As a black woman, finding Thomas Sowell in high school was the most liberating thing that ever happened to me. It allowed me to stop thinking that i was doomed, and to stop listening to people that insisted that i was at a disadvantage so that i could start taking responsibility for my own grades in school and ultimately determine my own future. The greatest thing society can do for any 'disadvantaged group' is to leave them alone and to stop telling them they are incapable of achieving.

Debates 20 years ago seem to have been a lot smarter and civilised

This was back when interviewers knew what the fuck they were listening too, and actually contributed thoughtfully to the discussion.

Sowell could read aloud the ingredients to a bottle of soda and you'd be wiser for hearing it.

Is Thomas Sowell the sanest man on the planet? I think he is.

Final remark is very enlightening: why political leaders are seldom enthusiastic about individual freedom? Because if you love freedom, leaders are not important in your life.

Just found out this man served in the Korean war with the Marines. As a Marine vet, I want to thank him for his service, in and out of the military. He's my hero.

Thomas Sowell should have an hour long TV show once a week on the current events. I would never miss that show.

this is gotta be THE MOST honest and free discussion of this now considered unspeakable subject that I have EVER seen. Why don't we do interviews like this anymore?

14:23 "For a leader to say leadership isn't important, is like Cadillac saying it doesn't matter what car you buy." - Thomas Sowell Well put.

Thomas Sowell is a national treasure and with the death of Walt Williams earlier this year, is one of the last standard bearers of sanity left in academia. He will be sorely missed.

I just love the contrast between Buckley and Sowell. Their accents and styles are so different. I loved watching Sowell, Buckley and Friedman debate a bunch of leftists, it was like the dream team!

This interviewer is so laid back he's slanting

was this really in 1983? He was 53 years old then. are you kidding me? he looks like he could pass off as 30 years old.

Love Sowell. I owe him a debt of gratitude. He has given a voice to many blacks who have dared to think outside the box on issues of race and culture and who have embraced conservative and/or libertarian political worldviews.

Thomas Sowell was able to rise above difficult obstacles and in a meritocracy, his intelligence , wisdom, and hard work couldn't be denied. Contrast that with today's victomhood mentality. What has the country done for me? The 1619 project, BLM, and codified diversity policies are clearly doubling down on idiocy. God help us.

This man is really amazing. Sharp intellect and intellectual honesty. Deep and true insights. Most politically incorrect. Perhaps too discomforting for the western selfserving ideologs.

Did you know sowell was a marine AND a 1911 handgun expert?! This guy is so cool

Thank you Dr. Thomas Sowell for my Daly dose of Sowell. Always appreciate your Real History Lesson. Shame we don’t have more Teachers like him. A True American 🇺🇸 Treasure and Patriot that should be Treasured for all eternity. All day long Yahoo

Just came here from a sociologist talking about the mystery of why there's so many poor among blacks and this man had already figured out over 30 years ago

This man is amazing, a real inspiration to all! If everyone would be more like him, it would be nearly impossible to be racist. Everyone, of every race, should be more like this guy and be inspired by him to work study and succeed!

I love this guy's thinking, views, and intellect. Wish we had 10,000 of him to spread wisdom in the US.

His books are basic economics especially his book Basic Economics. My 16 year old brother is reading it right now quickly gaining a better understanding of economics than most of his teachers.

Jesse Jackson an other so called black leaders have set the image of blacks in america decades back. We need more people like Thomas Sowell to be a more visible voice in the political discussion.

Thomas Sowell is a brilliant individual. I truly appreciate his wisdom.

I learn much everytime when I listen to Prof Thomas Sowell...

Love Thomas Sowell, he defies the odds of how progressives want minorities to think....

I never get tired of listening to this wise man ! Thank God for Thomas Sowell 🙏

He is simply brilliant. And lest this be lost he is a SENIOR FELLOW at the Hoover Institute. They do not hand out fellowships like candy corn. You must prove your worth for that distinction.

One of the greatest mind of our time ! Dr Thomas Sowell is smiling ear to ear . Happy 94 th Dr Thomas Sowell 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉.

"Leadership becomes much less important" Brilliant!

Affirmative Action (quota) is a control mechanism.

God damn brilliant man.

Greatest economist ever!

I believe the intentions of affirmative action are excellent intentions. The intentions of affirmative actions are to help prevent discrimination, racism, etc, which are excellent intentions. The problem with affirmative action is that with affirmative action, people are often hired for a job, chosen for a job, chosen for a college, etc due to their skin color instead of their qualifications, skills, etc. When bosses are forced to hire a certain percentage of people of a certain race in order to fill a quota, it makes bosses so desperate to hire people of a certain race that bosses frequently (not always) don't hold some employees to the same hiring standards as other employees. When a boss doesn't have anyone of a certain race working at his or her company, that doesn't mean the boss is racist. A lot of times when a boss doesn't have anyone of a certain race working at his or her company, it's because that boss hasn't found any qualified applicants of that particular race for the job; not because of racism. Conservatives tend to be against affirmative action not because of them being racist, but because affirmative action has the tendency for bosses to choose candidates for a job based on their race instead of their character, work ethic, skill level, qualifications, talents, etc. Conservatives don't like it when less qualified applicants get chosen for a job or college over more qualified applicants, which is understandable since the fair thing is for the most qualified people to be chosen over the applicants that are not as qualified. People should be chosen for a college based on their work ethic, skill level, grades, recommendation letters, etc. People should be chosen for a job based on their character, work ethic, skill level, qualifications, talents, etc.

Two great men, whose words should be required study in all schools.

Spot on and Brilliant. My family and I used to be homeless for 3 years but through adversary, we pulled out of that situation and now have left our previous impoverish conditions. I did not give up but kept going through my disappointments. Now, I may agree that blacks, Hispanics, can have a high income through having a college education but the issue in 2018, there are a huge skills gap among American college graduates. Why? No common sense in our schools since college and universities are offering gender and feminism studies.

Just when I think i can't like this dude anymore I find out he is a Marine.

I was arguing with a feminist about affirmative action and the gender wage gap. I told her to youtube and read Thomas Sowell. She asked who Sowell was....things went downhill from there. She youtubed him and read a couple of his studies (if I believe her)then responded that she would not entertain Sowell's fringe arguments. She basically plugged her fingers into her ears and repeated "Nyaah Nyaah Nyah I can't hear you!"...I think we are doomed.

Unfortunately, a lot of people have emotional attachments to their political beliefs, which is why they tend to plug their ears when confronted with reasoning that conflicts with those beliefs. That's why I like Sowell.. .he never lets his emotions overpower his reasoning, and he always has data to back up his claims.

WOW I respect this guy he actually talks sense.... I wonder what he would make of the Afrocentrics and their bullshit today?

Such thoughtful and productive discussions back then. Those were the days!

👍👍

Every time I hear someone being called an "Uncle Tom" I want to cry

Thomas is 53 here. He looks 20 years younger.

I love listening to Thomas Sowell.

I learn new words every time I watch WFB !

that leadership point he made was fantastic

I grew up conservative and have become more so.

Unfortunately, "feelings don't care about your facts" so we're still precisely where we were all those years ago, if not further back

Brilliant!

No. I had to put forth a hell of a lot of hard work all the same. I had a 4.0 and a 42 on my MCAT. Being a Native American was just icing on the cake to them.

Superb discussion!!

12:42 - 13:18 Wow, that is an amazing explanation.

Fast forward to 2020..........................

Such a wise man. Many should take a leaf out of his book!! He makes a point!!! I presume the liberals do not wish to listen to him as they prefer him to takes sides and not be practical and real! What an imposing man with an amazing intellect and is so eloquent!!! Common sense immense.

Just finished basic economics. I'm hungry for more.

Soy argentino y me encanta thomas sowell!

You just made my point for me, thank you. Institutional racism and discrimination are what they are, and splitting hairs over what they are based on tends to be a game for those who tolerate or even aim to continue to such policies.

Can you love someone without some notion of reducing your masculinity? Either way, love, love, love my brother. GFY if you hate or dislike this man, greatest HUMAN BEING EVER.

Are there like some 20-hour interviews of Sowell and Friedman that you cut from? It's like you stole Santa's bag and endlessly keep pulling out awesome liberty tidbits! As always thanks.

A german translation would be nice. Very interesting topic.

Good thing Sowell had affirmative action to help him be somebody.....Oh wait, he didn't need affirmative action. Only a little imagination, virtue and motivation.

11:28 This about single mother black families is brilliant. I would love to see his sources, I must read his book.

He is a true role model

Nature or Nurture. Genetics or culture. You can no longer see this kind of debate on TV.

Back when mainstream TV aired content that in contemporary times can only be found (for now) on the internet.

my reaction as well. just when i thought i had as much respect as i could for him he springs that one on us. turns out he serves in the korean war.

Momma, there goes that man again. #SowellSonicForce

Can you imagine that the age difference between them is just 5 years and Sowell looks like he’s in his ‘30s.

"Why don't black political leaders share your view?" "If there's no political solution, what use are political leaders?"

I guess we can take this as proof that sarcasm doesn't cross over very well on the internet.

Él es fabuloso.

Well, I was 1 year old when this happened.

"For a leader to say leadership isn't important is like Cadillac saying it doesn't matter what car you buy"

that is suprising. I went to high school in texas and both econmics and Government were required courses for a semmester each in order to graduate.

You call it conservatism (fiscal conservatism, that is), I call it common sense. People have to come to terms with the fact that economics is not a matter of what's nice, but what works.

smart dude

Affirmative Action, there's a contradiction in terms !!!

Takes a lot of courage to be him. And you.

It is not "genetic", it is "epigenetic". Or, in other words, simply "learned behavior".

"Patricia Roberts Harris, an official in the Carter Administration, once said Sowell and Walter E. Williams "don't know what poverty is." Sowell called her position "a pathetic sign of intellectual bankruptcy," saying that he "was almost 9 years old before [he] lived in a home with [hot] running water" and that she "was a campus social leader in an 'exclusive sorority' -meaning that it was for middle-class (light-skinned) women" while he worked full-time and went to the same college at night."

Any social program is as effective as it’s results but whom can we trust to measure objective results...the government or the politicians who drafted the programs? My guess is neither, I’d suggest you do you own research and evaluation and arrive at your own truth. But most people simply avoid using their own minds and prefer to be “given the truth.” Your thoughts?

I wish the white male in this video would read me bedtime stories every night and help cure my insomnia... his voice is like a sleep aid.

This host is a bond villain

#SoWell

Wow, as a black I never thought about the dilemma of hiring mediocre whites vs mediocre blacks and thought process used. Makes u hold your tongue before judging others.

The purpose of it may have in fact been to just cause racial tension and act as a barrier against social cohesion among groups instead of actual anti-discrimination.

We are not doomed, they are.

Can't both things be true that society's have patterns locally they way they talk-accents and that they are in a society and that affects them also-prop #9 as an example?

So stereotypes are mostly true! Thomas Sowell is a god!!

He has a point, and even within the United States, there are myriad examples of whites being prejudiced against other whites. Italians, Greeks, Irish, and Polish are just a few examples of Caucasians who also experienced institutionally-imposed disadvantage. The notion that mere skin color is the only basis upon which people choose to discriminate against others is limited and inherently ignorant.

The real Japanese American Leaders are the Fathers and Mothers of those successful Japanese Americans. They encouraged their children to work hard and do better, and to be better. Our Parents should be our real leaders, they set the standard for us. If ones parents set good examples and standards those children are far more likely to succeed regardless of race, economic background, or sexual orientation (I believe this to be true for at least the most of the time).

At 5:08 what's that term he uses to describe American Jews? I'm not trying to start a fight, I just think I've heard it before and was wondering what it was.

What is the name of the song played at the end?

Few high schools require economics anymore. I went to a "liberal arts" college. Wasn't required there either. Surprise, surprise....

...other races as "bad" or "less than" just because they might have particular traits, on average, that are more amenable to certain tasks or general survival. I will take on ANYBODY who disagrees with anything I've said here with the utmost confidence of the scientific and moral high ground. Being it on.

nope, sarcasm on the internet is like a good analogy in an argument with a stupid person. it's... something like ... something.

Yeah, but I'm okay with it. It got me into Yale, after all.

This guy should have been president!!!!