Thomas Sowell breaks down how most intellectuals think: “The best definition I’ve heard is from Hayek—he says an intellectual is a ‘secondhand dealer in ideas.’” “The vast majority of intellectuals don’t originate any ideas but they peddle ideas that other people have originated.” “That gives them a great deal... of freedom because ideas and words are so malleable. Reality is not malleable. So they can believe in all sorts of things which have no realistic possibility and which have failed time and again in history.” “But because they know how to rephrase it and repackage it, they can just keep right on going.”show more

@kylenabecker He covers this extensively in his book The Vision of the Anointed.

Sowell is the best. IMHO better than even the great Milton Friedman because Sowell sees the big picture, how politics is downstream from culture etc whereas Friedman was more ivory tower.

My definition of an "intellectual" is someone who is educated beyond their intelligence. In other words, an educated idiot.

The great Dr. Sowell always on target. We have become a society of intellectual used car salesmen.

This is one of the many ways in which Thomas Sowell is a moral hero. The intellectuals - the ones he targetted in Intellectuals and Society - are his peer group.

When we see his life, in a dozen documentaries, displayed prominently during Black History Month, we will know we have won.

Sowell is a national treasure. When that sad day comes, whenever it is, wherever it is, I'm traveling to his funeral to mourn and celebrate Thomas Sowell.

I think part of it is journals and peer review. ‘Research’ is considered credible when other academics agree. If they are all in on a scam, like climate change or the Covid jab, they can make it seem credible.

Маркс эксплуатировал Гегеля, Ленин эксплуатировл Маркса, Сартр эксплуатировл Ленина...

Here and elsewhere he is secondhand peddling Hayek and has zero self awareness about it.

Mr. Sowell shouldve termed these scholastics the Modern Sophists. They are ☆identical to Platos representarion of the Sophists: claiming expertise in some field of study but teaching lies about it.

@MMTLP4ME88 @FriedrichHayek

@ReedWade61516 Fully agree because this is reality..real, not malleable.

👍Good points. For example, Marx was never read by ANYONE (besides Historian Dr. Rex Curry). The only person who discovered that Marx was ignorant of his own Jewish background was Dr. Curry. How could all others have overlooked Dr. Curry's discovery if they ever DID read Marx?

Tom is the Best

por eso escribí esto...

人類の発展とは、手と足で行われて来たに違いない。

@kate_p45 🎯

😂

„Die überwältigende Mehrheit der Intellektuellen erfindet keine eigenen Ideen, sondern vertreibt Ideen, die andere Menschen erdacht haben.“ Die neue Idee unter Zensur: eine EINBAHNIGE 15´-Ring-U-Bahn für eine 15´-Stadt:

He stole that definition/thinking from Ayn Rand.

The thing about intellectuals is they believe they are so much smarter than everyone else but produce nothing useable and even supposedly being so smart they can't reconcile that fact

It’s impossible to be a unique intellectual, whether sowellian or hayeksian. Originality is simply undetected imitation.

@kylenabecker Thomas, you are so brilliantly clear and honest. You are this era’s G.K. Chesterton.

@peterschweizer 👍

There is nothing new under the sun--including, fittingly and self-awarely enough, Sowell's own quote-derived message here.

This great man understands reality.

Sounds right 🤓👍

Glad this account is back to basics

Sowell is a national treasure.

🔥 'Ideas are malleable.. Words are malleable.. Reality is not malleable..' 'But because they know how to rephrase it and repackage it they can just keep right on going' So true that most people don't originate ideas 💎

That was my impression when I studied philosophy at the university. No independent thought whatsoever.

Leaders on both sides love to warn that Social Security runs out in the early 2030s — like it’s the apocalypse. Yet they’ve collectively spent us into $39 trillion in debt… and barely mention the interest payments exploding higher every year. Who’s really being dishonest and hypocritical? We kept our end of the deal — paying into the system our whole lives. The country keeps changing the rules on us. This is why Article V Convention of States matters now more than ever. Real fiscal guardrails. Term limits. Power back to the states and the people. Before the spiral crushes the working families who showed up every day. 34 states to propose. 38 to ratify. Kansas was #20. Breathe. Forgive. Reclaim. #ArticleV #WeThePeople #FiscalResponsibility

100% de acuerdo. Hay genios e imitadores.

Neither major party has fully championed the working class for decades. Democratic coalitions increasingly emphasized social and identity-based issues alongside economic ones. Republican administrations historically supported deregulation, free trade, and corporate tax reductions. Result: 50+ years of real pain for blue-collar families. U.S. manufacturing employment peaked at 19.6 million in 1979. Today it’s about 12.6 million—despite a much larger population. Productivity soared while real wages for production & nonsupervisory workers grew slowly or stagnated. Prime-age male labor force participation has declined steadily, especially among non-college men. Housing, childcare, and retirement costs rose faster than median wages, making single-income family stability harder than in previous generations. Globalization and automation were inevitable. But policy choices on both sides—trade enforcement gaps, education shortfalls, deficits, and corporate priorities—amplified the downside for working families. The postwar bargain of broad-based mobility feels strained. The Founders gave us a tool for exactly this moment: Article V Convention of States. It allows states to propose amendments if 34 legislatures apply; any amendment requires 38 states to ratify. Targeted reforms for fiscal responsibility, term limits, and limiting federal overreach—with built-in guardrails. Kansas became the 20th state earlier this year. Just 14 more to go. Not left vs. right — We the People reclaiming balance. Breathe. Forgive. Reclaim. Sign. Share. Contact your state legislators. #ArticleV #WeThePeople #RestoreTheSocialContract