I have adapted the heading of this post from the great Thomas Sowell’s occasional columns expressing “random thoughts on the passing scene.” It is unbelievable how many apothegms he formulated and shibboleths he pierced in those occasional columns. In no way can I rise to Sowell’s standards. I only claim to have a few random thoughts. Random I can do.

Sowell compiled numerous random thoughts from his columns in Part VIII of his 2006 collection Ever Wonder Why? And Other Controversial Essays, published by the Hoover Institution. Someone at Hoover has proved himself a benefactor of humanity by uploading Part VIII in PDF form here.

Sowell leads off Part VIII with this random thought: “One of the sad signs of our times is that we have demonized those who produce, subsidized those who refuse to produce, and canonized those who complain.” Here is one more from the same page: “If navel-gazing, hand-wringing or self-dramatization helped with racial issues, we would have achieved Utopia long ago.”

Sowell is a constructive genius. His books constitute a permanent legacy to those who struggle to think clearly, write clearly, or improve “the passing scene” through writing. He presents as a model. Although it is difficult to choose a best of his many books, A Conflict of Visions must be one of them.