day no. 17,525: behemoth state university and boot camp

“Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it." ― Thomas Sowell, The Thomas Sowell Reader

Some things are so hard to believe that only an academic could think them. Socialism is one such thing. The only people who promote it do not live under it. Those who rule in socialist societies do not themselves live under socialism. They get what they want when they want it. They enjoy privileges of which the hoi polloi are deprived. Socialism can only be applauded as an idea, because as a practice it produces nothing praiseworthy.

 

“Racism does not have a good track record. It's been tried out for a long time and you'd think by now we'd want to put an end to it instead of putting it under new management.” ― Thomas Sowell

Racism does not work in the way Sowell is referring to here, but it most certainly does in the way it is wielded by the woke. Racism got an unqualified, closet-Marxist elected to the office of president in the United States for two consecutive terms. It fuels DEI and CRT initiatives. It colors headlines and shades stories that the legacy media shares and promotes.

Academics love socialism and racism which is anecdotally another good reason to avoid sending your kids to behemoth state university and boot camp. 

day no. 17,524: discrimination and equity

“When people get used to preferential treatment, equal treatment seems like discrimination.” ― Thomas Sowell

Equitable treatment produces various outcomes. 

Equitable outcomes requires preferential treatment.

Preferential treatment produces preferred outcomes. 

Preferential outcomes presuppose superior standards.

If you give everyone an equal opportunity, some will excel and some will not.

If you want to the same result, you have to hamstring some and help others out.

The hundred yard dash should start and end at the same place for all participants and the starting gun should apply to everyone at the same time. That is equity. That standard comes from Christ and it employs equal weights and measures. 

Wanting everyone to cross the finish line at the same time requires the track to be longer for some and shorter for others and for multiple guns to be fired or many participants to be burdened or hindered.

Leviticus 19:15

Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

If you get used to dunking on an eight foot rim, it is humbling to have to deal with a ten foot rim you barely touch. It feels like you are being abused, but in reality, you have been coddled for too long so that regular tasks seem out of reach. And when that happens, the first thing many do is blame the one who raised the bar for them.

day no. 17,523: what worked versus what sounded good

“Much of the social history of the Western world over the past three decades has involved replacing what worked with what sounded good.” ― Thomas Sowell

America was founded on principles that work in practice. The foundation made freedom possible. But as people began to question the principles, the practices changed. Those who want to keep the fruit but cut down the tree will soon find themselves hungry. That is where we find ourselves at this point in the story. We have been living off of our inheritance for years, but it is almost out and our friends are leaving and the only place that is hiring needs people to feed the pigs. What sounded good to some does not work out well for the rest. You can all a man in a dress a woman, but he can't get pregnant like one. You can say that 2 + 2 = 5, but you can't fly a plane like that.

day no. 17,522: sin and solutions

“There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs.” ― Thomas Sowell, A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles

Everything costs something and no problem is so bad that you cannot make it worse. 

Since there is a God, everything is not necessarily a zero sum game, but because of sin, many things function as though that were the case. Those who take sin seriously see the sin to consider what problems their solutions might cause. They assess the situation and pick which consequences they prefer. Those who refuse to acknowledge sin or take it as seriously as they should consider their solutions to be the end of all problems. When they get their way, new problems are created, responsibility is avoided, and a new solution is crafted.

So, either way, we will have problems. The question is will we have the ones we want and will we be realistic about the ones we have and one we've chosen to have tomorrow.

day no. 17,521: make america

“No one should fear to undertake any task in the name of our Saviour, if it is just and if the intention is purely for His holy service.” — Christopher Columbus 

Matthew 28:18-20

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

“Praise be to our eternal God, our Lord, who gives to all those who walk in His ways victory over all things which seem impossible.” — Christopher Columbus

day no. 17,520: satanic panic

“It’s amazing how much panic one honest man can spread among a multitude of hypocrites." ― Thomas Sowell

Someone who says what is true and repents of what is true about himself is free of handles. He can speak openly and honestly about anything because he isn't afraid of the truth. He isn't worried about being maneuvered and he doesn't feel any pressure to say anything other than the truth. The only pressure he feels is to say tell the truth. He is free to feel more obligated to God than he is to his own safety. He is more concerned about offending God than he is about offending others. His only fear is falling short of the truth. He is not worried about any truth finally catching up with him because he walks side by side with the Truth every day. There are no skeletons in any of his closets and there is nothing anyone could bring to light that he has not already brought into the Light and confessed openly. He is forgiven, free, and confident before God and man. This is the best thing a man can do for others. It inspires confidence and is superior to the facade others build by telling lies and attempting to cover up past sins.

“When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.” ― Thomas Sowell

We cannot do anything against the truth. Lying to people by telling them what you think they want to hear may get you what you want for the moment, but it cannot get you what you need in the long run. Peace and quiet, safety and stability cannot be purchased by corruption and keeping secrets. If you want to help others, tell them the truth. If you want to help others, tell the truth and show them how to be set free from the slavery of telling lies.

day no. 17,519: envy and greed

“I have never understood why it is 'greed' to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else's money.” ― Thomas Sowell, Barbarians Inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays

Theft is theft even if it is the government who is doing it. Envy is envy even if it is a law that enforces it.  You can be just as greedy to keep what is yours as you can be greedy to get what is someone else's. But stealing someone else's increase is just as greedy as withholding your increase.

When the position of the government is "money is evil and it corrupts everything it touches, so you best give it all to us for safekeeping" you should know you are being played.