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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Presumptuous Ignorance

Another in a long line of wonderfully observant columns by Thomas Sowell. He is a joy to read, albeit frequently a sorrow to agree with. Today's column, excerpted below, must be read in its entirety to fully appreciate its wisdom.

For serious readers, it is maddening to encounter the daily dose of rubbish from the semi-literati who have been pumped-up on self-esteem and steaming horseshit. Nevertheless, one must come to terms with the impossibility to shield oneself from it. It is ubiquitous; it is perverse, and the leader of the free world is glorified for it by the masses who worship the ground he hovers over.

The only way to safeguard your sanity is to read more books and articles written by people who do know what they are talking about. The alternative is to submit to the idiocracy promoted by the Obamanoids.

Related source » A Brass Age? - Thomas Sowell - Townhall Conservative: 'via Blog this'
[This related source is recommended in its entirety.]

“This may be the golden age of presumptuous ignorance. The most recent demonstrations of that are the Occupy Wall Street mobs. It is doubtful how many of these semi-literate sloganizers could tell the difference between a stock and a bond. Yet there they are, mouthing off about Wall Street on television, cheered on by politicians and the media. […] No one has more brass than the President of the United States, though his brass may be more polished than that of the Occupy Wall Street mobs. When Barack Obama speaks loftily about "investing in the industries of the future," does anyone ask: What in the world would qualify him to know what are the industries of the future? […] From time to time, I get a huffy letter or e-mail from a reader who begins, "You obviously don't know what you are talking about …" The particular subject may be one on which my research assistants and I have amassed piles of research material and official statistics. It may even be a subject on which I have written a few books, but somehow the presumptuously ignorant just know that I didn't really study that issue, because my conclusions don't agree with theirs or with what they have heard. At one time I was foolish enough to try to reason with such people. But one of the best New Year's resolutions I ever made, some years ago, was to stop trying to reason with unreasonable people. It has been good for my blood pressure and probably for my health in general. […] One of the reasons for so much presumptuous ignorance flourishing in our time may be the emphasis on "self-esteem" in our schools and colleges. Children not yet a decade old have been encouraged, or even required, to write letters to public figures, sounding off on issues ranging from taxes to nuclear missiles. Our schools begin promoting presumptuous ignorance early on. It is apparently one of the few things they teach well.” [emphasis added]
— Thomas Sowell, 2012/01/25 (townhall.com)


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