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Dismantling America: and other controversial essays

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In this collection from his newspaper columns Sowell sights a number of disturbing trends which he claims are contributing to the erosion of defining, American foundations. For instance he sights bills being pushed through without a clear understanding of what is in them. He writes about confirmations to significant positions of political power being rushed through without a proper due-diligence. He also provides examples of long-held values being undermined - all in the name of progress.

Sowell points out startling similarities with what is going on in America and what happened to the Roman empire. He also suggests that once the Roman empire was dismantled it could never be put back together again. Some are certain to see Sowell as a doom-n-gloom prophet shouting about the coming fall of Humpty-Dumpty. Others will see him as a common sense writer who rightly identifies what should be more obvious to many.

In short, America is distancing itself from what it once was. Sowell suggest we are becoming soft, weak, and a culture of pacifism as we capitulate to the demands of other cultures, including Muslim nations.

The primary atrocity Sowell sees is the unfairness to the generations yet born. Those who are coming behind us will be handed something far less beautiful than what we have been given. When it comes to what political leaders are doing, Thomas doesn't shy away from the words `systematic denigration'.

The book is a sobering work comparing and contrasting what was and what is and what will likely be if the current direction continues.

The book is a compilation of Sowell's columns, and so covers a wide array of topics. While no issue is covered in-depth, each essay is well-written and thought provoking. I particularly like the author's focus on history--he makes it clear that the current mess the country is in didn't happen overnight--our society has been crumbling for the past 40 years, and things are now reaching crisis level. The book is an excellent, and sobering, overview of our society.

Dismantling America: and other controversial essays

Thomas Sowell is one of the most brilliant economists and thinkers alive today. This book contains the thoughts of a thoughtful and logical man and is an excellent and informative read. Although this book is not footnoted since it is a selection of columns he has written, most all of his books are extensively footnoted.

Sowell's A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Strugglesis one of his best among the many I have read and is a work which should be required reading in every university and every member of Congress. It is his best work.

My first Thomas Sowell book. I found it an easy read and thought provoking. Readers should be aware this is a compilation of previously written articles so there are some repeated opinions, phases and statements. I recommend this book to anyone who is new to politics or maybe trying to make sense out of the current political and economic situation.

Excellent essays from one of America's clearest thinkers. With precision common sense, Mr. Sowell tells it as it is in this country. In my view, this book is a must-read for Americans before his next book is published with the obligatory title: "How America Was Dismantled--From Within."

I am a new reader of Dr. Sowell's. He has peaked my interest on current events, economics, race and the law. This collections of essays rings true. His common sense way of portraying issues makes me understand why he is such a beloved author. If only I started reading him as a younger man. I highly recommend this one and any of his others. I am only about a 10% through reading all of his books but I am anxious to read them.

I've become a huge Thomas Sowell fan. Yes, this book is taken from his articles, but that is okay with me, because I believe they are worth reading several times over. As a person who loves this Country and who has sworn to put my life on the line do defend its Constitution, Sowell both motivates and inspires me to do more than just complain about things.

It really does seem like there is a growing segment of our society (now about 25 to 30 percent) who have little or no respect for truth, integrity, or responsibility, because such things have been systematically removed from their vocabulary while growing up. The term law abiding is almost foreign to them. It is a sad state of affairs. Such people really do feel that the government OWES them everything without having to give anything.

Our founding fathers were great readers of history and they worked very hard to create a Constitution that would help us as a nation to have the freedom to grow and expand, and more importantly, to endure. They not only set limits and boundaries for our government, but sternly warned us as to what would happen if we ignored such boundaries. So, it should not be a very big surprise, that almost every dire consequence that they predicted (i.e. what had happened to other nations throughout history) is now happening to us.

Because the boundaries of the Constitution are so clear, and the warning of not following so stern, only a fool would try to argue that the what is happening to cause America's degradation is done by happenstance rather than the intentional dismantling of the American way of life. It would be like sticking a knife into someone's chest and then being surprised that they would bleed to death and die.

A WORD OF CAUTION: Thomas Sowell will educate you and wake you up out of your political slumber. When that happens, you might want to join the Tea Party movement and begin speaking out and taking action to defend our US Constitution. When that happens there is a very high chance that those who call themselves progressives (those dismantling our Constitution) will become offended. And because they don't have a high regard for following laws, (because they equate liberty with the freedom from moral discipline), there is a high chance that they will treat you in the same way they treat conservative politicians and they will try to accuse you falsely of wrong doing. They will lie about you and perhaps call you a racist. All of these things are meant to harm your reputation.

Therefore, I would highly recommend getting another book called, Wild West 2.0: How to Protect and Restore Your Reputation on the Untamed Social Frontier. This book tells you how to proactively manage your reputation by teaching you where to look for the problems that Liberals might cause you and then how to repair them. This is very important because when looking for a new job (or getting a new client) people will judge you by what they find online, so it is best that you control that. So get this book too, so you'll have the armor you need while fighting to protect our Constitution.

While this terrific book is a selection from Thomas Sowell's newspaper columns (with a few brief essays introducing the chapters), it reads more like a book than a collection of disjointed thoughts. And the topic could not be more timely: how we have installed those in power who are set on dismantling our country. While the politicians get front and center here, we also have foolishly put these folks into positions of leadership and power in our culture, in our universities and public schools, and even in too many of our churches. We must always remember this is not something being done to us as a nation, but something we are foolishly doing to ourselves by putting the wrong people in power, adopting foolish policies, believing nonsense economics, and passively following those who are distorting our history and traditions rather than standing up and pushing them aside.

This book is urgent because the several crises we are facing might well cause America to fall apart. Those seeking to fundamentally transform her do not seem to have a clue or care about the traditions, principles, and culture that brought her life and power. Well, Sowell knows and cares. I care. You probably do, as well.

The columns are grouped under six headings:
- Government Policies
- Political Issues
- Economic Issues
- Cultural Issues
- Legal Issues
- And selections from his wonderful "Random Thoughts" columns.

Through these columns you will learn how politicians garner power by peddling bad economics, why healthcare is not the same as medical care, why privileges are not and can never be rights, how schools are shortchanging students and taxpayers, why accusing someone of greed seldom explains anything, and so much more. Sowell always uses clear thinking and reasoning to power his point home. I hope you will notice that we seldom see his critics offer reasons or evidence against his arguments. They usually either attack him or mischaracterize his argument and refute something he never said.

Sowell is one of the few columnists whose words I treasure. Not so much because his writing is beautiful in the sense of style, but because the truth he tells so cleanly and directly is so radiantly wonderful. For example, "Economics and politics deal with the same fundamental problem: What everyone wants always adds up to more than there is." He goes on to point out that all economics can offer is tradeoffs while politicians offer solutions that are almost always illusions.

I hope you get a copy of this book and savor it. I not only enjoyed reading it, I learned things and believe you will, too.

You might also be interested in Sowell's:
Intellectuals and Society

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Saline, MI

This is vintage Sowell. Crisp clear writing. Vivid images. Powerful arguments. The only complaint I can make is that these essays are more pessimistic than Sowell's earlier essays and thus depressing but he clearly lays out his reasons for pessimism. This is a must read.

Thomas Sowell is a very thoughtful man. He is concerned with many issues of the day: the attack on American Constitutional democracy; the dangerous decline of American public education and its conversion into an introduction mechanism by groups who are opposed to intellectual honesty in any form; the ruination of the public fisc by unions and special interests; and, in general, the decline of the great and grand American experiment.

Sowell brings to mind Eric Hoffer, the great populist philosopher, and his greatest work "The True Believer", an analysis of the dependent mind that fears individual responsibility and seeks comfort in mass movements where all think alike.

This book is largely a collection of previously published Sowell columns, peppered with few short introductory essays here and there. This is not a book written in the academic style. Sowell writes fluently, his prose free of academic pretension. Sowell pulls no punches in his concerns and orientation: "While the Obama administration in Washington is not the root cause of the ominous dangers that face this country, at home and abroad, it is the embodiment, the personification and the culmination of dangerous trends that began long ago". Sowell's own words summarize his overall point: "our concern is not with one man, but with as country, though history has shown repeatedly that one man in a key position at a crucial time can bring down a whole country in ruins".

It should be clear that Sowell does not hold the Obama administration in high regard - and, much to his credit, instead of foaming and frothing, explains why he opposes specific policies, why they represent dangers to the nation and why citizens must do their utmost to correct he grievous mistake of 2008.

Much like Hoffer, Sowell often uses aphorisms and other rhetorical devices to make his point. For example, he asks simply "[h]ow do you suppose the government can produce something for three dollars that private industry cannot produce for less than ten dollars? Greater efficiency in government? Give me a break".

Sowell breaks his book into sections: Government Policies, Political Issues, Economic Issues, Cultural Issues Legal Issues and, finally, Random Thoughts.

I'm a regular reader of Sowell's syndicated column and his occasional articles that appear elsewhere. He brings an intellectual's perspective to complex political and social issues and explains them in clear terms. If you haven't read Sowell before, this is an excellent introduction. If you're regular, this is a fun way to revisit columns you may have missed or forgotten about.

Sowell, in my opinion, is one our foremost public intellectuals and he should be listened to, even by those who hold opposing political opinions.

Jerry