The Quest for Cosmic Justice

“The Quest for Cosmic Justice” by Dr. Thomas Sowell was recommended to me by a fellow Mensa member. I’ve been reading Sowell’s excellent books on economics, and have just purchased a couple of his books on race and culture, which I haven’t gotten to yet.

I think “The Quest for Cosmic Justice” is a must read for anyone who considers him/herself an intellectual. For liberals, it will help you understand where conservatives come from. And if you cannot articulate answers to Sowell, rather than just dismiss him, that should tell you something. It’s short. (I read it in a 24-hour period during which I also slept, went out to eat, made two shopping forays to several stores, attended a kids’ birthday party, visited friends with a new baby and watched Penn State beat Ohio State by seven.) It is, however, intellectually challenging and mentally stimulating—I would not recommend it to anyone without good cognitive powers and the ability to focus mentally to follow intellectually arguments.

“Quest” lays out the conservative world view, which believes in traditional justice verse “cosmic justice.” It explains clearly why, based on evidence and outcomes, conservatives believe liberal policies harm, perhaps irreparably, both our civilization and the people they are intended to benefit, such as the poor and minorities. After reading it, you will understand why this black intellectual strongly opposes Barack Obama.

Sowell’s discussion of the place of the “rule of law” in a free society is must reading for anyone in business or managing an organization, because you will not know if you are in violation of current anti-trust or discrimination law until you are in court, with the burden of proving that you are innocent on you—a reversal of our legal tradition.

When discussing the liberal view that the way to peace is disarmament and “personal contacts” (personal diplomacy) with people like Hitler, Sowell in 1999 anticipated one of the issues of the 2008 election, that of having “talks without pre-conditions” with countries like Iran. He points out that we now know that Hitler and his fellow tyrants held Chamberlin and other western leaders who went hat-in-hand to see him in contempt, and that their attempted negotiations were viewed as weakness that fed his dreams of conquest.

His section on the quiet repeal of the American Revolution is chilling for anyone who cares about the future of our free Republic.

Sowell believes that policies should be tested against the evidence before being enacted and judged by the results, not the intentions of policy makers, afterwards. What a radical, right-wing thought!

“Quest” says some things I’ve been saying for years, including that liberals are not as concerned about the outcomes and who suffers as they are in feeling good about having done the “right thing,” regardless of who is harmed. The millions who have died because of liberal policies, the millions trapped in poverty or living under oppressive governments because of their policies are of no interest to them, as long as their vision of “cosmic justice” was fulfilled. Sowell just says it more clearly, more intelligently, and with a broader reference of historical and economic facts than I could bring to bear.

For those who haven’t read “A Personal Odyssey,” Sowell’s excellent autobiography, he was born to a poor black family in NC. They didn’t have electricity, hot water or an indoor privy. By 17, he was on his own, supporting himself in NY City, working in a machine shop. He dropped out of high school. Was drafted into the Marines for two years. After that, he worked his way into and through Harvard (this was before affirmative action), then earned a master’s degree in economics, and eventually earned a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago.

He has taught economics at Cornell, UCLA, Stanford and several other top universities. His columns appear in many papers, and his books on economics, especially “Basic Economics” are used as text books in many universities. He also writes widely on race and culture. Contrary to press reports he has never been a Republican. He started his academic life as a Marxist, but looked at the evidence and the results for real people, not the intentions of the policy makers. He is now the leading free market economist in the country.

Okay, after reading four of his books, it’s now clear that Thomas Sowell is better educated, more intelligent, more articulate, a better writer and far more influential than I am. But I was a Staff Sergeant of Marines and he was only a Corporal. So there!

Why I'm voting Democrat

Several older versions of this were floating around the net. I added 16 items, dropped a few, and rewrote about half of the rest, so it's about 2/3rds new. It has been picked up several places, so I thought I'd post it myself.

WHY I'M VOTING DEMOCRAT!

I’m voting Democrat because like most Americans I trust Lawyers more than anyone else, I think only lawyers should run the government, and all the Democrat Leaders are lawyers: Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, John Edwards, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Leader Harry Reid, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and John Kerry, to name just a few. (Al Gore dropped out of Law School, so I don’t trust him as much, except on Global Warming.)

I’m voting Democrat because the Democrats support the trial lawyers and I think this country needs more lawsuits and less tort reform. And I don’t believe the trial lawyers’ contributions have a thing to do with it.

I’m voting Democrat because Congress has done such a wonderful job under Democrat leadership the last two years, that I want a lot more of the same.

I’m voting Democrat because I want to get my health care from the same competent, efficient, cost-effective, customer-service-focused folks who run the US Post Office, the Pentagon, FEMA and the state Registry of Motor Vehicles.

I'm voting Democrat because I'm way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves. Besides I live in Mayor Daley's/Sen. Obama's Cook County, where there is never any serious crime.

I’m voting Democrat because Sen. Obama has promised to cut the taxes of 95% of the people, including the 40% who don’t pay taxes. Those who don't work deserve checks from those who do--it's only fair.

I’m voting Democrat because Sen. Obama has promised to take away the secret ballot in union elections, and I think the union bosses should know if a workingman or woman is with them, or against them.

I’m voting Democrat because Sen. Obama has over three years experience in the Federal Government, and “Hope” is a great strategy.

I’m voting Democrat because Sen. Obama voted “present” instead of “yes” or “no” over 120 times in the Illinois State Senate, and I think we need a decisive president.

I’m voting Democrat because I think that drilling for American oil is foolish, when we can buy oil from the Middle East.

I’m voting Democrat because I think windmills (except off Hyannis) are a better answer to reliable, clean energy than Nuclear Energy.

I’m voting Democrat because I don’t think we give enough to other countries in foreign aid.

I’m voting Democrat because I’m for putting up barriers to free trade, as they did in 1930 with the Smoot-Hawley bill. That made things much better then.

I’m voting Democrat because I miss the high unemployment, inflation and interest rates of the Jimmy Carter years.

I’m voting Democrat because parents shouldn’t get to choose the school their kids go to. Parents should leave their children’s education to the teachers and stay out of it.

I’m voting Democrat because I think this is the perfect time to raise the Capital Gains tax and drive investment money out of the stock market.

I'm voting Democrat because I believe oil companies' profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene, but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn't. And I want Sen. Obama's new tax on oil companies, to drive the price of gas back up.

I'm voting Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would, and I want to spread my wealth around to those who earn less—or nothing.

I'm voting Democrat because freedom of speech is fine as long as you don't criticize Muslims or minorities. That should be outlawed as "hate speech."

I'm voting Democrat because, when we pull out of Iraq, I trust that the bad guys will stop attacking us because they now think we're good people.

I'm voting Democrat because I believe that people who can't tell us what the weather will be next week, can tell us what it will be 50 years from now.

I'm voting Democrat because I'm not concerned about restoring partial birth abortions so long as we keep all death row murderers alive.

I 'm voting Democrat because I believe that small businesses should not be allowed to make a profit. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution to people who didn’t start businesses.

I'm voting Democrat because I believe the law is what judges say it is, and not what legislators say—or the constitution.

I’m voting Democrat because there will be riots if McCain wins.

I’m voting Democrat because the media would call me a racist if I didn’t.