Hoover Institution
3 HN mentions · mentioned in 3 months, 2019–2022
53:34 · 9.1M views · Dec 3, 2018
Thomas Sowell speaks at the Hoover Institution about economic and racial inequality and what he considers myths about poverty. He also recounts his early life and brief flirtation with Marxism.
Mostly cited as a source for Sowell's views on welfare, neighborhoods and his personal anecdotes.
3 comments from Hacker News
The entire point of opposing school vouchers is that the people pushing them and their implementation of school vouchers would devastate local school systems Just because particular schools close, doesn't mean something bad is happening. In a market that actually works, no one is too big to fail. And again, the problem is racism. White flight exists. It is why public schooling in those neighborhoods is so bad to begin with Thomas Sowell remembers attending a very good school in Harlem, and that the neighborhood was safe enough for him to sleep outside on the fire escape, if it was too hot on a summer evening. The key difference has been effect of the welfare state on those neighborhoods, and the resulting degradation of the social fabric there, not the flight of white people. this video
In Ontario Canada, our outgoing government tried basic income as well. It increased unemployment in the pilot cities. So our new government eliminated basic income quickly because it was the opposite of the general trend of all other cities. The reality is that people don't need money. Money is important but what people need is a purpose and goals. Which a basic income system does not provide. this video
Even sixty years ago, I gather this was fairly common among people that couldn't afford air conditioning (in places including Harlem): this video