Tom sums it up best in one his latest books. "I had to spend a lot of money sending my daughter to a private school, to get an education almost.. almost as good as I got growing up in the 1930's Harlem, in a public school" A damning indictment.
Esmour Mayne i take it you mean that emotional and virtue signaling women who dont think and are ignorant have more opportunities. it think youre right when referring to certain circles
Oh man, that last line is PRICELESS! "It is hard for me to understand, what harm is going to be done by allowing parents to have a choice, as compared to having self interested bureaucrats have a monopoly"
Here we are decades later... thinking throwing more government money into government schools is going to fix the deficiency in the government education system.
At the end he says, "It's hard for me to understand what harm is going to be done by allowing parents to have a choice as compared to having self-interested bureaucrats have a monopoly." Well, I have talked to many liberal democrats who oppose vouchers, and I keep hearing two responses: 1. Whites will take the vouchers and flee the public schools, leaving a racially divided education system, but blacks cannot afford to, and 2. We need the government to make educational decisions for poor black families because the parents are ignorant or don't care, and won't make good decisions. The first argument assumes that the vouchers are too small to pay for tuitions and poor parents will be unable to make up the difference. This claim assumes that all the kids who are able to leave are white, all the kids who are unable to make up the difference are black. (Vouchers supporters are often accused of supporting racial re-segregation.) The first voucher initiative voted on in California was set at an amount that would equal or exceed tuition at some 70% of the state's private schools, but the state teachers' unions lied and claimed that every family would have to pay for some imaginary gap. If you drive through South-Central L.A. you will see a private school on every other corner, most of them run by credentialed teachers out of a house, the living room of which has been converted to a classroom. These schools are charging affordable tuition, down in that 70% range; nobody would have been making up anything. The second argument is an insult to poor black parents everywhere and anyone who tries to use it is hiding his very real racism behind the "But we care about you more than your parents do" line.
@@cswong6102 I don't agree with your statement. I actually believe there are a great many that are not engaged, but most care. Am I missing something? Also, if the parent doesn't care, then their child would be sent to the same building they would currently be going to, but those failing, unsafe schools would have to compete with better schools to keep students in their program, forcing reform.
Regardless of any of the opinions expressed in the video, can we all take a step back and appreciate how calm and civil this discussion was? We need more of this today.
From Kindergarten to 5th grade I attended a private Catholic school in the South Bronx, one of the poorest districts in the country. I then transferred to a Public School in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, one of the richest districts in the country. I already knew all the material that was being taught in my new public school. I was ahead. If there were a voucher program, I could have continued my education in Catholic school, but it was becoming too costly for my parent.
In the overwhelming majority of cases, parents getting involved in their kids' education has positive results. But you're absolutely right, couldn't be more right, in saying that kids DO have their individual rights and are not merely property of their parents. It's hard to get people past the sad old thinking of trying to "save" others, we have to have the church teach real Christ-like compassion for perfectly intelligent people who happen to have other beliefs. Let's hope we move that way.
I love the part from 4:47 to 5:06. She makes the French speech trying to apply it to this subject and the moment Sowell responds you see her deflate immediately.
the final line by sowell says it all: "it is hard for me to understand what harm is going to be done by allowing parents to have a choice, as compared to having self-interested bureaucrats have a monopoly..." is it not parents' role and responsibility to raise and teach children? when did it become the govt's job to do that?
I like the way all three of them are having a polite conversation. Asking questions and giving the other person a chance to answer. Not like the ridiculous way people act when you see people having a Debate on TV today.
I love that expression at 3:03 when rather than answer his question, she basically says "yeah, well, how about we hear from the white guy for a moment." I mean, honestly, the nerve.
I am soooo happy. Buckley and Sowell together. I miss Buckley, so glad I can still listen to him thanks to these wonderful posts. And Dr. Sowell, what a great mind. I needed to see this today.
Paul Angeli Obviously Thomas Sowell is a racist. He hates black people. In all seriousness, why did that woman bring the moderator into the debate? Grabbing for a life line is suppose. Sowell is a guy i would love to take a class from.
In her mind she is right and she isn't even trying to discuss, she is trying to convince the other person to accept her views. I can't stand selfabsorbed assholes like her.
What the lady refuses to comprehend is that - REGARDLESS of whether the parent can make a good or bad choice regarding their child's education - the child is THEIRS, NOT the governments! The unfounded devotion to self-interested politicians is stunning!
I wish more people these days could realize that people who are conservative don’t have any less compassion for people who are disadvantaged or historically oppressed, but they recognize that programs meant to help these groups have not seemed to be useful and there might exist other solutions that help disparate groups more than government intervention.
Choices and consequences have been two of the driving factors behind the progress of any person or people. Some will not succeed, however most will. People usually do what is in their self interest. Period. Once you talk away choice and create monopolies failure will be right around the corner.
In light of the devastation to the country this week, like no other time WE ALL need to distribute the videos and writings of Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, Milton Freedman, Ronald Reagan..and on... ..this is a battle for saving our country that at this moment is lost.
It doesn't matter if you can make a better choice than the parents can. What matters is that it is THEIR choice. They have the LIBERTY to pursue their own happiness, whether they do it well or not.
Bryan Jacobs Well. The quality of choices is important... and apart from the liberty aspect, who the hell thinks government makes better choices for you than you do for yourself!?
If there is one universal commonality that exists between parents it is - they all want a safe and prosperous place to raise their children. Parents, no matter their backgrounds, "given a choice", will always try to do what is best for their children - period.
I am a liberal and i think we need school choice. Technology has forced change to the school system that is slow to uptake it and it will only change if its force by competition to do so. Common core is not a ceiling but a floor which will enable 'choice' schools to innovate as long as they meet certain requirements which I think is a good thing overall. But I do think the government has a huge role to play in our education system like standards and ensuring opportunity and certification and other regulatory roles.
+LightHawk000 the thread starter doesn't know a thing about common core, obviously. it's worse than the floor, it's bottom of the barrel. They want to standardize and perfectly control all teaching styles, all curriculum, all tests and pander to the stupidest kids. It won't much matter if you have school choice to switch your kids to when communist core really takes full root, there won't be any choice left. That's the whole point of it. If parents are stupid enough and complacent enough to let this happen...well, too much of a nightmare to fully describe. find out what it really is, because it's really really bad.
Some of the people from the communist shitholes are the ones who see it for exactly for what it is and are speaking the loudest. I've seen several older people who aren't even the blogger type at all, do videos on it and warn Americans. They say that they come from China, or Romania and this is the kind of curriculum indoctrination they grew up w/, and that they left their countries for what they thought was a democracy and that it scares and saddens them that this commie crap has come followed them to America somehow. That's my paraphrase, but they stress it's very dire, very serious and that Americans need to see it for what it is and squish it w/ a mighty squish before it takes over. There are many thousands of people desperately fighting common core (there needs to be many more though) and in some states they are actually winning. But it's a big complicated clusterfuck of extortion, because to get the needed funding they had to take the curriculum sight unseen.
My senior year of high school my parents sent me to a very under funded private school. The teachers were underpaid and there were not many students in that school. So in that year of high school, I realized how stupid the public school system has made me. It did not teach me shit, . I am glad that my senior year was in a private school where teachers actually WORKED with me unlike the overpaid rich teachers in public school who drive expensive cars and keep complaining about pay!
How can one can tell there has been little to no progress: This quote could have been made last week, last year, last century (funny...it was made last century). "It is hard for me to understand what harm is going to be done by allowing parents to have a choice as compared to having self-interested bureaucrats have a monopoly."
What Mr Sowell says at the end there "it is hard for me to see the harm in allowing parents to choose, rather than the bureaucrats have the monopoly" The harm is a perceived threat of loss of power (almost exclusively on the left) but they don't frame it that way, they frame it as the lowest end will suffer or the worst schools will suffer. AND the status quo will be challenged. It is so ironic that the left and right are at odds on this issue. Everyone knows private school offers better education, it's not even a debate. Imagine public schools competing with private schools for the best education, people would CHOOSE to send their kids to public school if the education was exactly the same but they didn't pay tuition.
Did she really ask why a parent would do a better job picking a school for their kid than the government? It's not a question of requiring higher education to know what makes a good school. It's giving a shit! Something a parent will always do better than a government. Especially a government that actually benefits from their continued ignorance and thus dependence, and yes I do believe INTENDS to keep them ignorant for that purpose.
equality of opportunity is what Sowell is looking for! That's what vouchers are for. That's the whole point. That's equality of opportunity. On the other hand, equality of outcomes is in the individual's hands, and the gov't can't do anything useful about it.
If you ever see Everybody Hates Chris on TV. This woman reminds me of one of his teachers that is the "good" white person trying to "help" Chris along in school. Simply patronizing. 6:26 is the dagger in the Libs heart. There is NO HARM IN CHOICE
It is good, not a "claim," a fact. It's badly UNDERFUNDED, and those wanting "vouchers" are trying to get what's best ONLY for their own children. As policy, it's a disaster. We need to do what's best for ALL kids, not just one, and the best for ALL kids is to have a strong public education system. That does not "limit freedom" in any way whatsoever.
This gets stronger with age. He refuses all assertions that he is part of a victimized population as he knows if he accepts that, he loses himself. The strenght to speak the truth nowadays that is seen as an assault by those who avoid the light of scrutiny is getting less and less.
The path to better schools is simple, though perhaps not possible. Better schools come from better students and better students are disciplined and come from better families. My wife and I recognized that our first duty was to our own children and those children do the same for our grandchildren. I have no idea how to infuse some of our citizens with ambition, occupational skills, values, and parenting skills. I also note that the deterioration in urban public schooling coincided with the civil rights movement. Perhaps there's no causal relationship or perhaps they share a common set of causes; here I only note the correlation.
One fact that Thomas omitted (albeit inadvertently) is when children are exposed to good education, and the parents are involved in that education, the PARENTS become more educated as well. See it's a fluid system, we all know that humans retain the ability to learn at any age, that ability does decline to a degree and more rapidly as you approach the late 70's as such. But we maintain the ability to learn and adapt our entire lives. So exposing children to a great education is actually beneficial to the parents as well!
When my kids act out, l don't punish them by taking away video games or their phones l make them read Thomas Sowell's books. This is facts! Thomas Sowell's books can teach my kids better than any Government Economics teacher can.
I have to disagree, many Chicanos drop out of school because they're parents don't emphasize education as much as asian parents do. allowing for this voucher program to take effect would make it easier for the parents to take the kids out of school and work in low remedial jobs like the parents. Our culture may have a strong work ethic but its with the body, not the mind. culture has a huge influence of individual choice and in our case it serves as a cycle that should be broken.
...I could see that working, then. The problem is that, if given the choice, many people would refuse to pay, even for something as common sense as feeding a child. Its not even that they don't care-its that we care because of our emotions, and refusing to pay does not naturally hold an emotional connotation. In other words, I don't think it would work because of human psychology.
If you ask a parent if the school they send their kid to is good, then they are going to say yes. if they say no, then they either have to remove their kid from the school or admit that they sent their kid to go to a bad school. People are very good at justifying their own situations.
Summary: the woman believes that rather than the parents, government officials should make the decision of where black children go to school and college.
Exactly... And the irony, if you’re familiar with Sowell’s bio, is that Tom is a PhD Economist from an entire family that never made it past the 7th grade...
actually, vouchers will get MORE funding to public schools, because voucher programs provide each child with less than the cost of a public education. So that means more money per child in the public system after some children's parents use vouchers for private schools. More money per child, smaller classrooms, win win for the public schools.
It's not needed to be educated to point out which school is good or bad. It's as simple as pointing out which schools educated the people in the best jobs or universities.
In Europe there is Parental choice, parents can withdraw their kids voucher and send it to another school .. education is free, but the government voucher is like money.. any school you take it to gets the money , so there is competition to be the best school so all parents can bring their vouchers to your school
It's the PEOPLE not the government. We absolutely CAN have justice and equality without removing freedom, it is NOT "freedom" to have a few with obscene wealth while children go hungry. What's needed is a system based upon equality, a socialist system, but in the meantime YES a much higher minimum wage is a smaller step that will have tremendous benefit for the needy. "Who is going to bear that cost" All of us, according to ability, AS IT SHOULD BE, in other words the rich pay the most.
I really hope Thomas Sowell enjoyed his life so far. He really deserves to have had a good life. It must have been frustrating to beat people in arguments all your life and never change their minds. He seems bitter and angry now. Some people enjoy that...Hitchens for example.
Increasing the minimum wage will increase the cost of goods and services. An increase in those costs will bare heaviest on the poorest in society. There is a town near pushing for a $15/hr min. wage. There are bussiness telling us that if that happens they will not be able to make payroll and have close shop. How is that of benifit to those workers?
@dovahkiin516 The public school system is publicly funded, so the logic is that if we are going to publicly fund education we might as well make it competitive in order to render it productive and get our money's worth..
Political pressure to under fund public education disproportionately in poor and minority neighborhoods produces lousy schools. Anyone who has ever been to a public school in an affluent neighborhood has seen a top rate, well funded public institution despite what Sowell says about the ills of a bureaucratic monopoly. As the rich bear a larger % of the tax burden, their already small desire to pay for flourishing, or even functional, public schools for the poor has all but disappeared.
Corporations have perfected socialising their losses while they capitalise on their profits. There was the savings-and-loan debacle - and you'll be paying for that until the year 2020. In terms of principal and interest, it was a half-trillion-dollar bailout of 1,000 savings-and-loans banks. Their executives looted, speculated and defrauded people of their savings - and then turned to Washington for a bailout. Why is this ok? And the latter NOT!? Would not BOTH BE WRONG!?
A school's quality can change over time, snd it's reputation can lag behind those changes. It seems like that reality should have some bearing on this debate, but I can't determine what exactly that might be.
as a kid i always wondered what adults were talking about when i saw discourse like this on tv, before changing the channel to something else. As an adult i now realize they were talking complete nonsense and undermining the freedom to control my own life.
What are the basic premises for 'schooling'? Does it meet the actual requirements that Science has revealed are reflective of human needs? What does the data reveal is the success of this method? I doubt it, based on what is being revealed by the human genome. A human child needs above all else a way to develop common sense that doesn't blind them, or cost them fingers, etc. Running in parallel are the four 'R's; reading, writing, arithmetic and reasoning (which is already under the heading of common sense, but this refers to exposure to examples of the more 'academic' flaws of the human mind, e.g., our unconscious reliance on pattern-matching.) With a child raised in the above manner their education can be managed in a Socratic manner offering many thousands of achievement 'certificates' or 'badges' many of which are the elements of some useful (to society or just themselves) skill. Their progress and breadth and depth of study they manage by and for themselves; requiring adults as part-time mentors, mini-apprenticeships, etc., who also sign off on the awards (dopamine). Formal schools are basically mob situations where personal identity issues can be defined by the least qualified minds on the planet. However a learning campus will still be vital, but it will cover everything: from children adequately prepared to begin their own journey into the wonderful world of adult achievement and excellence all the way to doctoral level studies; as well ongoing education for the wider community. It won't need classes, curricula, teachers, roll calls, and perhaps even a distinct identity. Done right it will also be the cultural hub for an entire community. BTW very few alive today will be of the standard that this society establishes for itself. The pursuit of excellence is a very human journey, it should be common, 'just feeding on them pesky neurotransmitters'.
Libertarians and conservatives feel warm and fuzzy when they voluntarily give. Liberal feel warm and fuzzy when they can make someone else pay. No one stops liberals from giving to whomever they please, but that is not what they are interested in.
Tom sums it up best in one his latest books. "I had to spend a lot of money sending my daughter to a private school, to get an education almost.. almost as good as I got growing up in the 1930's Harlem, in a public school" A damning indictment.
I would love to see a blueprint from him of what an excellent education looks like.
@@AriD2385 i imagine his answer would be "thats for the childrens parents to decide not the state" ruclips.net/video/tA9jALkw9_Q/видео.html
@@zHYPERi0N90z But what is his personal judgement on what makes a good education?
Extremely damning!
@Tony Gutierrez - I would guess more would if THEY HAD VOUCHERS!
Her condescension toward black parents is galling.
She's obviously an elitist.
The racism of low expectations.
She’s a typical racist liberal
Esmour Mayne i take it you mean that emotional and virtue signaling women who dont think and are ignorant have more opportunities. it think youre right when referring to certain circles
Lee John yup unfortunately there’s not too many like us
Oh man, that last line is PRICELESS! "It is hard for me to understand, what harm is going to be done by allowing parents to have a choice, as compared to having self interested bureaucrats have a monopoly"
Here we are decades later... thinking throwing more government money into government schools is going to fix the deficiency in the government education system.
Duh, they want to break up the nuclear family, obviously.
At the end he says, "It's hard for me to understand what harm is going to be done by allowing parents to have a choice as compared to having self-interested bureaucrats have a monopoly."
Well, I have talked to many liberal democrats who oppose vouchers, and I keep hearing two responses: 1. Whites will take the vouchers and flee the public schools, leaving a racially divided education system, but blacks cannot afford to, and 2. We need the government to make educational decisions for poor black families because the parents are ignorant or don't care, and won't make good decisions.
The first argument assumes that the vouchers are too small to pay for tuitions and poor parents will be unable to make up the difference. This claim assumes that all the kids who are able to leave are white, all the kids who are unable to make up the difference are black. (Vouchers supporters are often accused of supporting racial re-segregation.) The first voucher initiative voted on in California was set at an amount that would equal or exceed tuition at some 70% of the state's private schools, but the state teachers' unions lied and claimed that every family would have to pay for some imaginary gap. If you drive through South-Central L.A. you will see a private school on every other corner, most of them run by credentialed teachers out of a house, the living room of which has been converted to a classroom. These schools are charging affordable tuition, down in that 70% range; nobody would have been making up anything.
The second argument is an insult to poor black parents everywhere and anyone who tries to use it is hiding his very real racism behind the "But we care about you more than your parents do" line.
The first argument assumes there are no poor white people.
@@Kalenz1234 also likely.
I am not American but quite a lot of parents in many places don"t actually always care about their kids , be it in education, welfare or needs.
@@cswong6102 I don't agree with your statement. I actually believe there are a great many that are not engaged, but most care. Am I missing something? Also, if the parent doesn't care, then their child would be sent to the same building they would currently be going to, but those failing, unsafe schools would have to compete with better schools to keep students in their program, forcing reform.
The largest opponent of school vouchers is teachers unions. They cannot survive fair competition.
Regardless of any of the opinions expressed in the video, can we all take a step back and appreciate how calm and civil this discussion was? We need more of this today.
We are seriously lacking any shows like Donahue or Firing Line.
Absolutely! What a breath of Fresh Air compared to nowadays!
Thomas Sowell is an American Treasure. Thank you, sir.
Better then every black "leader" in my lifetime.
_Dr. Sowell's_ *closing argument is powerful.* I concur with him 100%.
i hang on to every word Thomas Sowell says. he is always direct and on point. love that man!
From Kindergarten to 5th grade I attended a private Catholic school in the South Bronx, one of the poorest districts in the country. I then transferred to a Public School in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, one of the richest districts in the country. I already knew all the material that was being taught in my new public school. I was ahead. If there were a voucher program, I could have continued my education in Catholic school, but it was becoming too costly for my parent.
God bless Dr Sowell.
In the overwhelming majority of cases, parents getting involved in their kids' education has positive results. But you're absolutely right, couldn't be more right, in saying that kids DO have their individual rights and are not merely property of their parents.
It's hard to get people past the sad old thinking of trying to "save" others, we have to have the church teach real Christ-like compassion for perfectly intelligent people who happen to have other beliefs. Let's hope we move that way.
My apologies... But I'm not sure how you got any of your points from Thomas's talk.. 😂
This guy Thomas Sowell is not in the ebony magazine's top 100 most influential blacks. I'm angry.
Both of these things did not come by accident
I don’t think he cares about these things
I love the part from 4:47 to 5:06. She makes the French speech trying to apply it to this subject and the moment Sowell responds you see her deflate immediately.
the final line by sowell says it all: "it is hard for me to understand what harm is going to be done by allowing parents to have a choice, as compared to having self-interested bureaucrats have a monopoly..."
is it not parents' role and responsibility to raise and teach children? when did it become the govt's job to do that?
When they wanted the amount of taxes available to skim off of... I don't remember exactly what year😂😂
I like the way all three of them are having a polite conversation. Asking questions and giving the other person a chance to answer. Not like the ridiculous way people act when you see people having a Debate on TV today.
I love that expression at 3:03 when rather than answer his question, she basically says "yeah, well, how about we hear from the white guy for a moment." I mean, honestly, the nerve.
I am soooo happy. Buckley and Sowell together. I miss Buckley, so glad I can still listen to him thanks to these wonderful posts. And Dr. Sowell, what a great mind. I needed to see this today.
Thomas "The Bus Driver " Sowell just took "Bitch Beethoven " to school .
God I love that.
Paul Angeli Obviously Thomas Sowell is a racist. He hates black people. In all seriousness, why did that woman bring the moderator into the debate? Grabbing for a life line is suppose. Sowell is a guy i would love to take a class from.
How many ways can this woman be proven wrong and yet still insist on her arguments
657?
In her mind she is right and she isn't even trying to discuss, she is trying to convince the other person to accept her views. I can't stand selfabsorbed assholes like her.
Thomas Sowell explains economics in a tone that everyone can understand.
Thomas Sowell is a great man
What a damn shame that nothing’s changed. A Democrat (female) trying to tell the black
Community that they can’t make the right choices for themself
"You are clearly an exceptional person." Nowadays that's literally a microagression hahahahahahaha
oh my the condescension... it hurts it HURTS
this lady looks like one of the government workers from the hunger games
Omg. And thinks like one. What a stereotype. 😂
What the lady refuses to comprehend is that - REGARDLESS of whether the parent can make a good or bad choice regarding their child's education - the child is THEIRS, NOT the governments!
The unfounded devotion to self-interested politicians is stunning!
I wish more people these days could realize that people who are conservative don’t have any less compassion for people who are disadvantaged or historically oppressed, but they recognize that programs meant to help these groups have not seemed to be useful and there might exist other solutions that help disparate groups more than government intervention.
If you look at all of the democratic policies... There is no case for compassion to be made on their behalf....
Choices and consequences have been two of the driving factors behind the progress of any person or people. Some will not succeed, however most will. People usually do what is in their self interest. Period. Once you talk away choice and create monopolies failure will be right around the corner.
My nigga, my nigga, I love that last statement.
In light of the devastation to the country this week, like no other time WE ALL need to distribute the videos and writings of Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, Milton Freedman, Ronald Reagan..and on... ..this is a battle for saving our country that at this moment is lost.
It doesn't matter if you can make a better choice than the parents can. What matters is that it is THEIR choice. They have the LIBERTY to pursue their own happiness, whether they do it well or not.
Bryan Jacobs
Well. The quality of choices is important... and apart from the liberty aspect, who the hell thinks government makes better choices for you than you do for yourself!?
If there is one universal commonality that exists between parents it is - they all want a safe and prosperous place to raise their children. Parents, no matter their backgrounds, "given a choice", will always try to do what is best for their children - period.
Wow! Mr. Sowell is an incredible representation of truth and an inspiration for us all!
I am a liberal and i think we need school choice. Technology has forced change to the school system that is slow to uptake it and it will only change if its force by competition to do so. Common core is not a ceiling but a floor which will enable 'choice' schools to innovate as long as they meet certain requirements which I think is a good thing overall. But I do think the government has a huge role to play in our education system like standards and ensuring opportunity and certification and other regulatory roles.
Common Core is an absolute joke.
+LightHawk000 the thread starter doesn't know a thing about common core, obviously. it's worse than the floor, it's bottom of the barrel. They want to standardize and perfectly control all teaching styles, all curriculum, all tests and pander to the stupidest kids. It won't much matter if you have school choice to switch your kids to when communist core really takes full root, there won't be any choice left. That's the whole point of it. If parents are stupid enough and complacent enough to let this happen...well, too much of a nightmare to fully describe. find out what it really is, because it's really really bad.
Some of the people from the communist shitholes are the ones who see it for exactly for what it is and are speaking the loudest. I've seen several older people who aren't even the blogger type at all, do videos on it and warn Americans. They say that they come from China, or Romania and this is the kind of curriculum indoctrination they grew up w/, and that they left their countries for what they thought was a democracy and that it scares and saddens them that this commie crap has come followed them to America somehow. That's my paraphrase, but they stress it's very dire, very serious and that Americans need to see it for what it is and squish it w/ a mighty squish before it takes over.
There are many thousands of people desperately fighting common core (there needs to be many more though) and in some states they are actually winning. But it's a big complicated clusterfuck of extortion, because to get the needed funding they had to take the curriculum sight unseen.
My senior year of high school my parents sent me to a very under funded private school. The teachers were underpaid and there were not many students in that school. So in that year of high school, I realized how stupid the public school system has made me. It did not teach me shit, . I am glad that my senior year was in a private school where teachers actually WORKED with me unlike the overpaid rich teachers in public school who drive expensive cars and keep complaining about pay!
Thomas Sowell is a breath of fresh air.
Very well argued. I absolutely agree that the parents ought to make these choices. As always, thanks for sharing.
People will be equal when society stops finding a distinction between good and evil. That is the society you advocate.
How can one can tell there has been little to no progress: This quote could have been made last week, last year, last century (funny...it was made last century).
"It is hard for me to understand what harm is going to be done by allowing parents to have a choice as compared to having self-interested bureaucrats have a monopoly."
*BINGO*
The last ten seconds is powerful.
What Mr Sowell says at the end there "it is hard for me to see the harm in allowing parents to choose, rather than the bureaucrats have the monopoly"
The harm is a perceived threat of loss of power (almost exclusively on the left) but they don't frame it that way, they frame it as the lowest end will suffer or the worst schools will suffer. AND the status quo will be challenged. It is so ironic that the left and right are at odds on this issue. Everyone knows private school offers better education, it's not even a debate. Imagine public schools competing with private schools for the best education, people would CHOOSE to send their kids to public school if the education was exactly the same but they didn't pay tuition.
Sowell is having fun in the spiny chair.
And another slam dunk win for Dr. Sowell. This guy should have been our first black president.
I can't believe that after at least thirty years this "debate" is still on the table. Educational monopoly is dangerous.
Thomas Sowell gave the answer forty years ago but nobody listened and now things are even worse.
Unfortunately Thomas Sowell is ignored by his opponents. Therefore many young people are not aware of his genius.
A small amount of choice is better than none at all.
Did she really ask why a parent would do a better job picking a school for their kid than the government? It's not a question of requiring higher education to know what makes a good school. It's giving a shit! Something a parent will always do better than a government. Especially a government that actually benefits from their continued ignorance and thus dependence, and yes I do believe INTENDS to keep them ignorant for that purpose.
Thank you so much for uploading all of these old videos!
equality of opportunity is what Sowell is looking for! That's what vouchers are for. That's the whole point. That's equality of opportunity. On the other hand, equality of outcomes is in the individual's hands, and the gov't can't do anything useful about it.
If you ever see Everybody Hates Chris on TV. This woman reminds me of one of his teachers that is the "good" white person trying to "help" Chris along in school. Simply patronizing. 6:26 is the dagger in the Libs heart. There is NO HARM IN CHOICE
It is good, not a "claim," a fact. It's badly UNDERFUNDED, and those wanting "vouchers" are trying to get what's best ONLY for their own children.
As policy, it's a disaster. We need to do what's best for ALL kids, not just one, and the best for ALL kids is to have a strong public education system.
That does not "limit freedom" in any way whatsoever.
That last statement should ring true in every parent and children in America.
This has aged extremely well!
This gets stronger with age. He refuses all assertions that he is part of a victimized population as he knows if he accepts that, he loses himself.
The strenght to speak the truth nowadays that is seen as an assault by those who avoid the light of scrutiny is getting less and less.
The path to better schools is simple, though perhaps not possible. Better schools come from better students and better students are disciplined and come from better families. My wife and I recognized that our first duty was to our own children and those children do the same for our grandchildren. I have no idea how to infuse some of our citizens with ambition, occupational skills, values, and parenting skills. I also note that the deterioration in urban public schooling coincided with the civil rights movement. Perhaps there's no causal relationship or perhaps they share a common set of causes; here I only note the correlation.
One fact that Thomas omitted (albeit inadvertently) is when children are exposed to good education, and the parents are involved in that education, the PARENTS become more educated as well. See it's a fluid system, we all know that humans retain the ability to learn at any age, that ability does decline to a degree and more rapidly as you approach the late 70's as such. But we maintain the ability to learn and adapt our entire lives. So exposing children to a great education is actually beneficial to the parents as well!
When my kids act out, l don't punish them by taking away video games or their phones l make them read Thomas Sowell's books. This is facts! Thomas Sowell's books can teach my kids better than any Government Economics teacher can.
The Scarlet Pimpernel is really rocking that hair. Good for her, haha.
Rock me Amadeus.
3:00 "Well I have no comment on that" I take that as her conceding he's right.
My dad went to trade school, my mom went to no school, I just started college.
I have to disagree, many Chicanos drop out of school because they're parents don't emphasize education as much as asian parents do. allowing for this voucher program to take effect would make it easier for the parents to take the kids out of school and work in low remedial jobs like the parents. Our culture may have a strong work ethic but its with the body, not the mind. culture has a huge influence of individual choice and in our case it serves as a cycle that should be broken.
1 sentence rebuff got immediate " I can't comment on that. " #InstantKharma I laughed so hard.
...I could see that working, then. The problem is that, if given the choice, many people would refuse to pay, even for something as common sense as feeding a child. Its not even that they don't care-its that we care because of our emotions, and refusing to pay does not naturally hold an emotional connotation.
In other words, I don't think it would work because of human psychology.
Seriously. If I was black, watching this video, I would be absolutely furious listening to that woman.
If you ask a parent if the school they send their kid to is good, then they are going to say yes. if they say no, then they either have to remove their kid from the school or admit that they sent their kid to go to a bad school. People are very good at justifying their own situations.
Summary: the woman believes that rather than the parents, government officials should make the decision of where black children go to school and college.
Exactly... And the irony, if you’re familiar with Sowell’s bio, is that Tom is a PhD Economist from an entire family that never made it past the 7th grade...
actually, vouchers will get MORE funding to public schools, because voucher programs provide each child with less than the cost of a public education. So that means more money per child in the public system after some children's parents use vouchers for private schools. More money per child, smaller classrooms, win win for the public schools.
It's not needed to be educated to point out which school is good or bad. It's as simple as pointing out which schools educated the people in the best jobs or universities.
I love Sowell's face after he get done trying to educate people that are unwilling to listen.
Wow. Trust me. We know what is best for you. Wow.
In Europe there is Parental choice, parents can withdraw their kids voucher and send it to another school .. education is free, but the government voucher is like money.. any school you take it to gets the money , so there is competition to be the best school so all parents can bring their vouchers to your school
3:01 His irrefutable point face. I swear that look could knock down a brick wall.
Sowell is such a giant he actually makes Buckley look small by comparison
It's the PEOPLE not the government. We absolutely CAN have justice and equality without removing freedom, it is NOT "freedom" to have a few with obscene wealth while children go hungry.
What's needed is a system based upon equality, a socialist system, but in the meantime YES a much higher minimum wage is a smaller step that will have tremendous benefit for the needy.
"Who is going to bear that cost" All of us, according to ability, AS IT SHOULD BE, in other words the rich pay the most.
@svenp you hit the proverbial nail on the FREAKING head!
I really hope Thomas Sowell enjoyed his life so far. He really deserves to have had a good life. It must have been frustrating to beat people in arguments all your life and never change their minds. He seems bitter and angry now. Some people enjoy that...Hitchens for example.
Just excellent and more true today then when this aired 20 or so years ago.
Increasing the minimum wage will increase the cost of goods and services. An increase in those costs will bare heaviest on the poorest in society. There is a town near pushing for a $15/hr min. wage. There are bussiness telling us that if that happens they will not be able to make payroll and have close shop. How is that of benifit to those workers?
@dovahkiin516
The public school system is publicly funded, so the logic is that if we are going to publicly fund education we might as well make it competitive in order to render it productive and get our money's worth..
Political pressure to under fund public education disproportionately in poor and minority neighborhoods produces lousy schools. Anyone who has ever been to a public school in an affluent neighborhood has seen a top rate, well funded public institution despite what Sowell says about the ills of a bureaucratic monopoly. As the rich bear a larger % of the tax burden, their already small desire to pay for flourishing, or even functional, public schools for the poor has all but disappeared.
hell, we got the information super high way called the internet, with the right critical thinking skills you could learn anything!
Unfortunately they don't teach these skills as much as they should.
Thomas Sowell - Mr. Well Spoken.
His last point was his best point. Why do you object to parents having a choice of the schools to send their kids. Could it be self intetest?
He should run for president just so Denzel could play him in the movie.
Thomas Sowell- Brilliant!
Liberty Pen needs more subscribers!
Hay, when the truth is there, say it. IDC what people will say when i know i am right.
How to make better schools:
-Stop stealing money for "schools" (AKA tax);
...That's really it. Just let the free market take over.
Corporations have perfected socialising their losses while they capitalise on their profits. There was the savings-and-loan debacle - and you'll be paying for that until the year 2020. In terms of principal and interest, it was a half-trillion-dollar bailout of 1,000 savings-and-loans banks. Their executives looted, speculated and defrauded people of their savings - and then turned to Washington for a bailout. Why is this ok? And the latter NOT!? Would not BOTH BE WRONG!?
A school's quality can change over time, snd it's reputation can lag behind those changes. It seems like that reality should have some bearing on this debate, but I can't determine what exactly that might be.
Thomas Sowell is amazing.
as a kid i always wondered what adults were talking about when i saw discourse like this on tv, before changing the channel to something else. As an adult i now realize they were talking complete nonsense and undermining the freedom to control my own life.
I miss Buckley. I always loved his common sense views.. Thomas Sowell looks so thin here.. These are two brilliant men..
Choice us always better
Word.
Sounds like a lady with no children in the plantation house talking about how to take care of the slaves without having to free them.
What are the basic premises for 'schooling'? Does it meet the actual requirements that Science has revealed are reflective of human needs? What does the data reveal is the success of this method?
I doubt it, based on what is being revealed by the human genome.
A human child needs above all else a way to develop common sense that doesn't blind them, or cost them fingers, etc. Running in parallel are the four 'R's; reading, writing, arithmetic and reasoning (which is already under the heading of common sense, but this refers to exposure to examples of the more 'academic' flaws of the human mind, e.g., our unconscious reliance on pattern-matching.)
With a child raised in the above manner their education can be managed in a Socratic manner offering many thousands of achievement 'certificates' or 'badges' many of which are the elements of some useful (to society or just themselves) skill. Their progress and breadth and depth of study they manage by and for themselves; requiring adults as part-time mentors, mini-apprenticeships, etc., who also sign off on the awards (dopamine).
Formal schools are basically mob situations where personal identity issues can be defined by the least qualified minds on the planet.
However a learning campus will still be vital, but it will cover everything: from children adequately prepared to begin their own journey into the wonderful world of adult achievement and excellence all the way to doctoral level studies; as well ongoing education for the wider community. It won't need classes, curricula, teachers, roll calls, and perhaps even a distinct identity. Done right it will also be the cultural hub for an entire community. BTW very few alive today will be of the standard that this society establishes for itself. The pursuit of excellence is a very human journey, it should be common, 'just feeding on them pesky neurotransmitters'.
It is sad and infuriating that so many liberal bureaucrats see themselves as a better option to individual freedom and free market principles.
Thomas Sowell. Fuck yeah.
Libertarians and conservatives feel warm and fuzzy when they voluntarily give. Liberal feel warm and fuzzy when they can make someone else pay. No one stops liberals from giving to whomever they please, but that is not what they are interested in.