Book title and author: Discrimination and Disparities by Thomas Sowell reviewed 9-5-23

Why I picked this book up: I enjoyed previous Sowell readings so read this one next. I had a lot of diversity training in school and found the title and material interesting and I’ve read a few from him so far and I picked this one up to see what else I could get from his writing.

Thoughts: He tends to explain complex concepts in a simple way and goes with the data, not about emotional reasoning and is able to rationally lay out his conclusions clearly. I am impressed with the depth of his data. He uses hard data, economics, numbers and is able to get into the racial, historical aspects well.

Why I finished this read: I continue to appreciate his views and his style of writing. I find his writing informative, enlightening and fun to read. I always thought, economists as boring and am changing my view based on what I get from him. I highly recommend picking up his witting.

Stars rating: 5 of 5 stars. ( )

Jelenleg általánosan elfogadott, hogy a társadalmi egyenlőtlenségek fő oka a diszkrimináció, amit újabb és újabb szabályokkal lehet egyensúlyozni. Azzal persze könnyű egyetérteni, hogy a diszkriminatív törvényeket el kell törölni, de amikor az egyetemi felvételi teszteket akarják a diszkrimináció elleni küzdelem részeként megszüntetni, az azért furcsa.

Sowell szerint nem elég egyszerűen kijelenteni, hogy egy egyenlőtlenséget diszkrimináció okoz, be is kellene bizonyítani. Számos történelmi példát hoz, és leginkább azt mutatja meg, hogy az egyenlőtlenség olyan elterjedt volt mindig, hogy teljesen hibás különleges okokat keresni megmagyarázandó az egyenlőtlenségeket. Ráadásul sok-sok példával megmutatja, hogy a látszólag jó szándékú törvények többnyire pont azoknak a csoportoknak okoznak kárt, akiket elvileg meg akarnak védeni.

A végtelen sok példa miatt a könyv a kelleténél azért kissé szárazabb, de érdekes olvasmány. ( )

These kinds of books are dry... I will admit it but the information here is so spot on. I actually listened to it on Audible and took it in small chunks to process it all as I went. I will definitely be seeking out more books by Sowell. He is such a brilliant writer and thinker of our time. ( )

I'm not sure what to say. The data was fascinating and, if correct, the potential conclusions scary.

I particularly found his observations about refugees and immigrants interesting. #letthemin ( )

Discrimination and Disparities is the first book by Thomas Sowell that I've read, and I will definitely be reading more by him.

I might have been a little annoying while reading this book: around friends and family, I was self-conscious of frequently saying, "listen to this [data]!" Well, they seemed very interested, at least. It is incredibly refreshing to read a book on the topic of social conditions which is so evidence-based. Every claim is thoroughly supported by a description of evidence: Sowell is very careful that his claims are not stronger than the evidence he has at hand. As one educated by critical-social-justice theories, heavier in poetry than empiricism, I had the additional delight of learning fact-based arguments which call into serious doubt many of the dogmas I had received in college.

Of particular interest is the methodology that Sowell uses. Clear, simple, yet rigorous, it is a model that I wish more intellectuals could adopt. In the 2nd (enlarged) edition, Sowell goes into greater detail into this methodology of social research, and justifies its importance: that we should be committed more to truth and testing claims than to action and programs: for in the latter we have no guarantee of benefit and risk of harm, but in the former we can learn what really works. This simple piece of wisdom is one which might be expected to be common sense in our historically scientific culture, and yet seems to be increasingly abandoned with the spread of what I might call "post-scientism".

Also of interest is his straightforward economic analysis. Having never formally studied economics except Marx, finally reading sound economic arguments was delightful and illuminating for me. I look forward to reading more from Sowell. ( )