Vocal Minority

Rite Books: Economic Facts & Fallacies (Thomas Sowell)

I dropped the ball. This post was supposed to be on the 29th. I hope the three or four of you who read this blog didn't lose any sleep over it.

Economic Facts and Fallacies

by

Thomas Sowell

(2007)

Last year while on a shuttle bus from the airport to a conference, I struck up a conversation with some of the other passengers. Turns out one was an economics professor. I asked her if she's ever read or assigned works by Thomas Sowell. She started by saying she's heard of him, but never read his stuff. Then she asked, her mouth slightly contorted, "But isn't he a conservative?" Um, yeah ... So? And he's black too. Ooooooo!

And there you have it. I'm sorry, but Thomas Sowell is one of the brightest economic minds of the past century. He's a Rose & Milton Friedman (yes, that Milton Friedman) Senior Fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution. And this economics professor, whose main concern is his political leanings, has merely "heard of him." If college students of economics only getting the liberal side of economic thought (which is, pure and simple, Marxism-socialism and anti-capitalism), then I really fear for this country's future.

Dr. Sowell has also written a lot on education. While earning my state teacher's certification, I read lots of books on education and the American education system, but none were Sowell's works. Even at the age of 20, I knew the material was politically correct feel-good bullcrap. (In fact, my most boring classes and worst professors were in the education department!)

I never took an economics course in college; I wish I had. But Sowell's books are more understandable and practical than I imagine a typical economics textbook would be. His latest book, Economic Facts and Fallacies, is fascinating. Using factual data, historical and empirical evidence, and just plain common sense, he blows holes into (mostly left-wing) conventional wisdoms that drive American thought and, more dangerously, influences policy. From the book description:

Economic Facts and Fallacies exposes some of the most popular fallacies about economic issues--and does so in a lively manner and without requiring any prior knowledge of economics by the readers. These fallacies include many beliefs widely disseminated in the media and by politicians, such as fallacies about urban problems, income differences, male-female economic differences, as well as economics fallacies about academia, about race, and about Third World countries.

One of the themes of Economic Facts and Fallacies is that fallacies are not simply crazy ideas but in fact have a certain plausibility that gives them their staying power--and makes careful examination of their flaws both necessary and important, as well as sometimes humorous.

I will admit to not getting through this book as fast as others. A textbook it is not, but it is still rather cerebral, and I find it's not the type of reading to undertake right before shutting off the light and falling asleep.

The only bad thing about Economic Facts and Fallacies is that Sowell's facts and conclusions will most certainly continue to fall on deaf ears, particularly those of the sanctimonious politicians and media types who continue to soil our children's minds.

Rite Books: Stupid Black Men (Larry Elder)

Stupid Black Men
How to Play the Race Card -- And Lose

by

Larry Elder
(2008)

The five-year-long wait since Larry Elder's book was well worth it. Wow, what a title. Liberals must be fainting all over the place. But hell, Michael Moore published a book called "Stupid White Men," the premise of which, I would say, is about people who are stupid because they are white and men. As if being white and male was a defect.

(Wait a minute, isn't Moore white and a man?? Oh yeah, I keep forgetting: Only liberals are allowed to use stereotypes; and stereotypes never apply to liberals.)

Anyway, from the book description:

Radio host and bestselling author Larry Elder has made a career out of being a thorn-in-the-side of the conventional wisdom crowd. He deflates the pompous and points out the completely logical truths hidden behind the nutty rhetoric and out-of-control pandering of many of the politicians and so-called leaders of a variety of special interest groups. In Stupid Black Men, he takes on the mind-set that always captures the most media attention—as well as masses of public money—in this country: those who rail against racism as the root of all problems, and who end up hurting precisely those they claim to be helping.

Whether they are demagogues like Al Sharpton, established politicians like Hillary Clinton, or entertainers like Danny Glover, no one escapes Elder’s cogent arguments and rapier wit. His sometimes hilarious and always infuriating examples of wrong-headedness skewer not just politicians for their smugness and hypocrisy, but also actors, educators, religious leaders and the “mainscream media” for keeping the story in the headlines.

But Elder has a positive message, too: though they are fewer—and generally not as loud-mouthed—there are leaders and role models today who want to sweep away race-based whining and urge everyone in America, to share in the hard work, smart thinking and optimism that make this country great.

Titles of some of the 13 chapters include: "Stupid Black Leaders, " "Stupid Black Politicians," and "Stupid Black Entertainers."

You get the picture.

This is such a great and important book for all Americans: black or white, man or woman, stupid or intelligent. In fact, while I was grabbing lunch at Barnes and Noble, I helped a customer who was perusing it decide to buy it. No need to thank me, Larry. Just doing the Lord's work spreadin' the word.

See also my posts on:

Economic Facts and Fallacies by Thomas Sowell

Bamboozled: How Americans Are Being Exploited by the Lies of the Liberal Agenda by Angela McGlowan

[Revised and updated 3/18 - ETR]

Rite Books: Bamboozled (Angela McGlowan)

After buying a new book, I have a habit of reading the first couple chapters, only to drop it and move on to another new book. Eventually I get back to finishing the original book, but the time away had been so long I basically need to reread from the beginning. Such is the life of someone with "book-ADD."

As Black History Month winds down to a close, I am compelled to feature three books by black conservatives that I'm essentially reading all at once. They are all fantastic reads, extremely informative, and unapologetically conservative. Which is why you will probably not find them in any college African-American Studies Department, and also why you'll never see a review of them in the NY Times (at least a positive one).

Bamboozled

(How Americans Are Being Exploited by the Lies of the Liberal Agenda)

by Angela McGlowan
(2007)

Angela McGlowan is a truly accomplished woman. The daughter of a preacher and a former Miss Mississippi, she's president of her own consulting firm and a Fox News Contributor (or as liberals would say, she's an Uncle Tom. How intelligent and enlightened).

Ya gotta love these chapter titles:

1. Accountability - Uncle Sam Isn't Your "Baby Daddy": Why What's Good for Families Is Bad for Liberals

2. Robbing Prosperity: How Liberals Crush Enterprise and Entrepreneurship

3. An Education Is a Terrible Thing to Waste: The Achievement Gap, Denying School Choice, Union Bullies, and the "Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations

4. "Racist Cops ... Um ... Yeah, That's It!": The Liberal Love Affair with Criminal Leniency

You get the picture. Here's more from a press release: Some of the points I have actually mentioned in previous blog posts.

Bamboozled exposes:

-How the GOP and its conservative policy prescriptions better represent the true values and interests of blacks, Latinos and women, and provide the best economic opportunities for these voters and their families. Today, for instance, blacks and Latinos enjoy explosive economic and entrepreneurial success and opportunities in America.

-How the liberal social policies have led to the decline of the family, yet the Democrats continue to champion a culture of government dependence, exploiting black, Latino and women voters under the guise of compassion. In reality, the erosion of the traditional family is a triumph for liberals.

-How “Victimhood Vendors” like Louis Farrakhan, Teddy Kennedy and Reverend Jesse Jackson spew an endless diet of racial paranoia and liberal policies, promoting the image of black misery and failure instead of offering solutions.

-How blacks and Latinos hold values of faith and family that should make them far more comfortable with the Republican Party, but they continue to be bamboozled by the Democrats into not voting their values.

-How the Democrats have re-written history about their involvement in the civil rights struggle. Most Americans do not know they were the party of the KKK and the Confederacy, or that the longest serving member of the Senate today, Senator Robert Byrd (D), is a former Klansman who filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for over 14 hours. The party’s history of oppression, lynching and intimidation has been hidden so well for so long that the mere mention of it today seems conspiratorial rather than factual.

-How the liberals pretend to “fight for the little guy,” but all they really are doing is trying to ensure that the little guy stays little. After all, if the little guy prospers, who would the liberals have to fight for?

-How the flood of illegal aliens in our country is considered a golden opportunity for Democrats; a two-for-one special that allows liberals to race-bait Latino voters by making Republicans look like bigots, plus giving the liberals the lions’ share of votes from the 12 million illegal aliens with the passage of an amnesty bill.

-How liberals like Hillary Clinton and John Kerry are fighting for the voting rights of convicted murderers, rapists, thugs and pedophiles. With 4 million felons in the USA, is this the most sought-after voting bloc by liberals? Bamboozled will answer that for you.

Says Angela McGlowan, “The liberal agenda’s future success hinges on its ability to create a grievance culture of victimhood and dependency, with a ‘blame America first attitude’. Through the creation of a labyrinth of government programs, bureaucracies, the mainstream media and the ‘Hip Hop’ crew’s glorification of the ‘gangsta life’, liberals have successfully oppressed women, the poor and people of color, essentially sapping their drive for self-reliance by creating a dependency-inducing welfare culture.”

For those who want to learn more about what makes Ms. McGlowan tick, check out this May 2007 interview by Kathryn Jean Lopez.

Tomorrow: Larry Elder's new book Stupid Black Men.

[Updated 3/18 - ETR]

Rite Books: Do as I Say (Not as I Do)

Do as I Say (Not as I Do)
Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy

by Peter Schweizer

(2005)

This shouldn't be a book; it should be an encyclopedia. Seriously, if there's any book that needs mutliple sequels, it's this one.

Schweizer's magnificent tome documents the moralizing, sermonizing, and proselytizing of prominent liberals and then shows how they don't practice what they preach. You know the type: They lament the unfairness of America's capitalist system, yet they're never disturbed by how they've amassed their own fortune. They scream for more restrictive gun control laws while their own bodyguards pack heat. And, of course, they'll chastise you for poisoning the planet with your SUV and then board their own private jet.

Some examples:

1. Michael Moore

What he says: He grew up in the mostly minority blue-collar city of Flint, Michigan, where his father struggled to make ends meet in this oppressive capitalist system.

What he does: He actually grew up in white upper-class Davison, Michigan and was put through private school. His father worked for GM in a position that allowed him to retire comfortably at age 53.

What he says: He has claimed in interviews that he doesn't own a single share of stock.

What he does: He owns loads of stock, including Halliburton.

What he says: Before the success of his 1989 movie Roger and Me, he never made more than $19,000 a year (or $12,000 a year, depending on which magazine he was interviewing with.)

What he does: Before 1989 he had earned $50,000 while editor of the ultra-left magazine Mother Jones, received a $50,000 advance from a publishing company to write a book about GM (which I surmise he never completed), and got a $20,000 grant from Ralph Nader.

What he says: In the movie Bowling for Columbine Moore accuses conservative Americans of being obsessed with guns out of an irrational fear of black people.

What he does: He travels with bodyguards and has his security guards make people at his book signings take their hands out of their pockets ... out of an irrational fear of conservative Americans.

What he says: As a recurring theme in several books and movies, Moore depicts America as a racist nation and complains he never sees black people in high positions. In his book Stupid White Men, he proposes to make affirmative action his own hiring policy, proclaiming "If you're white and you really want to change things, why not start with yourself?"

What he does: Of the over 130 employees Moore hired for his published works and movies from Roger and Me (1989) to Fahrenheit 911 (2003), only three were black.

To be continued ...

Rite Book: The Ten Things You Can't Say in America

The Ten Things You Can't Say in America
(2000)

by
Larry Elder

Two weeks ago I posted my first “Featured Book,” The New Thought Police, which discusses how the left stifles free speech and, ultimately thought, through political correctness and other speech codes. PC has created an environment so unfriendly to opposing views that these days one cannot criticize anything done by women, blacks, guys, non-Christians, etc., even when the act in question is indisputably harmful, unjust, or even illegal. You’d think such a book would have been written by one of those intolerant white Archie Bunker types, when in actuality its author, Tammy Bruce, is a gay female and thus belongs to two groups that PC codes are supposed to “protect.” Similarly, the next featured book is The Ten Things You Can’t Say in America by Larry Elder, a black man from South Cental L.A.

There’s nobody the left loathes more than a black person that doesn’t toe the liberal party line! Elder discusses how impossible it has become in this country to confront real problems because of the PC wall erected by the left. Criticize any destructive behavior in the black community and you’re a racist (or, in Elder’s case, an Uncle Tom). Challenge politically expedient lies perpetuated by the radical feminist movement and you’re a sexist Neanderthal who wants women back in the kitchen. And so forth.

So, what are the ten things you can’t say? Well, here are some, in chapter order. For the rest, read the book! Also check out Elder’s daily radio show on KABC 790AM in L.A.

Sample Chapters:

1. Blacks Are More Racist Than Whites
4. The Glass Ceiling—Full of Holes
5. America’s Greatest Problem: Not Crime, Racism, or Bad Schools—It’s Illegitimacy
6. There Is No Health Care “Crisis”
8. Republicans Versus Democrats—Maybe a Dime’s Worth of Difference
10. Gun Control Advocates—Good Guys with Blood on Their Hands

Whoa, Mr. Elder. You can’t say that in America, you racist, sexist, classist moralizing zealot!

The Ten Things You Can't Say in America
(2000)

by
Larry Elder

Two weeks ago I posted my first “Featured Book,” The New Thought Police, which discusses how the left stifles free speech and, ultimately thought, through political correctness and other speech codes. PC has created an environment so unfriendly to opposing views that these days one cannot criticize anything done by women, blacks, guys, non-Christians, etc., even when the act in question is indisputably harmful, unjust, or even illegal. You’d think such a book would have been written by one of those intolerant white Archie Bunker types, when in actuality its author, Tammy Bruce, is a gay female and thus belongs to two groups that PC codes are supposed to “protect.” Similarly, the next featured book is The Ten Things You Can’t Say in America by Larry Elder, a black man from South Cental L.A.

There’s nobody the left loathes more than a black person that doesn’t toe the liberal party line! Elder discusses how impossible it has become in this country to confront real problems because of the PC wall erected by the left. Criticize any destructive behavior in the black community and you’re a racist (or, in Elder’s case, an Uncle Tom). Challenge politically expedient lies perpetuated by the radical feminist movement and you’re a sexist Neanderthal who wants women back in the kitchen. And so forth.

So, what are the ten things you can’t say? Well, here are some, in chapter order. For the rest, read the book! Also check out Elder’s daily radio show on KABC 790AM in L.A.

Sample Chapters:

1. Blacks Are More Racist Than Whites
4. The Glass Ceiling—Full of Holes
5. America’s Greatest Problem: Not Crime, Racism, or Bad Schools—It’s Illegitimacy
6. There Is No Health Care “Crisis”
8. Republicans Versus Democrats—Maybe a Dime’s Worth of Difference
10. Gun Control Advocates—Good Guys with Blood on Their Hands

Whoa, Mr. Elder. You can’t say that in America, you racist, sexist, classist moralizing zealot!

Rite Book: The New Thought Police

The New Thought Police
Inside the Left's Assault on Free Speech and Free Minds
(2003)

by
Tammy Bruce

This book called to me in 2003 from the shelf of the Barnes and Noble adjacent to Union Square in NYC. It was integral in opening my eyes to a lot of what is wrong with today's left. It takes a deep look at political correctness and speech codes and shows how these concepts are used not only to control our speech but, ultimately, thought.

Its author is not who'd you think! Tammy Bruce is an "openly gay, pro-choice, gun-owning, pro-death-penalty, liberal feminist who voted for Reagan." She's also a former president of the LA chapter of the National Organization of Women, where she learned first-hand how to use PC codes to squash the free speech of opponents.

If you've ever been in a situation where uttering something seemingly innocuous is met with responses like, "Gasp! You can't say that!" or if you're at the stage where you're censoring yourself, you can thank the supposedly tolerant and open-minded left.

Sample Chapters:

Groupthink: The Politics of "Hate"
The Misery Merchants: How the Black Civil-Rights Establishment Has Betrayed the Dream
Not NOW: The Selling-Out of the Feminist Establishment
Multiculturalism: Thought Police in Costume
The Thought Police in Academia: Indoctrinating the Next Generation