Rating: 
Summary: Great idea, weak book
Review: This could have been a classic. It suffers from a number of faults which prevent it reaching that peak. It's too long (cut out 100 pages or so in the paperback to reduce to around 150) for the point which he seems to have aimed to make. According to other reviewers here, its badly edited, which may explain the sense I felt that it was a little disjointed. The idea underlying the book is that those generally identified as being on the Left are motivated in large measure by a need to feel they have a morally pure insight into, and solution for, any problem faced by a society, a trait exposed by Hollander in "Political Pilgrims". The idea was a good one, the book didnt, to me, live up to its promise. The reader will get better value and a far more enjoyable read, from Hayek, von Mises, James Bovard or Hollander.
Rating: 
Summary: a brilliant and practical policy text....
Review: The VIsion of the Annointed by Thomas Sowell spells out plainly the policy directions America needs to take over the coming century. He skillfully picks apart the philosophy of the "leftist." Regardless, of if you are a liberal or a conservative, this book is worth reading because of the diligent research put into the book and because of the intellectual capacity with which Sowell writes.
Rating:
Summary: Won't be read by those who need it most
Review: Ever wonder why liberals are so emotionally in favor of gun control even though it's a conclusive fact that gun control doesn't reduce gun violence? Or why they support the bilingual education programs that do so much damage to immigrant children? Or why they favor rent controls that make housing unavailable to the poor people for whom they supposedly have so much sympathy? Or why they want to make it illegal for a person to be employed if (s)he lacks the skills to do more than $7 worth of work every hour?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 moral 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 moral members of society! Many of Sowell's conclusions have become clear to me from personal experience. I recall attending a town meeting with a congressman in the early 80's, at which a pompous ass stood up and delivered a long diatribe on American policy in Nicaragua, ending with a rhetorical question about what "people of conscience" were going to do about those terrible policies. "People of conscience", by his definition, were the people who agreed with his beliefs regarding Nicaraguan policy. (Apparently the Nicaraguans themselves had no conscience, since at the first available opportunity they threw out the Sandinista government that he so fervently supported.) When participating in a debate about gun control, the self-anointed liberals will assume without question that it is only the people who agree with their positions who care about children or violence. They assume without question that only narrow-minded chauvinists oppose bilingual education. They assume without question that only racists oppose racial discrimination (which they have renamed "affirmative action"). They assume without question that the people who feed and clothe them, who build their homes and cure their diseases, are engaged in a process of greed and exploitation - but that people who make their living by telling others what to do, and who get paid for doing so with money confiscated forcibly from those who earned it, are engaged in "public service". 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: Optional Reality
Review: Esteemed economist Thomas Sowell has written a book that claims social disorder throughout history is maximized by the ignorant adherents to the mystical "vision of the anointed." Haphazardly attacking liberals for presumably exercising an unspecialized approach to knowledge, he dives into a plethora of topics, developing each with a few paragraphs, at most a few pages. With Objectivist overtones, Sowell paints liberals falling into patterns of "failure." Liberals supposedly use crises to gain support, "fail," and are too proud to recognize their mistakes. Under this paradigm, the "benighted" would never do such things like talk about an energy *crisis,* present a tax cut to the wealthy as if it were a *solution* for recession, or cling to dated cold war ideas *resulting* in the creation of incentives for global instability. Nor would the "anointed" look for the trade-offs with respect to the ANWR, military spending, or the increased maternal deaths and higher abortion rates we have seen in nations that have banned family planning services. Political opponents will inevitably see each other as dishonest, but Sowell has a problem with democracy. Sowell constructs a Hegelian model, an anointed-benighted dichotomy, despite the diversity of opinion in America., including on the left. Democracy is a *systemic* process. Politicians respond to various "demands" that exist in the political "market." The fact that some people *prefer* spending on the arts, regulations on arsenic, despite opportunity costs, is baffling to Sowell, who sees the feeble masses duped by a handful of totalitarian, self-righteous, liberal morons. In Chapter 8, "Courting Disaster," Sowell preaches against "activist judges" and "relativism." He praises "strict interpretation" along with lauds to Rehnquist, Scalia, and Thomas. This is laughable! Sowell writes about how the "anointed" views a world of solutions over trade-offs, deliberate social causation over systemic processes, dispositional motivation over incentives, and categorical decisions over incremental ones. "Strict constructionists" perverted the equal protection clause of the Constitution to PREVENT the counting of votes, different recounting standards in different counties being the justification. Since different voting methods were present throughout Florida, as well as the Republic, I suppose the entire election was invalid! Someone else is apparently GUILTY of the very substance Sowell thinks is inherent in liberalism. Elements friendly to Sowell have been taking a postmodernistic approach to politics. Derrida claims that it is impossible to formulate a stable and coherent interpretation of any text, since there is no objective truth. Somebody went postmodern, claiming it was impossible for a stable interpretation of any chad! Sowell agrees with me that reality is more than a social construct, not a tool that allows dominant groups to exercise power. But -- under Foucaultian theory, the Florida "discourse" (as Michel would have put it) --competing on evidential reality and conscious experience, will only win if imposed by an exertion of institutional power. This book, written at the height of reactionary hysteria [1995] in the States, is a great example of how some will fabricate a fictitious and dangerous enemy, demonizing the invisible straw man with "evidence" in order to advance a political agenda. According to Sowell, American democracy will be crushed as the masses are being fooled by egghead professors in this democratic political environment. Sowell portrays common men as a herd of sheep unable to discern truth from reality, and the enlightened and anointed-minded Sowells will lead them out of darkness. Chapter 9 is titled "Optional Reality," and that summarizes this book.
Rating:
Summary: An eye opening experience
Review: Wow! What an eye opening experience this book is. Be forewarned that this book will make most American Citizens angry. Dr. Sowell presents common information, even self evident information, to build the compelling distinction between original American founding principle of Liberty and the "annointed" distribution of liberties to their chosen victims. You will learn how the socialists operate to usurp individual and family freedom of choice and supplant it with societal choice (Think "It Takes a Village" - Hillary Clinton)There is nothing new here, F.A. Hayek made a similar case in "The Road to Serfdom" in the 40s when he explained the the motivation for facsism and socialism derive from the same fundamental impulses. However, the information is new and up to date and the presentation current. Once you read this book, you will understand the canards of Mr. Berkowitz who writes "...[Sowell] shows his readers that his compassion do not lay with his own people even though a disproportionate number are in poverty, jails, stopped by police, in failing schools, high school dropouts, low paid, etc." Mr. Berkowitz never refutes any of Dr. Sowell's arguments, but instead simply calls Dr. Sowell an Uncle Tom (In a backhand sort of way.) Mr. Berkowitz has the "Vision of the Annointed" as you will discover as you proceed through the book.
Rating:
Summary: I will get to the good stuff.
Review: What does that title mean? Does anyone know? Anyway, this is a bad book, plain and simple, even if you happen to agree with what this person is saying, there is nothing new that right wing wackos haven't already been squawking about. Once again, Sowell shows his readers that his compassion do not lay with his own people even though a disproportionate number are in poverty, jails, stopped by police, in failing schools, high school dropouts, low paid, etc. What are his ideas towards solving these problems? Where are his answers? More tax cuts?
But rather, Sowell's compassion rests with the majority, people who had every chance to succeed in life. Sowell does not see this fact. Sowell does not care about this fact. This book is just like his last one offerting nothing new and this is certainly the last time I will read a Thomas Sowell book. Another "pat on the back" for right wing conservatives, this is a book to throw in the trash.
Rating:
Summary: It's not too late to save the rational mind
Review: Dr. Sowell performs lasik surgery on the myopic mind. After 20+ years of indoctrination at the pleasure of the advocates of the "anointed vision" via the educational systems, scholastic and collegiate, this book is a tutorial in eradication of addled ideas. It is not, however, 'simply' a tendentious attack on the rectitude of the so-called liberal or leftist philosophy. The professor is equally as disdainful of misguided, asymmetrical policy development originating from any other location on the spectrum (As illuminated by the book, 'spectrum' is an unfortunate choice of terminology, but after 20 years the residual effects of the anointed's vernacular are slow to recede). "The Anointed" is dominated by liberals, and the focus here is on policy creation/policy failure resulting from their collective arrogance, but Dr. Sowell clearly indicates the mentality of intellectual superiority is not exclusive. He provides examples of present era conservatives and centrists who have expounded or supported views incompatible with the best interests of the "benighted" (the masses of the common man who follow the 'tragic vision'). While his presentation is centered on the last 40 years of deleterious public policy, he does not ignore the metaphysics of the "anointed vision" in the historical context. Dr. Sowell does not write in the abstract. The book is in non-technical language understandable by all, supported by empirical data, fully annotated and 'names names' of offending parties when pertinent. THE VISION OF THE ANOINTED is a must read for everyone affected by policy - political, economic, social - of any form. I am only regretful I spent six years longer than necessary frustrated by the attempt to slow down the carousel of political spin without this invaluable resource. It is an "Idiot's Guide to the what 'The Intelligentsia' believe."
Rating:
Summary: Truth vs Justice
Review: I want to encourage all those interested in the culture wars to read and re-read Sowell's "The Vision of the Anointed". It is highly focussed, unswervingly rational, and has great applicability to the current American political debate. I highly recommend this thought-provoking book.
Rating: 
Summary: good, but needs better editing
Review: Sowell in his very cutting way pulls the blanket off the mind-set of the left. He shows that the pompous annointed, i.e. liberal elitists, believe against all evidence against them that there ideas are the best and only solution to the problems facing society. He shows the reason why there isn't an organized effort against the annointed, specifically that the ones he says have the tragic view of life (people who are realists, and understand that perfection does not exist and that men can never have perfect solutions) can never come up with a better answer to the annointed than 'all solutions are trade-offs and we should be pragmatic about societal solutions. The one caveat I have of this book is one mentioned by others, namely that the last 50 or so pages he reiterates the same arguments in the previous 200. I believe he could have made his case eloquently and perfectly in 150 too 200 pages. However this is one book anyone interested in politics and how we should best go about solving societies problems.
Rating:
Summary: eye opening for any reader.
Review: The reader that will find this book interesting is one which is interested in American politics today. Sowell does a great job convincing the reader to question the evidence as well as the arguments presented by those attempting to sway the opinion of the American public. It does not matter which side of the political arena you choose to inhabit. Liberals, Moderates, and Conservatives are encouraged to read this book.
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