Saturday, December 20, 2014

The Shortsighted Thomas Sowell



Apparently an advocate of torture as practiced by agents of the US government.  I will not go into a detailed review / analysis of his post – I would have not much new to add since earlier today.  I will only comment on one line, his last line in the essay:

If we cannot see beyond the moment today, we will pay dearly tomorrow and in many more tomorrows.

To see beyond the moment requires some principle, something to believe in, future orientation, a set of values for guidance, culture.

Sowell knows well the value of culture. He can see beyond the moment when it comes to the various welfare and dependency programs of the US government.  He can see what these do to the culture.

From Nuclear Deterrence, Morality and Realism, by John Finnis, Joseph M. Boyle, Jr., and Germain Grisez:

For even if one has a serious moral responsibility, one can be morally barred from using the only available means to fulfill it…. If one finds oneself in circumstances such that there is no moral way to discharge one’s positive duties, then one should not discharge them.

Even accepting Sowell’s far-fetched hypothetical – of which I am completely certain does not describe the situation of even one of the tortured detainees – the methods applied will both be shaped by and shape the culture.

Ideas have consequences; values have consequences; an accepted culture has consequences.  A culture of constantly degrading, dehumanizing, and otherwise devaluing human life is a culture not long to survive.  When something is not valued, there will be less demand for it, and the market will ensure that less is therefore produced.  Simple economics.

Torture is just the latest discussion topic that demonstrates that this is the culture of today’s West.  Valuing human life is not demanded; therefore, as time passes (beyond the moment), the market will ensure that this is reflected in all aspects of relationships.

This is Sowell’s shortsightedness; inexcusable for someone so well-versed in both economics and the social sciences.

4 comments:

  1. I am glad you raised the subject. When I first discovered Thomas Sowell's website, I fully admired his brilliance. But, gradually, there came up a bitter taste, when I realized how he was defending the indefensible. It is unbelievable that such an exceptionally intelligent man can take such a position. Finding out how such a brilliant man can be so blind to the obvious might give us an insight into why humankind suffers so many setbacks. I cannot imagine that he is simply prostituting himself.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am glad you raised the subject. When I first discovered Thomas Sowell's website, I fully admired his brilliance. But, gradually, there came up a bitter taste, when I realized how he was defending the indefensible. It is unbelievable that such an exceptionally intelligent man can take such a position. Finding out how such a brilliant man can be so blind to the obvious might give us an insight into why humankind suffers so many setbacks. I cannot imagine that he is simply prostituting himself.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I quit bowing to the Sowell altar long ago. He struck me as inconsistent, and his position on torture is indefensible.

    A sign to to me that a person is a sellout is their having a post at the Hoover Institute. The good -- like Antony Sutton -- leave that place, of their own accord, or not.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sowell gave the thought:

    Suppose some criminals kidnapped your family, put them in a room with a time bomb, you caught the criminal but he doesn't want to tell you where they are. Would you hurt him even torture him to force the information from him even if it may not work? Would you sacrifice your family to the principle you would never torture someone ever?

    Is there something to the Kantian notion that you can't betray your principles even if it prevent greater harm?

    ReplyDelete