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Keith and stuff
12-30-2016, 11:41 AM
Legendary libertarian author Dr. Thomas Sowell retired is weekly column. This is sad news, as it was featured in many newspapers, providing a regular libertarian perspective to millions of readers. Thank you Dr. Sowell for all you have done to advance liberty, and especially economic liberty, over the many decades!



December 27. 2016 8:34PM
Thank you, Dr. Sowell: Legendary conservative retires
EDITORIAL

We regret that we are today publishing Dr. Thomas Sowell’s final column.

At the tender age of 86, Sowell has decided to up and quit on us.

Indeed, when first informed two weeks ago of his intention to retire, we briefly explored whether we had any way to compel his continued contributions. Alas, we will let Dr. Sowell depart, leaving the national political conversation diminished by his absence.

Sowell’s farewell does afford us the opportunity to write some nice things about him while he is able to read them.

Sowell is a giant of American conservative thought, renowned both for the intellectual rigor of his arguments and the clarity and force with which he made them.

The former U.S. Marine worked his way from night classes at Howard University to a B.A. from Harvard, a master’s from Columbia and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago.

His writing, including nearly 40 books and countless columns, spanned economics, politics, race, culture and family. He influenced generations of conservative thinkers.

While Sowell’s voice is literally irreplaceable, we are pleased to add best-selling author Mona Charen to our stacked lineup of national columnists.

Like Sowell, Charen’s writing often transcends short-term partisan politics to explore deeper questions of the American family and culture.

We welcome Charen and wish Dr. Sowell a happy retirement.

http://www.unionleader.com/editorial/Thank-you-Dr-Sowell-Legendary-conservative-retires-12282016

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/24/66/25/246625382940104a30ada16f1c0d8082.jpg

Keith and stuff
12-30-2016, 11:43 AM
Many conservative sites have posted dedications to Dr. Thomas Sowell. Here is an example.


Thomas Sowell Retires: Nine of His Greatest Hits
The seasoned libertarian-conservative columnist shaped the political debate for decades
by Jim Stinson | Updated 28 Dec 2016 at 7:33 AM
http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/thomas-sowell-retires-nine-of-his-greatest-hits/

euphemia
12-30-2016, 01:12 PM
I wish I lived next door to him. Those chats over the back fence would be wonderful.

heavenlyboy34
12-30-2016, 01:20 PM
He was conservative, not libertarian. Fix ur title, OP. :P

Keith and stuff
12-30-2016, 04:23 PM
He was conservative, not libertarian. Fix ur title, OP. :P

I did fix the title :) He is one of the best known libertarians in the country. I guess you could say he was a libertarian/conservative or some combination of the above. He is libertarian on economic issues, and on many social issues such as: drugs, firearms, affirmative action, etc.

https://www.theadvocates.org/libertarianism-101/libertarian-celebrities/thomas-sowell/

Call Dr. Sowell libertarian or conservative. What really matters is that he did so much, far more than any of us, to explain to millions of people over decades that libertarian policies are good policies ;)

Keith and stuff
01-03-2017, 09:14 AM
We cannot underestimate the positive impact Dr. Sowell had on the lives of millions of Americans. He deserves another post here in his honor.

Happy 85th Birthday (June 30) Thomas Sowell
By Mark J. Perry
https://www.aei.org/publication/happy-85th-birthday-june-30-thomas-sowell/


Steve Hayward pointed out recently that economist Thomas Sowell shares the same birthday as Frederic Bastiat – they were both born on June 30. To recognize Bastiat’s birthday I shared some of his quotes on CD earlier this week, and I’ll now do the same today for Thomas Sowell, who turned 85 yesterday. Here is Thomas Sowell’s webpage and here is his Wikipedia entry. Milton Friedman once said, “The word ‘genius’ is thrown around so much that it’s becoming meaningless, but nevertheless I think Tom Sowell is close to being one.” And because Thomas Sowell is such a prolific writer and covers so many economic topics, I’ll focus here on ten of my favorite Sowell quotes (and a video) on the topic of Obamacare:

Click on the link for the ten quotes by Dr. Sowell. https://www.aei.org/publication/happy-85th-birthday-june-30-thomas-sowell/

H. E. Panqui
01-03-2017, 09:56 AM
...ugh...don't confuse decent libertarians with stinking conservative republicans....

...sowell was a republican/conservative apologist who never really 'got it' when it came to the stinking monetary order under which are en$laved....

[sowell fans: copy and paste his best words on the massive monetary fraud that went on under his nose] [see i told you so] ;)

Okie RP fan
01-03-2017, 10:09 AM
...ugh...don't confuse decent libertarians with stinking conservative republicans....

...sowell was a republican/conservative apologist who never really 'got it' when it came to the stinking monetary order under which are en$laved....

[sowell fans: copy and paste his best words on the massive monetary fraud that went on under his nose] [see i told you so] ;)

Don't be such a purist. Sowell did more for spreading a "Libertarian" message than some other self proclaimed libertarians did, or even the Libertarian party itself… And I'm not saying he was perfect or anything, but sometimes comments like yours are what make some people scoff at libertarians for being so uppity. Tom Woods even sent out a email on his DL sending Sowell a farewell, that's good enough for me. Just roll with it.
I like Sowell and own a few of his books. Sad to see him retire.

robert68
01-03-2017, 06:07 PM
Don't be such a purist. Sowell did more for spreading a "Libertarian" message than some other self proclaimed libertarians did, or even the Libertarian party itself… And I'm not saying he was perfect or anything, but sometimes comments like yours are what make some people scoff at libertarians for being so uppity. Tom Woods even sent out a email on his DL sending Sowell a farewell, that's good enough for me. Just roll with it.
I like Sowell and own a few of his books. Sad to see him retire.

Libertarians don't support the warfare state and US Empire, he did.

CaptUSA
01-03-2017, 06:10 PM
Listen, I wouldn't call him libertarian but he sure as hell made free market arguments better than just about anyone in my lifetime. And he did it the old-fashioned way - with research and irrefutable facts. Obviously, we disagree on foreign policy, but he deserves some might big respect!

Krugminator2
01-03-2017, 08:54 PM
Libertarians don't support the warfare state and US Empire, he did.

Libertarians are split on foreign policy and have been forever. Most libertarians are non-interventionists but it is absolutely not a requirement. Rothbard and Ron Paul emphasized non-intervention but there are plenty of libertarian hawks.


http://reason.com/archives/1995/06/01/best-of-both-worlds/5
Reason: Do you consider yourself in the libertarian mainstream on foreign policy issues?
Friedman: I don't believe that the libertarian philosophy dictates a foreign policy

NorthCarolinaLiberty
01-03-2017, 09:50 PM
I was always suspicious of this guy because all the evangelicals I knew loved him. Plus, white bread milquetoasts love a contard colored man.

The guy might have had some libertarian positions, but he was hardly libertarian. People like this fail to recognize patterns. Contards in my area love big government when it comes to certain issues like police roadblocks, liquor control, gambling, whoring, dope, eminent domain, asset forfeiture, etc, but they they're baffled when that same government they support attempts gun control.

If you build government in one area, then you WILL grow it in another area. Giving it more power here, means it will expand to more power there. The government that is your friend today is your enemy tomorrow. The Frankenstein you build is the monster that you get.

Okie RP fan
01-03-2017, 09:50 PM
Listen, I wouldn't call him libertarian but he sure as hell made free market arguments better than just about anyone in my lifetime. And he did it the old-fashioned way - with research and irrefutable facts. Obviously, we disagree on foreign policy, but he deserves some might big respect!

This is my stance on Sowell and he gets a tip of the hat from me for it. Again, not saying he's perfect, but I'm not going to completely cast him into the gutter.


Libertarians are split on foreign policy and have been forever. Most libertarians are non-interventionists but it is absolutely not a requirement. Rothbard and Ron Paul emphasized non-intervention but there are plenty of libertarian hawks.


http://reason.com/archives/1995/06/01/best-of-both-worlds/5
Reason: Do you consider yourself in the libertarian mainstream on foreign policy issues?
Friedman: I don't believe that the libertarian philosophy dictates a foreign policy

I've learned this the confusing way. There are splits in some libertarian circles regarding foreign policy and it's usually the old conservatives who converted over and retain a little bit of their hawkish tendencies. That of course depends and varies, but just my experiences….

H. E. Panqui
01-04-2017, 08:20 AM
....ugh....please stop calling this old republican cheerleader a libertarian!..the stinking republicans loved him...that tells anyone not a stinking republican party apologist all they need to know!!.. :mad:

...here's the monetary ignoramus, republican warmonger, etc., sowell, leading the wildly popular :rolleyes: 'libertarians for gingrinch' crowd:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/12/29/republican_voters_choices_112560.html

"...People who think this way tend to vote for someone they just happen to like, whether for personal or ideological reasons, and regardless of whether that candidate has any realistic chance of being elected.

The surprising support in the polls for Congressman Ron Paul seems to be of this sort. But does anyone seriously want to put the fate of this nation in the hands of a man who can casually brush aside the danger of nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran, the world's leading sponsor of international terrorism?

Barring some astonishing surprise, the contest for the Republican nomination for president boils down to Mitt Romney versus Newt Gingrich....

Perhaps the strongest reason for some voters to support Governor Romney is that the smart money says he is more "electable" than the other candidates in general and Newt Gingrich in particular. But there was a time when even some conservative smart money types were saying that Ronald Reagan was too old to run for president, and that he should step aside for someone younger.
Washington Post editor Meg Greenfield said that the people in the Carter White House were "ecstatic" when the Republicans nominated Reagan, because they were convinced that they could clobber him....

Much depends on whether you think the voting public is going to be more interested in Newt Gingrich's personal past than in the country's future. Most of the things for which Gingrich has been criticized are things he did either in his personal life or when he was out of office. But, if we are serious, we are more concerned with his ability to perform when in office....

...There are no guarantees, no matter whom the Republicans vote for in the primaries. Why not vote for the candidate who has shown the best track record of accomplishments, both in office and in the debates? That is Newt Gingrich. With all his shortcomings, his record shows that he knows how to get the job done in Washington.

...ugh...ugh..

AZJoe
01-24-2019, 08:53 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chph_EPNNAs

AZJoe
04-08-2019, 05:07 AM
https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/53231220_257166455158880_6811513519490465792_n.jpg ?_nc_cat=101&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=0dad14f4756b056de56169640dfaa774&oe=5D341320

juleswin
04-08-2019, 09:51 AM
I was always suspicious of this guy because all the evangelicals I knew loved him. Plus, white bread milquetoasts love a contard colored man.

The guy might have had some libertarian positions, but he was hardly libertarian. People like this fail to recognize patterns. Contards in my area love big government when it comes to certain issues like police roadblocks, liquor control, gambling, whoring, dope, eminent domain, asset forfeiture, etc, but they they're baffled when that same government they support attempts gun control.

If you build government in one area, then you WILL grow it in another area. Giving it more power here, means it will expand to more power there. The government that is your friend today is your enemy tomorrow. The Frankenstein you build is the monster that you get.

This and I dunno why he cannot just be a very good conservative who made good argument about the free markets sometimes. Also conservatives are close relatives of libertarians so yes he would every once in a while espouse libertarian principles. This is no reason to put the label on him.

I remember reading a lot from this guy during the 2012 campaign and I would always watch to see what he says about Ron Paul. Well, he outright dismissed him and the few times he mentioned him, he used some mainstream critic to malign him. He is a good conservative and we should all leave it at that.

I always found it funny how he complains about the govt increasing taxes but has nothing to say about govt going on offensive wars to intimidate and conquer foreign people. Wasn't he in favor of weed prohibition?

dannno
04-08-2019, 10:01 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZbHndilYsI

Superfluous Man
04-08-2019, 10:03 AM
My take is that on the subjects where Sowell has real expertise and has written books about, especially economics and race, he's excellent and very libertarian. When he wanders off into other things, especially foreign policy, he's not.

oyarde
04-08-2019, 10:21 PM
Yeah , personally I like the guy , but he really is what you would expect him to be . Young Marine that worked his way up . A conservative .He understands free markets and economics , foreign policy is the weakness of many .

Sammy
04-09-2019, 08:39 AM
Thomas Sowell attacked ron paul,supported the iraq war & endorsed Newt Gingrich for president...
Not my Kind of Guy...

Superfluous Man
04-09-2019, 08:45 AM
Thomas Sowell attacked ron paul,supported the iraq war & endorsed Newt Gingrich for president...
Not my Kind of Guy...

I had forgotten that he supported the Iraq war. But in this column he was unreserved in his support of that war in particular and the virtue of preemptive war in general. It's really disappointing.
https://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2003/03/25/who-is-pro-war-n849343

AZJoe
04-24-2019, 10:58 PM
https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/58461901_284039892471536_5331790788009394176_n.jpg ?_nc_cat=108&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=19b8b71f391bb9d4e5a2f82f29994e0e&oe=5D2EF617

Krugminator2
04-26-2019, 03:22 PM
Wasn't he in favor of weed prohibition?

Nope.

ThePaleoLibertarian
04-27-2019, 02:16 AM
Vision of the Anointed along with Intellectuals and Society are two of the best political books of the last 30 years or more. He writes well on a lot more than just economics.