for finding a way out of the current mess while there's still time.
Rating:
Summary: Even handed and a great read
Review: This book is characterized by many as an 'attack on the left', but I see it more as an attack on the general state of the government. Both the traditional left and right are guilty of thinking they have "the grand answer" to the most important problems instead of letting the common man (the benighted) decide.
The fact the left is more noticable in these actions is just plain and simple fact.
It's a great read, with great figures and even better footnoting. I use it all the time during political discussion.
Rating:
Summary: Essential Political Thought
Review: I have been heavily involved in politics for about 10 years, and I think that this, F.A. Hayek's Road to Sefdom, and Mill's On Liberty are the three best political philosophy books I have ever read. This is one of those books that presents such a clear case and such a compelling way to look at political philosophy that even if you have a well developed way of looking at politics, reading this is like turning on a light, it really ties it all together. This book is always on my wish list, because I keep giving away my copy of it(in fact right now I don't own it) and so I keep buying new copies of it.
Rating:
Summary: Are people missing the books bigger message?
Review: It is very rare that I will write more than one review for a book. I wrote one for "Vision of the Annointed" a few years ago, and is by now burried in the heap of 5 star reviews below. In it, I praised Sowell for walking us through some of the rhetorical tricks used predominantly by the left wing (though since reading the book, I've become sensitive to the 'right' using similar arguments). I stand by that review. So why am I writing a new one? I've recently picked up the book again after 2 or so years and have read through some - not all - of the chapters again and...it really hit me. The most important thing about this book is not simply the 'expose of the left'; rather, the predominant message seems to be about how the left (and I would argue, the right) ignore why 'tradeoffs' have to be made. To put it more philosophically, the politicians dream is the policy that has no downsides. Sowell realizes that in a nation of many millions, every policy has negatives and that politicians should, instead of being focused on perfection, should be focused on taking the most gain for the least loss. This, Sowell says, is capitalism and markets. Yes, there are some losers. But there will be more winners and less losers through markets than there will through a regulatory state. Now, let's put Sowells argument into modern context (the issue that made me pick the book up again). Lately, companies have been moving overseas and this, says the dems (and to a lesser degree the reps) is a problem. The solution being proposed? Let's pass laws to keep them here. The problem with that is that it ignores the real problem (by refusing to look at tradeoffs). The real reason companies have been moving is that they are so regulated both in what they can produce and how much it costs to hire workers (what, with minimum wages, increased benefits and such). Liteally, any company that didn't go overseas where they can produce cheaper goods with more freedom would be a fool. So there you have a Sowellian dilemma: either we can keep wages extraordinately high and regulations tight, while accepting the fact that companies are going to move in revolt, or we keep more companies here by accepting a bit of deregulation and decrease in payroll expenditure. WE CAN'T HAVE BOTH even though BOTH parties are trying to deny economic fact in favor of utopianism by telling us that we can. (This, of course, is not an example Sowell gives in his book, but the idea is there throughout the chapters, the one on how Nader hurts consumers being one of the best). My point in this is simply to give a taste of what Sowell's big point is (one that I think has been lost in the excitement of bashing lefties). My first review also failed to pick it out through the excitement but the more I think about what is wrong with much policy today, the more I'm convinced that Sowell pegged it here: good gains require a willingness to take small losses. My point in the anecdote
Rating: 
Summary: How to Appease the American Right
Review: This book seems to be an attempt to smear anybody who has any sort of feeling for their fellows. I would call it hysterical nonsense if it wasn't for the fact that so many people seem to think that his sneering attitude towards the less fortunate in society is a viable political commentary. All his comments are valid for the wealthy far right in American society but have no legitimacy for anyone else.
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