Discrimination and Disparities 2nd Edition

Book Name: Discrimination and Disparities 2nd Edition
Author: Thomas Sowell
Publisher: Basic Books; Enlarged edition
ISBN-10, 13: 978-1541645639,1541645634
Year: 2019
Pages: 320 pages
Language: English
File size: 1 MB
File format: PDF,EPUB

Discrimination and Disparities 2nd Edition Pdf Book Description:

The first edition of this book addressed the seemingly invincible fallacy that statistical disparities in socioeconomic outcomes imply either biased treatment of the less fortunate or genetic deficiencies in the less fortunate. This edition takes on other widespread fallacies, including a non sequitur underlying the prevailing social vision of our time—namely, that if individual economic benefits are not due solely to individual merit, there is justification for having politicians redistribute those benefits. Each fallacy seems plausible on the surface, but that is what makes it worthwhile to scrutinize both their premises and the underlying facts. Many other new issues are addressed in this edition—in an international context, as in the first edition—but these two fallacies seem to be at the heart of much, if not most, of the prevailing social vision, sometimes summarized as “social justice.” Disagreements about social issues in general seem to be not only inevitable but even beneficial, when opposing sides are forced to confront contrary arguments that might not have been considered before, and examine empirical evidence not confronted before.

Neither side may have taken all the factors into consideration, but having to cope with each other’s different views may bring out considerations that neither side gave much thought to at the outset. Such searching re-examinations of opposing views have become all too rare in politics, in the media and even in academia, where the proud claim was once made that “We are here to teach you how to think, not what to think.” Today, with whole academic departments devoted to promoting particular conclusions about social issues, it seems especially important that such re-examinations of conflicting views take place somewhere, lest we become a people easily stampeded by rhetoric, garnished with a few arbitrarily selected facts or numbers. Those readers who are looking for policy “solutions” will not find them here. But there are ample, if not more than ample, sources of feel-good “solutions” available elsewhere. The goal of Discrimination and Disparities will be met if it can provide clarification on some major social issues that are too often mired in dogmas and obfuscation. Individuals can then decide what policies suit their own values and goals. As Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said: “You’re entitled to your own opinion, but you’re not entitled to your own facts