Random Thoughts
by Thomas Sowell
Random thoughts on the passing scene:
Is Charlton Heston a class act or what?
According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, in the year 2000
median household income in the United States reached "the
highest level ever recorded" up to that time. This included black
and Hispanic incomes which "hit new all-time highs" for these
groups. But did you hear this news reported in the media, amid
all the gloom and doom?
I am so old that I can remember when other people's
achievements were considered to be an inspiration, rather than
a grievance.
Imagine that a genie magically appeared and offered to grant
you one wish -- and, being a decent sort, you wished that
everyone's income would be doubled. That could bring down
on you the wrath of the political left, because it would mean
that the gap between the rich and the poor had widened. That
is basically their complaint against the American economy.
Since when do the duties of the president of the United States
include giving Israel a grade on everything it does?
For years, there have been various proposals for dividing the
controversial 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers an
enormous amount of territory. My own preference would be to
cut each 9th Circuit judge in half, with a few exceptions like
Alex Kozinski.
Nothing provokes more angry letters from schoolteachers than
saying that most college students who go into teaching are
from the bottom half of their class. But author Martin Gross
says the bottom third and Professor Diane Ravitch of NYU, the
leading historian of American education, says that many are
from the bottom quarter.
It is one of the signs of our times that a bill had to be passed by
Congress and signed into law by President Bush to say that a
baby born alive is a person. What else would he be? A
salamander? A mosquito? An otter? Still, it was a setback for
the pro-abortion crowd, which may be why it was largely
ignored in the media.
People who oppose letting workers invest their retirement
money in stocks, instead of in Social Security, like to point to
such things as the recent plunge in stock prices. But can you
name any reputable mutual fund that a worker could have
invested in over the past 30 or 40 years and gotten as low a
return as from Social Security -- even if the worker retired on
the day when the stock market reached its lowest point this
year?
Anything that is "bipartisan" is almost certain to have mushy
reasoning, if it has any reasoning at all.
Even parents who complain about low academic standards in
the schools seem not to understand that academic
achievement is not the real priority of today's educators.
Classroom brainwashing is the goal, though it is expressed in
prettier and more pious words than this.
Would anyone seriously expect to find an American flag flying
over the home of any leader of the organization that calls itself
"People for the American Way"? The last thing that the
left-wingers in that organization want to do is celebrate the
American way of life.
There are more people of Irish ancestry in the United States
than in Ireland and more Jews than in Israel.
Nobody will understand the hard-core political left who does not
understand that their politics are not about other people's
well-being but about their own egos.
Why would anyone think that the way to end terrorism in the Middle East is to reward
the terrorism that has already taken place there? Incidentally, when the Arabs controlled
the territory that Israel is now being urged to turn over to the PLO as a Palestinian state,
the Arabs never even considered doing any such thing.
One undeniable accomplishment of Bill Clinton's presidency was that it kept Jimmy
Carter from being the worst U.S. president in history. However, Carter is still the leading
candidate for the title of worst ex-president, as he keeps injecting himself into dicey
international situations that are no longer any of his business, while giving aid and
comfort to our enemies. |
