Ever Wonder Why? EVER WONDER WHY? and Other Controversial Essays Thomas Sowell HOOVER INSTITUTION PRESS Stanford University Stanford, California The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, founded at Stanford University in 1919 by Herbert Hoover, who went on to become the thirty-first president of the United States, is an interdisciplinary research center for advanced study on domestic and international affairs. The views expressed in its publications are entirely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff, officers, or Board of Overseers of the Hoover Institution. www.hoover.org Hoover Institution Press Publication No. 548 Copyright ᭧ 2006 by Thomas Sowell All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. First printing, 2006 1312111009080706987654321 Manufactured in the United States of America The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences— Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. ࠗϱ Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress ISBN 0-8179-4752-3 Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don’t mean to do harm—but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves. T. S. Eliot Contents Preface xiii part i: the culture wars Ever Wonder Why? 3 Animal Rites 6 “Us” or “Them”? 9 Twisted History 12 Explaining to the Grand Kids 15 Human Livestock 18 The Wright Stuff 21 The Legacy of Eric Hoffer 24 One-Uppers versus Survival 27 The Equality Dogma 30 The Inequality Dogma 33 Equality, Inequality, and Fate 36 Hiroshima 39 The Tyranny of Visions 42 The Tyranny of Visions: Part II 45 The Tyranny of Visions: Part III 48 The Immigration Taboo 51 The Left Monopoly 54 I Beg to Disagree 57 4th Estate or 5th Column? 60 part ii: economic issues Why Economists Are Not Popular 65 Housing Hurdles 68 The “Cost” of Medical Care 71 viii Contents Subsidies Are All Wet 74 A Taxing Experience 77 Profits without Honor 80 Profits without Honor: Part II 83 Two Earthquakes 86 Peter Bauer (1915–2002) 89 Journalists and Economics 92 Stock Crash Aftermath 95 Milton Friedman at 90 98 “Price Gouging” in Florida 101 Economic “Power” 104 A Relic of the Recent Past 107 Who Can Afford It? 110 Free-Lunch Medicine 113 Free-Lunch Medicine: Part II 116 Free-Lunch Medicine: Part III 119 Manufacturing Confusion 122 A Cold Shower 125 An Old “New Vision” 128 Third World Sweatshops 131 Third World Sweatshops: Part II 134 Privatizing Social Security 137 Privatizing Social Security: Part II 140 “Living Wage” Kills Jobs 143 A Happy Birthday? 146 part iii: legal issues Calculated Confusion 151 Judges and Judgment 154 Justice for Little Angelo 157 Property Rites 160 Property Rites: Part II 163 Property Rites: Part III 166 Contents ix Foreign Law Is Not Law 169 Medical Lawsuits 172 Fixing the Jury System 175 Half a Century after Brown 178 Half a Century after Brown: Part II 181 Half a Century after Brown: Part III 184 Umpires, Judges, and Others 187 Big Business and Quotas 190 The Grand Fraud 193 The Grand Fraud: Part II 196 The Grand Fraud: Part III 199 The Grand Fraud: Part IV 202 Saving Quotas 205 The High Cost of Nuances 208 The Polio Fallacy 211 part iv: political issues Spoiled Brat Politics 217 Spoiled Brat Politics: Part II 220 The “Compassion” Racket 223 Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) 226 Gun Control Myths 229 Gun Control Myths: Part II 232 A Painful Anniversary 235 The High Cost of Shibboleths 238 “Why Do They Hate Us?” 241 Foreign “Allies” 244 My Platform 247 The Oldest Fraud 250 The Left’s Vision 253 The Left’s Vocabulary 256 Abstract People 259 Looking Back 262 x Contents part v: social issues Mealy Mouth Media 267 Achievements and Their Causes 270 Talkers versus Doers 273 Talkers versus Doers: Part II 276 Liberals and Class 279 Liberals and Class: Part II 282 Liberals and Class: Part III 285 The Autism “Spectrum” 288 The High Cost of Busybodies 291 The High Cost of Busybodies: Part II 294 The High Cost of Busybodies: Part III 297 The High Cost of Busybodies: Part IV 300 “Partial Truth” Abortion 303 Lying about Yosemite 306 Growing Old 309 April Fools’ Party 312 part vi: education issues Choosing a College 317 The Idiocy of “Relevance” 320 Julian Stanley and Bright Children 323 For What Purpose? 326 School Performances 329 School Performances: Part II 332 School Performances: Part III 335 College Admissions Voodoo 338 Summer De-Programming 341 Fat in California’s Budget 344 A Scary Report 347 “Teaching to the Test” 350 “Teaching to the Test”: Part II 353 Contents xi “Teaching to the Test”: Part III 356 Smart “Problems” 359 Vouchers Vindicated 362 Artificial Stupidity 365 “Good” Teachers 368 A Sign of the Times 371 Suspicious Stats 374 Peers and Pied Pipers 377 part vii: racial issues Older Budweiser 383 Rosa Parks and History 386 “Friends” of Blacks 389 “Friends” of Blacks: Part II 392 Recycled “Racism” 395 Dangerous Democracy? 398 Are Cops Racist? 401 Rattling the Chains 404 Roasting Walter Williams 407 “Diversity” in India 410 Race and IQ 413 Race and IQ: Part II 416 Race and IQ: Part III 419 An Old War and a New One 422 Silly Letters 425 Black History Month 428 Bravo for Bill Cosby 431 Quota “Logic” 434 Quota “Logic”: Part II 437 part viii: random thoughts Random Thoughts 443 Preface Many explanations are given for the events of our time and the events in history. One of the most common explanations is that various external circumstances led or forced people to do this or that, and one of the most overlooked explanations is that various internal drives led them to do the things they did, including things that made no sense in terms of the external circumstances. One of these internal drives—especially the desire “to feel important,” in T.S. Eliot’s words—fits many notions and actions that would be hard to explain otherwise. The desire of individuals and groups to puff themselves up by imposing their vision on other people is a recurring theme in the culture wars discussed in the first section of the essays that follow. Such attempts at self-aggrandizement in the name of noble-sounding crusades are too often called “idealism” rather than the narrow ego trip that it is. Right after the section containing essays on culture war issues comes the largest section in this book, on economic issues. The reason for so many essays on economics is not just the importance of the subject itself but also the utter confusion that reigns among the general public, and even among the intelligentsia, over very basic principles of economics—and even very basic words, like “wages,” “taxes,” or the “national debt.” The great Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said that we need education in the obvious more than exploration of the obscure. It is especially important to xiv Preface explain economics so plainly that it becomes obvious because so many in politics and the media have created so much confusion in the process of spinning issues to fit their own agendas. Those who want a complete introduction to the subject can read my Basic Economics but the essays here simply try to clarify particular misconceptions on particular issues. A wide range of legal, social, racial, and educational issues are dealt with in the other sections of this book. All of these essays first appeared as syndicated columns carried in newspapers across the country. As such, they had to be readable and concise, and they often dealt with issues that were in the news. However, from the large number of these columns written over the past few years I have selected for publication here those columns which deal with issues of continuing relevance and interest. While I take responsibility for all the conclusions reached in these essays, I must also acknowledge the work of others that made these writings possible. First of all, there is my research assistant, Na Liu, whose insights as well as diligence have enabled me to discuss the wide range of topics covered in these columns with a background of knowledge to draw on. She has been very ably assisted by the dedicated work of Elizabeth Costa. All this is made possible by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where we are all employed and which has generously supported our research. Finally, I must acknowledge the contribution of Karen Duryea, my editor at Creators Syndicate, who has caught many a typographical or grammatical error in my columns, as well as inadvertent misstatements, saving me from public embarrassment. While many serious issues are discussed in these pages, Preface xv sometimes there is also a little humor, without which it would be hard to face many of life’s realities. Thomas Sowell Hoover Institution Stanford University PART I THE CULTURE WARS Ever Wonder Why? When you have seen scenes of poverty and squalor in many Third World countries, either in person or in pictures, have you ever wondered why we in America have been spared such a fate? When you have learned of the bitter oppressions that so many people have suffered under, in despotic countries around the world, have you ever wondered why Americans have been spared? Have scenes of government-sponsored carnage and lethal mob violence in countries like Rwanda or in the Balkans ever made you wonder why such horrifying scenes are not found on the streets of America? Nothing is easier than to take for granted what we are used to, and to imagine that it is more or less natural, so that it requires no explanation.