Yesterday I described the great Thomas Sowell as great and I was taken to task for doing so by an anonymous lefty blogger. I did so for two reasons; one, Thomas Sowell is a great economist and a great thinker, and two, I enjoy tweaking the left at every opportunity.
Now why would describing someone as great tweak the left? Well, greatness and egalitarianism, a tendency of many on the left, are very much at odds with one another. If equality is your goal, then greatness is your enemy.
It is this mindset that spawns the leftist attacks on greatness that we are seeing with greater frequency every day. This is why everyone gets a trophy instead of just the champions. It is why some schools are doing away with valedictorians and honor rolls. It is one of the reasons why WalMart is under constant attack.
Some no doubt are unable to enjoy the greatness of others as it reminds them of their own shortcomings. For the healthy among us, enjoy a great person today!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
12 comments:
It s much simpler than that Denis.
To some on the left the very notion that anyone having a conservative view could be great is (to them) not possible.
You don't get it.
The people that you label with the pejorative term 'left' don't know what the h*ll you are talking about.
I am considered a conservative Catholic, have not voted for either R or D party since 1980, and you people crank out some insipid comments about 'leftist' this and 'leftist' that.
You people are a one trick pony, and the trick ain't even good!
As for Fred, I just thing he feeds on his mean-spiritedness toward people, in a self-righteous sort of way...
The more I think about it, you guys seem to thrive on terms of derision toward those that you disagree with, and hide behind slogans.
You folks are No more American, patriotic, freedom loving, that anyone else. You merely believe that you are.
I reserve the term 'Great' for my Grandfathers fellow Pole, Pope John Paul II.
It seems there are many meanings for the word great. This beer tastes great. What a great idea. Then there are the truly great. The great Shakespeare. The great Einstein. The great Beethoven. The great Thomas Sowell? Who is he? Is he great because you agree with everything he says? Like may superlatives the more the word great is used the less value it has.
Yes Fred, for some a conservative could not be great. For some deranged people, all conservatives are evil.
anon, I have hardly overused the word great. In fact, I believe that Thomas Sowell is the first person that I have described as great on this blog. To answer your question, Thomas Sowell is an economist and prolific author. He has, in my opinion, an unparelled ability to explain difficult economic concepts in plain English. His major contribution, again in my opinion, has been to utilize economic principles in the study of social problems and issues. His books range from subjects about late talking children to beginning economics textbooks to the analysis of the great political divide that we are experiencing today but that has been with us for hundreds of years. After having read several of his books, I am able to consider issues from a multiple of angles and perspectives, and I am better off because of it. If I am being a bit evangelical on the topic of Sowell, it is because I think his body of work is outstanding, and that all of us could benifit from reading some of his work. But I suspect that you, anon, will be quite able to dismiss Thomas Sowell as a right wing blah blah blah, demonstrating once again for all the readers of FreeRacine your superior intellect.
Like Pinkerton, who is a righty regular on Fox news 'balanced' right wing television...
I take Krugman and David Stockman and Jeffrey Sachs over Sowell any day. Krugman worked for Reagan, I believe, a typical lefty president, I guess...
Olberman v. Bush
"You, Mr. Bush, are a bald-faced liar."
If you've never watched one of Keith Olberman's "special comments", hold onto your hat and check the most recent one. If you've seen them before but missed this one, check it out. If you've seen this one, pass it on to others who might not have. Olberman appears nightly on MSNBC at 7:00PM with a rerun at 11:00PM.
Denis Navratil said...
Yes Fred, for some a conservative could not be great. For some deranged people, all conservatives are evil.
----------------------------------
Ummm...it is the 'right' that paints people like Dorothy Day, The Catholic Worker, and other followers of Jesus Christ as
'leftist communists'.
You guys lie like a rug...and do not even see it.
To anonymous.
I made it clear my opinion dealth with "some". That word was used as to not paint with a broad brush intentionally.
Yet you take your personal potshot at me while you had like a coward behind an anonymous tag.
You don't know me at all, so how can you mischaracterize sop blatantly.
I have opinions, and I share them.
If you have a problem with that, it is just that, your problem.
After having read several of his books, I am able to consider issues from a multiple of angles and perspectives, and I am better off because of it. If I am being a bit evangelical on the topic of Sowell, it is because I think his body of work is outstanding, and that all of us could benifit from reading some of his work. But I suspect that you, anon, will be quite able to dismiss Thomas Sowell as a right wing...
====================================
I suggest reading Robert Hiebroner's book "Wordly Philosophers"...
Post a Comment