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In the collection's third essay, Sowell reviews the history of slavery. Contrary to popular impression, which blames Western society and white people as the culprits, Sowell argues that slavery was a universal institution accepted and embraced by nearly all human societies.
Thomas Sowell (/ s oʊ l / SOHL; born June 30, 1930) is an American economist, economic historian, social philosopher and political commentator. He is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution . [ 1 ] [ 2 ] With widely published commentary and books—and as a guest on TV and radio—he is a well-known voice in the American conservative ...
Sowell makes three basic arguments. First, he examines the economic impact of slavery, in the United States, the West Indies, and elsewhere.He distinguishes rural slavery from urban slavery, and circumstances in which blacks so predominated that many economic tasks fell to them of necessity, from circumstances in which blacks were punished for initiative and the development of skills.
Sowell, a Black man who overcame abject poverty and constant discrimination, served our nation as a Marine during the Korean war. He took night classes at Howard University while working odd jobs.
Slave armies were deployed by Sultans and Caliphs at various medieval era war fronts across the Islamic Empires, [121] [133] playing an important role in the expansion of Islam in Africa and elsewhere. [134] Slavery of men and women in Islamic states such as the Ottoman Empire, states Ze'evi, continued through the early twentieth century. [114]
Sowell's book has been published both with and without the subtitle "Ideological Origins of Political Struggles". Steven Pinker's book The Blank Slate calls Sowell's explanation the best theory given to date. [2] In his book, Pinker refers to the "unconstrained vision" as the "utopian vision" and the "constrained vision" as the "tragic vision". [3]
In a column for conservative publication The Independent Review, Gary M. Galles of religious college Pepperdine University stated that Sowell "thinks carefully and creatively through widely held premises and the narratives they support, bolstering his analysis with a vast array of evidence that offers insights for the intellectually curious".
Sowell argues that American thought is dominated by a "prevailing vision" which seals itself off from any empirical evidence that is inconsistent with that vision. The book challenges people Sowell refers to as " Teflon prophets," who predict that there will be future social, economic, or environmental problems in the absence of government ...