I am 78 years old and Hillbilly White. After experiencing the first integration of schools in Maryland in 1962, and 25 years in the US Army, I can say with certainty Black Men and Women with strong conservative and family values are the most successful people I have ever had the opportunity to be associated with in life. Growing up in Howard County Maryland in the 50's and 60's one of the wealthiest men in the county was a man named Johnny Howard. He was a man my father loved to trade with. Mr. Howard was a man with strong family ties, very religious and truly honest in his dealings. He made his fortune raising hogs and buying choice central Maryland real estate. Both investments made him a multi-millionaire years ago. Johnny Howard was not white. He was a wonderful man and a credit to our Nation.
Not taking accountability away from blacks like myself, but your comment falls largely flat and is purely anecdotal. There is plenty of documentation of how wealth was taken from African Americans in the past, burned, stolen, conned by government and private entities solely based on color. Most wealthy African Americans are not conservative, but liberal-leaning, with some conservative values. Two things can be 👍
Mr. Howard practiced delayed gratification. He used profit from selling hogs to purchase real estate, not a Cadillac or other asset that soon became worthless.
Bro you think in your old age the problems given to blacks from whites, didn’t have a lasting affect? Enslavement for 300 plus years? That was pretty easy to deal with righ? Legalized r*ping of black women and children, that was easy to deal with right?
Many Black Americans are held down specifically by genuine injustices! Today, most specific injustices imposed against Black Americans are highly COVERT practices in order to evade legal liability!
Really? What of a youngster born prematurely to a drug addicted mother? He will likely do poorly in a school and thus be poor, the cycle of poverty What poor choice did he make?!?!
I’m a white male born in poverty. Though I’m not rich, I’m miles better off than I was. This is due to determination and education. You can sit back and complain about your situation or you can do something about it.
If you want to understand the problem... Just start asking everyone you meet: _"How would you FEEL if you did not have Breakfast this morning"._ Now, except for a few situations, such as myself that don't eat breakfast, you'll be able to parse people into two interesting groups.
In an ideal world yes, but a glass ceiling for women and only receiving 75 cents to a dollar for equal work by men is not fair as one example. There are also countless inequities due to other forms of discrimination preventing the ideal of equal income for equal work.
@@javiercastro8466I believe that statistic is a ratio of women’s earnings divided by all men’s earnings not average ratio taken in each job and job level
@@timdiorio9664 I do not have the Department of Labor methodology on how the number is obtained, but to be specific, women make 83 cents to every dollar earned by a man in the workforce for the same work.
@@javiercastro8466 Women aren’t men, and Latinos are not Caucasian.Caucasian made electricity, cars, phones.Latinos made tacos, and you should be paid in pesos Javier
By level playing field we mean that the rules of the game are the same for everyone. What you then achieve is up to the individual The earth is not flat for anyone. That is a level playing field. But your interpretation of the statement is biased by your perception that everyone has the same rights as you do. News flash, they don't
@@dfitzerl Actually, yes they do. And if the case was they don't, then the "minorities" have it better than the whites do. They can get into schools faster, get government help faster. If a poor black and a poor white kid was applying to a school, the black kid would get in first. Good point is this. My niece went through nursing school. Because she had a job, has two kids and a husband, even though he doesn't work, and a home, she got no government help at all. Not one penny. She's got over $80,000 in school debt she's paying off. In her class, it was probably 3/4 black. Most of them didn't work, not even part time. They got everything handed to them. And you cannot tell me they couldn't find some kind of job. Don't get me wrong. I applaud these kids for bettering themselves. Bottom line is this. I know a lot of black people that have good jobs, own homes, got good cars. Just like I know a lot of white people that are very poor. Just like a lot of black people that are poor. If you do not do something to better yourself.... that's on you. Not society or the "white oppression." This country has more opportunities for EVERYONE. Not just one race of people. The government tries to keep this division going, and people keep buying into it. Think about it. They keep us divided, then we fight amongst ourselves while they sit in office doing absolutely nothing, and doing the big money grab. It's all political. Bottom line.
I was raised by a single mom making minimum wage. I worked hard, went to school on scholarships and am now a retired millionaire. Sometimes it takes a generation to break the cycle of poverty but I’m proof it can be done.
Are you people blind non of this has anything to do with reality. if you have cutthroat competition among companies that forces companies to pass on increases in efficiencies to there customers in the form of lower prices thats got nothing at all to do with how hard someone works. 200 years ago 90% of the people in the USA lived worked on farms today 1% of the population produces all the food for 100% of the population thats because of advancements in technology The PER capita GDP in western europe in 500 AD would have been about the same in 1000 ad because technology advanced at a snails pace. Technology is what causes living standards to increase over time.most of the labor 200 years ago was needed to produce food. It was technology that enabled that labor to be redeployed elsewhere. if you need just 10 men to produce the food needed to feed 100 men than those other 90 men are free to produce other things table chairs bricks cannals roads. Lumber mill 1 man working on sawmill can produce enough lumber to build 10 houses a month before it would take 10 men a month to chisel enough wood planks from a tree trunk to produce enough wood for 10 houses. The inputs of labor make up a smaller and smaller fraction of wealth creation over time the vast majority of wealth creation is due to advancements in technology not labor.
Too many variables to specifically replicate the conditions that lead to your outcome. That's why there are more people in abject poverty than there are millionaires, unfortunately
@@tavongazhanje4055 I wasn’t talking about replicating my scenario. My point was that it can take a generation to break the poverty cycle. It takes hard work.
I was poor in the 1970's, but I fixed it by working hard, slowly building with patience, smart budgeting, wisely investing and going into business for myself as a black man. I watched people around me complain and do nothing about their poverty so eventually I changed my surroundings and left behind the excuse makers and surrounded myself with people with upward mobility and learned from them the ins & outs of how to stay out of poverty. Race has nothing to do with poverty. Your life choices & the company you keep have everything to do with it. Winners stick with winners, losers stick with losers.
I must disagree that race has nothing to do with poverty, black men where deliberately held back, I have experienced this in my 66 years. I remember at 16 my first part time job back in 1973, I worked at a tobacco factory at night, most of us were high school students, the manager would pick blacks to do more the physical labor while the white kids would get the pencil and paper jobs. So don't tell me race has nothing to do with poverty because you know nothing about being black, But you are right though you have to pull yourself up bye your bootstraps which I did. I find white people who say their is no discrimination, try living black for a day and you will see.
@@jamessutton9874 You sound like you're making excuses for black people to stay poor. Black people are the only race that discourages other blacks from being successful.. I've seen black people go to college and then go back to their hood just to see their old drug dealer friends tell them they are acting "white" and shame them for leaving "the hood" and these same black people throw parties for those who get out of jail before celebrating them for opening up a legit business or graduating college. Again I repeat... race has nothing to do with it. Winners hang with winners. Losers hang with losers. A successful black man has to leave behind his old loser friends before he can be successful. If he cannot, then he repeats the age old cycle that's been happening in his neighborhood.
Success is for those who make an effort to get out of poverty. Just turn on the TV and you can see that the majority of shooting and robbery in 2024 is done by POC. They chose that route by their own free will. It says more about their addiction to poverty than it does about race. Some of us black people put in the effort to escape poverty and succeeded in doing it. I got my passport, left America & became successful overseas so theharshtruth is right on the money on this one.
I was raised with enough money to have a roof, food, winter coat all the essentials. We had a great childhood. Never knew til college that we were lower middle class. I went to grad school, self paid, have a small home. Paid for, almost a million in the bank and I have been handed…nothing. You must work, save be sensible..have some treats but be vigilant.
I was born into a homeless family in post war England. In those days there was very little state aid and we were expected to just get on with life. It is so easy to blame everyone else for your poor life. Get to work is my advice.
When an evil system ruins the lives of millions of Black Americans, that system must be blamed for what it has actually done! No one needs YOU to tell them to do the best that they can!
I have read 5 of Thomas Sowell books and they are without doubt some of the most informative books I have ever read. The man is a treasure to the world.
@@vanyeldell1506Sewell is not smart. He only sounds smart to ignorant people. His statements are not based on fact, and they are not rooted in the soil of reality. If you want me to back up what I am saying, I can.
Are you people blind non of this has anything to do with reality. if you have cutthroat competition among companies that forces companies to pass on increases in efficiencies to there customers in the form of lower prices thats got nothing at all to do with how hard someone works. 200 years ago 90% of the people in the USA lived worked on farms today 1% of the population produces all the food for 100% of the population thats because of advancements in technology The PER capita GDP in western europe in 500 AD would have been about the same in 1000 ad because technology advanced at a snails pace. Technology is what causes living standards to increase over time.most of the labor 200 years ago was needed to produce food. It was technology that enabled that labor to be redeployed elsewhere. if you need just 10 men to produce the food needed to feed 100 men than those other 90 men are free to produce other things table chairs bricks cannals roads. Lumber mill 1 man working on sawmill can produce enough lumber to build 10 houses a month before it would take 10 men a month to chisel enough wood planks from a tree trunk to produce enough wood for 10 houses. The inputs of labor make up a smaller and smaller fraction of wealth creation over time the vast majority of wealth creation is due to advancements in technology not labor.
@@Betcsbirds i do not care what his name is. He is a clown to me. He does not know what he is talking about. He actually said that Christianity became the State religion in America. That is a lie. There is no State religion here. Again, you have to have an education to catch his lies and to be fooled by his eloquence.
Major understatement. He holds the keys of knowledge that can turn a nation around. The fact he’s been ignored and called an uncle Tom doesn’t hurt him but those who could have been transformed.
I was born poor but had a great family cohesiveness. Me and all of my siblings worked hard to better ourselves and most of us were successful and live a better than our parents did. We had nothing given to us.
You had piles of love and support handed to you which means safety and security of self mentality and emotionally plus absence of abuse. It means it’s hard for other to hurt you emotionally and mentally and you brush of negatively easily as it’s normal sense love is stable at home. You fail to understand the blessing you started with. You rich b*tch.
@@JJ-jn7eiDr Sowell studied under Milton Friedman in his college years. It should also be noted that he was a Marxist during this time and still was when he finished. It wasn't until he got a job with the Government, did he truly understand the flaws of central planning and government control.
You will always have income inequality because one boy in 10th grade wants to go to medical school and the other wants to drop out, thereby insuring their incomes won’t be equal.
@@FEiSTYFEVER Sowell is a simpleton who like Jordan Petersen lacks the reading comprehension to understand even the most basic ideas of Karl Marx. The only ones who could possible think he was a "Marxist" would be Joe McCarthy or J. Edgar Hoover of the secret police.
Single dad here at 45 and full time dad to my 8 year old son. I wasn't lucky enough to have been handed a family fortune so have started with my hands and my brain. I own my own home and earn a good wage that still allows me to provide for my son with no financial stress and still able to add to my savings account each week. I don't have any misgivings for having to forge my own life and consider it a good lesson for my son to grow up observing.
As someone who grew up in the 50’s my take on today’s problems in America is a breakdown within the family structure. approximately 70% of black children are born out of wedlock with limited father role models. We all suffer from this slide into the abyss
The biggest different between black people and everyone else is their resistance to cooperation. What can you accomplish if you don't cooperate? Nothing, except getting yourself into conflicts. But black people see cooperation as weakness, although it's just common sense.
@@teastrainer3604 A lot of white people have the same issue. I come from a family and neighborhood where everyone is looking out for their own interests and won't lift a finger to help you. Just a bunch of backstabbers.
@@teastrainer3604 prove what you're saying. Provide evidence. If you're so bold as to speak about an entire demographic of people in such a manner, you must be able to provide some supporting evidence pretty easily, right? Unless it's just some generic racist trope that you are repeating because you think it makes you sound good and just like to hold your nose up at people.
@wecandobetter9821 I see some truth in what you're saying from what I've studied. Do you have any thoughts on what may have caused these social shifts? I definitely do but I'd like to hear your insights if you're willing to share. It's not very common to find people who are actually thoughtful with their opinions about topics like these. Most people just run their mouths and say whatever nonsense they heard from some other loudmouth who doesn't have any idea what they're talking about
In many cases, you can definitely "measure opportunities by outcomes". In legal terms, it means personnel who are "similarly situated". That is personnel with the same qualifications, job titles, job tasks, job results, etc. When "similarly situated" personnel have unequal pay rates, it's ILLEGAL!
@@willharriman1881 Credit score system is biased toward rich people. If you have a BS low income job like Wal-Mart and Home Depot how can you possibly pay every single utility bill car payment credit cards on time month after month. The big box stores don't even give you 40 hours a week. How can you possibly budget your money to pay bills on time if your income changes from week to week. What about people working through temp agencies that lay you off with no notice? Temp jobs are ruining peoples lives. Memes express frustration anger at the stupidity of American culture. You just can't keep concentrating wealth to the top 1% without negative outcomes. Why are politicians so blind to this fundamental truth. I guess they don't care.
Most in the USA are clueless as to why we have been so blessed with so many advantages that other countries do not have. What is sad, is those who fail in the US, do so due to mostly individual choices.
A thief believes that the stolen loot in his possession is a blessing. What else would he think? And why would he think otherwise? That is the way of a thief. That is his nature.
White people's gross, massive wrongdoings against Black Americans and native Americans played a vast role in creating the current economic disparities.
It's not an issue of black or white. It's an issue of culture vs mindset. There are plenty of wealthy blacks, and there are a lot of impoverished whites. The difference between success and struggle is the difference between "I have a goal, but i also have a problem. How do i solve this problem to achieve my goal?" vs "I have a goal, but i also have a problem. Who is going to solve this problem for me and help me reach my goal?" It's that simple. People in poverty have a mindset of waiting for others to fix their problems, while successful people handle things on their own. Do they get help from investors? Sure. But that still requires being proactive.
This mindset was on full display in New Orleans after Katrina. Thousands upon thousands of able bodied people standing around waiting for somebody else to do something. Plenty of areas get slammed by hurricanes and within a short time you'd never know anything happened.
@@AmandaHugenkiss2915 Capitalism is organized based upon wage labor and capital. When a disaster occurs the politicians first call out the cops and national guard. The protection of property always comes first while disaster aid awaits approval by insurance racketeers and contractors who want written payment guarantees before a finger is lifted. Their may very well be plenty of construction workers and others willing to help but the tools and resources are under lock and key being protected by the cops and national guard.
KUDOS Hard-R-Energy! You're 100% RIGHT! It's okay to "accept a Hand UP" when life gets tough, but it's NOT okay to constantly DEPEND on someone else (or the government) to provide you with "FREEBIE HAND-OUTS!" Our Own Lives are Created by what we are WILLING TO DO to make Our lives Better OR Worse. Life DEPENDS on WORK! My Mom used to have a sign that said: "You dirtied it... YOU CLEAN IT. You used it... YOU PUT IT BACK! You broke it... YOU FIX IT! You sleep in it, YOU MAKE IT! You want it... YOU WORK FOR IT!" There were like 10 or 12 more things just like that. But her point was that "EVERYONE" has to DO their own part! That "Life is NOT a Free Ride!" We ALL have to Work Together and Contribute to making OUR Lives what we want it to be! Everybody has to DO THEIR PART in life and be CONTRIBUTING members of the family, or household, or community where they live in order to have a good and enjoyable life for ALL of us!
We've gone from a land of opportunity to a land of entitlement. I once heard a lady being interviewed on TV, and I quote, "I don't believe I should be denied the things that I want, just because I can't afford them". This is the mentality that our welfare system has fostered, and it has become a disease infecting not only those in poverty, but many of our younger folks.
So you heard one person say something that you disagreed with and now all of a sudden everyone who is similarly situated folks that you have never met that are on welfare or have received welfare, and now they have to be reflective of that person's opinion. So now you wanna characterize all of them based on one person's opinion. What if I did that to you? What if I heard someone make a statement that was reflective of who you are and I said that that person represents you and everyone in your particular racial, gender, and social economic group, how would you feel about that? Would you think that's fair? Would you think I was being an ass for making such a broad generalization about people that I don't know and have never met? I don't think sociologist conduct their business that way, and so unless you're a sociologist, you're entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts and neither am I or anyone else. So unless you want someone doing that to you, maybe you might wanna consider stop generalizing about all the people that you don't know, have never met and probably never will especially with that type of attitude. Cheers 🥂
@@theodorehaskins3756 You should really try to educate yourself about human nature. Its very obvious that most people feel like they deserve things. You are the one who is doing the generalization. Go get a job.
@@tomlord4469 So you first! Don’t tell people to do something that you yourself refuse to do. I have worked for over 40 years, and I am now retired, and I am financially independent. So I don’t need a job, and I certainly don’t need someone who’s obviously as closed minded, as you are, telling me what to do, and so the next time you open your mouth, you might want to think about not inserting your foot by maybe thinking about what it is you’re about to say, before you actually say it, and then you write it, and put it on social media, so everyone else can know how closed minded/ignorant you are? Oh, by the way, if you wanna continue to argue, you’re going to have to change the subject. Capeesh!
That attitude is what President Johnson had in mind when he invented the Welfare State, "Once we get those (people) on welfare, they'll be stuck in poverty". I also noticed above a reference to what Thomas Sowell said: why reparations will destroy black Americans forever. That is true. Married black families are the backbone of this country. Blacks that sit around and nod "yeah" to being told they are entitled to money they didn't work for are the problem for the black community, along with those who turn to violence and endanger the innocent.
It's amazing how every time there's an objective way of measuring ability (like sports, poker, etc), nobody complains about differences of achievement.
It's often asserted that Black children (on average) don't have equal access to quality education compared to different groups. That's sort of true, but the dynamics are complicated. Despite heroic and sincere efforts to provide for the needs of Black children, predominantly Black schools tend to under perform. When we honestly try to figure out why this happens, we aren't allowed to identify the reasons for this since these explanations are unacceptable despite clear evidence that they are true. How can a problem be dealt with if we refuse to acknowledge the reality of the situation?
I attended predominantly black public schools K-12 and although the populous of the schools were predominantly black, the majority of the teachers and staff were white. Nearly 70% of grade school teachers in urban communities were white women when I was a youth. Why didn’t these white women of all ages teach in their own communities? I have never known any text books on any subject being constructed or published by blacks nor any curriculum that is implemented in any school district in America. The question is why is the curriculum so different from schools in the “ghetto” vs. schools in rural communities when the curriculum is constructed and prepared mainly by whites? Even the food in the cafeterias are “better” in rural areas, as well as the playgrounds, gymnasiums, school buses, etc. Thomas Sowell is an extremely intelligent man but he makes it a priority every time he speaks to not hold whites accountable for their heinous actions whether past or present towards blacks and other minorities in America.
They underperform because those schools are dangerous. I've met teachers who taught in the wards of Houston, and they recounted stories about how students threatened teachers all the time. For whatever reason, being intelligent and studying hard is stigmatized in those communities. Fix their culture, and I bet good money that you will fix their problems.
I really love the last sentence in your comment . In general people hate it when you tell them what they're doing wrong even your own little children have to be told very nicely 😂
@@svendays Several commentators spoke of how the black community has poor examples that they raise up for heroes. They don't use well educated, successful blacks as heroes rather they use rappers who use horrific lyrics in their songs, criminals and self centered athletes
Low IQ and lack of impulse control / reasoning skills is the norm with this "demographic". It needs to be discussed more. Sowell doesn't suffer from it, but 95% of his people do.
After studying from some of the great yogis for the last few years, I realized that none of my pursuits for financial wealth was ever going to make me happy. The United States constitution is based on the pursuit of happiness. Since I am free to pursue happiness, I figured the best way was to stop chasing materialism. And yes, I am now happy.
I'm white from Italy and I inherited nothing from my parents. I studied and work since the age of 17 and eventually got a master's degree at 24. Then I moved to Asia and worked for different multinational companies up the CEO position. Now at 55 I run two companies and I enjoy a very nice lifestyle. Hard work, dedication, perseverance are the keys to improve your life.
@@carlogardella5808 What's the matter cat got your tongue or guilty conscience? How many pink slips were handed out and lives destroyed just so you could live in luxury?
Building wealth involves developing good habits like regularly putting money away in intervals for solid investments. I believe every Investor should start with ETFs for a solid foundation, then diversify across asset classes and maintain disciplined, regular investing to minimize risks and maximize growth.
A lot of folks downplay the role of advlsors until being burnt by their own emotions. I remember couple summers back, after my lengthy divorce, I needed a good boost to help my business stay afloat, hence I researched for licensed advisors and came across someone of utmost qualifications. She's helped grow my reserve notwithstanding inflation, from $275k to $850K.
This is definitely considerable! think you could suggest any professional/advisors i can get on the phone with? I'm in dire need of proper portfolio allocation.
Amber Dawn Brummit is the licensed fiduciary I use. Just research the name. You’d find necessary details to work with a correspondence to set up an appointment..
What people need to learn is how to save money and only buy something that appreciates in value with borrowed money. Only exception to this rule is buying a car. But with that said by want you need in a car not what you want. People have done a terrible job of teaching the difference between wants and needs today. You need basic transportation to get to work and that doesn’t come with leather seats and air conditioning.
I am the child of immigrant Cuban patents who only had a third grade education and came to the US with only the clothes on their backs and few dollars in the late 50s. I grew up on the West side of NYC then NJ in poor working class neighborhoods. I worked to get a college degree and got my pilots licenses. I am retiring this year as a very well off captain of a major airline and will be starting a job as an instructor for corporate jet company. The story of my whole family is similar. GOD bless America for the opportunities it gave my family. Non of my family got hand outs.
Dr. Sowell is a blessing to the American people. His race, religion or politics have nothing to do with his greatness, it is his hard work, brilliance and drive that made him this way!
But isn't saying "the world is not a level playing field" the same thing as asserting "survival of the fittest?". Human beings are not packs of wolves.
@@virginiatierney408 Human beings are social animals actual more like a pack of wolves than a solitary hunter like a cat. Liberals think one can just level the results of capitalism out through some new reform implemented by appealing to the good graces of the bosses rather than the working class having to wage a long term struggle to abolish private property, markets and commodity production all together.
Simple; get an education or training in a field, work steady, don't buy BMS's and Mercedes you can't afford, stay away from hard drugs, don't make babies you can't afford and don't commit crimes
What many people do not understand is that nobody Deserves Anything. Absolutely Nothing. You Earn It. There Is No Free Lunch. Not Even Love Is Free. You Must Earn It too. And Personal Presentation Is Everything. How You Walk, Talk, Cloth and Groom Yourself. It All Matters To The Eyes Of The World. The Sooner You Understand And Know That, The Better Off You Will Be In The Struggles Of Life. Life Is A Journey Of Struggles, Large And Small. And Realizing The Opportunities As They Arive From Time To Time And To Seize That Opportunity As It Arises. And Or Create An Opportunity Of Your Own Making.
@@Mr626667 I think the founders understood that far better than most people today. They created a country where people were free to pursue their dreams. The Constitution provided everything necessary to enforce the end of slavery so that everyone created in the image of God could determine their own future. Your comment tells me you've been told much about the founders but actually know very little.
'Meritocracy' is an important social concept that has been buried by the Marxist kooks who want EQUAL OUTCOMES in everything....NOT POSSIBLE, as we are all uniquely DIFFERENT from one another; it's the miracle of life and is self-evident across the animal and plant kingdoms. If that is distasteful to anyone reading this, complain to the Creator and stop whining about your circumstances.
Create your own destiny by hard work, following BIBLE inspired instruction, knowing what God expects of you as a human being in your character! Seek Truth!
I grew up in Vicksburg, MS in the forties parentless after my eleventh birthday. My father was a brick layer and we had little money. I was able to graduate from high school and college by working hard and dedication. I went into business did well and invested with Warren Buffett many years ago. Thus I can say through living proof life is what you make it regardless of your circumstances. All one needs is opportunity, that road to success.
Start practicing birth control. Instead of getting pregnant over and over finish school and make something of yourself. Kids growing up in poverty have no chance at life. It's death or prison. The numbers don't lie.
finally someone calls it as it is...kids growing up in poverty have no chance...true here, other places they do..shame, as their success benefits society..
I have always loved Thomas Sowell’s common sense and logic. He is brilliant! One of the best minds currently alive! Not all whites are rich, and not all blacks are poor. Life choices, education(real, not government imposed) and one’s character have a large part to play.
I grew up poor in rural Alabama, I have a G.E.D and a CDL and am about to go into business for myself and as a company driver I made 65,000 to 80,000 a year , My Choices got me to the position I'm in Nothing Else
"My Choices got me to the position I'm in Nothing Else"... I'm certain that is true. Here's something many would do well to ponder, what precedes choices? The answer is beliefs. Our choices and behaviors stem from our beliefs. If your life, your relationships, aren't what you would like them to be, question your beliefs!
@@TomR-z1x He'll find out soon enough that a small business man has no friends only acquaintances. He'll be lucky if the trucking and load schedules bosses don't eat him for breakfast.
I put in 20k into various assets last year and flipped into six figures within a few months and still going. I’ve always been an advocate of investing because it has been rather rewarding. I hope to attain financial freedom soon. One more thing, I always look forward to your content brother, keep up the good work.
It’s not rocket science. As I said previously, I got into stocks, index funds, and REITs, myself but wasn't getting the results I wanted the first couple of months. Got tired of losing and decided to seek mentorship from Jonas Herman, a certified fiduciary who helps oversee my investments.
Over the years, I've been part of numerous investment programs, sifting through a barrage of information. Yet, none comes close to the sheer clarity, depth, and precision of Herman’s instructions and insights. It's akin to finding a diamond in the dirt.
I wish everybody in America could get a steady dose of Thomas soul into their lives. His life stories, and practical with he can change peoples lives. I wish I had found him sooner..
I have a black female friend. My friend is a smart woman, she trades and does well. She put both her kids through University. One of her children is a professor at a major university heads the laboratory. The other is a CEO of a very well known multi National. Neither of her children have achieved anything near the wealth of their mother, she despairs, their income has virtually NEVER been less than 4 times her income in the first 20 years of her working life. They are both “addicted” to consumerism and conspicuous consumption. This is from intelligent, very highly educated, employed adults!
I was born in Britain just after World War 2, we were poor, food was rationed and times were hard. We didn't have electricity, or gas, no heating and an outside toilet shared by three other families. but then we were privileged
@@KBTadieh Throughout history, most slaves were not black, and blacks sold most of the black slaves who ended up in the New World. Slavery is still practiced in Africa, by blacks. The word "slave" means "Slav." It comes from the fact that people were so used to seeing Slavic (white) slaves.
I was never given anything. It took me until 30 before I started. I worked my way through college and certifications. Worked job after job, until finally getting 4 very good jobs. I got married, had children, and saved everything i could. My goals have always been to make my family's lives easier and sacrifice my freedom for their benefit. I have learned a lot about investing and i teach my children everything including investing and accounting. This is what i believe makes people wealthy. I drive a 15 year old Toyota where most people i know drive this year's Lexus. Hard work and constant thought and devotion to your family are big keys to success IMHO.
This wonderful video dealing with outcome vs opportunity makes me think of a wonderful story told to me by a colleague. This colleague told me that when he was a boy in rural Arkansas he was very close to a family employee. Once the employee was telling my colleague how unfair the economic system was and how all wealth should be divided and given equally to everyone. My colleague stated that even as a young boy he knew this would not work and he told his friend that eventually the old rich would just get their old share of the money back. The old employee agreed but interjected “ I know ; that is why you would split it up again every Saturday night.”
Just working hard doesn’t cut it. I could work hard pushing against a brick wall 60 hours a week, but since nobody would demand and pay for me to do this I will not prosper from doing it. I could be the smartest person but if I don’t want to work hard I limit how prosperous I can become. In the US, no matter who you are, if you develop marketable skills that people demand and have a work ethic that makes you productive you can prosper if you want.
Capitalism always works to replace higher paid skilled labor with unskilled labor and machines. The only people that can prosper in these conditions are thieves and capitalist property owners. Increases in productivity since 1973 have all gone to the bosses and property owners.
Hundreds of years of continuing, unique and disfavored treatment was SPECIFICALLY directed against Black Americans under a white dominated system of power. THAT is the absolute primary factor that creates and maintains the huge economic disparity between white and Black Americans! Everything else is just minor secondary details after the fact!
I love the example of Monopoly where everybody starts with the same amount, but in the end, somebody is going to be rich and somebody is going to be poor based on the decisions they make, and a bit of luck. It just illustrates that if you took all the money in the US and gave everybody the same amount, some would become rich and others poor within a short time.
Yep thats true Monopoly is a great demo of Marxism, revolution and communism. Say there are 8 players and they can see one player is going to own it all and bankrupt them all. The answer is knock the winning player off and take their spoils. How should they be split such that all 7 players join the revolution. Lets split it equally is the easy answer. This is Marx's Crisis in Capitalism where wealth accumulates in fewer and fewer hands and eventually leads to revolution and communism. So what could prevent this outcome and its democracy. Now on the Monopoly board we get to vote and can make the rich dude pay $ 400 for passing go where as if you are very poor you collect $ 400 not $ 200 and by redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor we prevent revolution. Great game Monopoly.
You should take a look at the study they did using Monopoly. They put two people against each other, giving one very clear advantages, more money, more dice, more property etc.and the other a clear disadvantage. In every case, the advantage player thought he won because of his cleverness and ability to make great deals, his superiority, not the fact that he was given a very clear advantage. Take a look at the study, it's pretty fascinating. I ended up creating a version of a monopoly game partly because of it.
Dr. Sowell may be the most intelligent American of the past Century. His work should be taught more broadly in America, and we will see how positively people are affected by his work. What a Treasure!
I worked in SE Africa. The native people had a history of kindness. But what I exoerienced so debilitating for them was the heat, diseases that come on suddenly, the snakes and mosquitoes, the lack of proper drinking water, its men leaving their wives and children for work elsewhere, many not returning. To survive it was a miracle. They hold on to ancient traditions because it helped them to survive, thus development toook a long time.
At the end of slavery in America, the slave owners were given reparations. The slaves were not compensated for being brutally treated. The newly freed slaves were mistreated, still. 😮 How can the descenents of slavery ever catch up?
Just like all these people with nothing did well for themselves. I come from the BS story of slavery I'm doing amazing better than the majority of Americans. The secret is save, budget, work hard, work smart, work legally, get economic profitable education, do not buy wants buy needs only, invest small amounts over long period of time than poof you are winning. Just like Asian Americans do great in USA and out perform whites.
I like the Monopoly analogy at the end of the video. In Monopoly everybody is given the same amount of money from the bank to start with but they all end up with different outcomes by the end of the game based on their choices and their actions. In life we're all given the same human body and human brain (except for birth defects) but we all have different outcomes by the end of the life.
But as kids we are not given the same chances. You were born in a broken family in the hood, your chances are different than in a family oriented well established setting. The Monopoly analogy is severely flawed. I was born in a family where education mattered. My mom was constantly on top of us, and she gave up her career for us to flourish. I know for a fact that had I been born in a family where parents would not have cared (and those family are out there a LOT), I would not have been where I am now.
@@Imran-ShahNow you're selectively choosing what to compare with... Because your assumption is EVERYONE born with fewer opportunities/chances is bound to fail. Well that's wrong because many successful people today came from broken homes, toxic parents and dangerous neighborhoods. As matter of fact, many today have succeeded not inspite of those disadvantages but BECAUSE of them. We never talk about how many rich kids end up as spoiled brats living off the success of their parents till it's worn out... They're spoiled brats who fail in life BECAUSE of the so called "better opportunities" they were born with. So no, humans are not mere victims of their circumstances as Thomas Sowell points out very accurately. The fact is there are many who had your same opportunities and resources and are doing way better than you right now... Are you the victim or you simply didn't work hard enough?
Steve Jobs once said: “I’m a very big believer in equal opportunity as opposed to equal outcome.” It was several years after he died that Apple launched a big DEI program, which essentially reflects an opposite sentiment.
Depends on your upbringing treat a child well with decency and respect he or she will turn out well regardless of race or financial situation. Treat the same child with scorn and disdain you can almost guarantee failure. Add in extreme poverty and slum housing very few can rise above that combination.
Hundreds of years of continuing, unique and disfavored treatment was SPECIFICALLY directed against Black Americans under a white dominated system of power. THAT is the absolute primary factor that creates and maintains the huge economic disparity between white and Black Americans! Everything else is just minor secondary details after the fact!
That comment is head on starting in grade school everyone in that class starts with the Exact same Opportunity to Behave Learn and Develop sadly as a Rule not the exception black children are unruly loud and at that young age resist Authorities. I was at easter egg with my grandson the poor just installed Mexican children at lease Behaved when asked to sit quitely
I was born into a low income , but conservative family. I was able to rise from that situation because my father made me believe my life would be a total failure without a college education. I found a way to get one. No student loans.
Unfortunately, at the lower end of the spectrum, we Americans have become ingrates with our hands out for more and more and more free goodies….. This portion of Society, has lost the ability to appreciate ANYTHING!
The rich and powerful get free handouts all the time in terms of inflated government contracts, tax breaks and bailouts when they make poor business decisions and fail. People like you never rail about it. However, you show fake outrage when the poor need handouts to survive. What is wrong with you? Have you been so brainwashed as not to be able to think clearly?
@@dcg590 You cannot fix the systemic abuses simply by PRETENDING ! Obviously, there are circumstances where various Black Americans made bad life decisions and sabotaged themselves. But whether you like it or not... hard work, earnest study and merit cannot fix genuine systemic injustices! That's the actual problem with the white American system! The only real solution is as follows: (1) PERSONNEL CHOSEN FOR MERIT IN FAIR COMPETITION. (2) ADVANCEMENT THROUGH MERIT. Just forget about all the rest!
especially our farmers, who rely on the government ropping up the price of their crops, grazing their cattle on federal lands for pennies..its a shame..welfare farmers
My Grandma and Father retired from the same company. My Grandma died penniless and my father is worth over a million dollars. If you make the wrong decision every time you get a chance you will not accumulate wealth. If you make the right choices even with a mediocre income you can do well. You don’t have to agree but that doesn’t change that it’s a fact.
As legal immigrants from Vietnam, i came here with zero dollars, got help to start up from a church’s for few months Now i am not wealthy but upper middle class, earned two degrees , have stable job, own three houses…… i am an example of working hard, have good education to get good job, save money to be freedom from government assistance which also freedom to live prosperity What I don’t understand is why people who were born here in America, but still live poorly????? America offer people generously of opportunities to become whatever one desire to be, why settle for such poor living conditions ? Accepting government help will tie one’s life down since help is limited, and be under controlled or conditions, thus one cannot advance in any things Mindless
As a New Zealander i was staggered to learn the black soliders returning after the 2nd world war were denied housing loans. Thats a big handicap for the black boomers and their children
Being rich and being poor is a mindset here in the United states. If you work hard and save and invest in the right things, the sky is the limits! But if you are brainwashed to look for handouts, give your money to the organizations that don't give back financially, like churches,🤔 think that you just need the bare minimum to survive or even better, waste your wealth constantly trying to keep up with the Jones and impress people that really don't care. You will continue to find yourself being of the lower class. 😮 Real rich people don't compete with one another, they don't have time for that nonsense and it doesn't make them any money! It just cost them money to compete. 🤔 So they continue to find ways to make more money and enjoy life. Like the saying goes "I got my mind on my money and my money on my mind "
I know a lot of black Africans who couldn't succeed in the UK, came to USA and within a few years worked hard and became multimillionaires. Discrimination will always exist but we just have to work hard.
Thomas is too intelligent. Love the dude. Most people, as stated in this post, are limited in their education by their environment. They often choose to stay there as well. Once you travel or study the world (I've vacationed in 30 different countries and lived outside the USA for a time) you learn the truth about what Thomas is relating in this post. Weirdly, I have to add...I'm a black American.
I don't agree. In real life we start off with very different resources available to us. No comparison between someone with an expensive education and access to family capital versus most people. The "just work hard" mantra is a distraction used by the wealthy to stay wealthy.
I think the last comment about Monopoly says a lot. My wife and I used to play Monopoly with our grandson and my wife always worked to own property and I always wanted the cash. Each of us did OK but if the game had gone on long enough, I am pretty sure she would have ultimately won my cash. In real life I saw this as complementary and we did very well and I hope my grandson learned from this.
Yes but what about the book, the richest man in Babylon, in which it it is stated that Babylon was one of the richest countries ever but the only resource they had was their brains since Babylon was in a desert with no natural resources.
I know alot of black people that are very well off ( richer than me for sure) .. but they did the same things that most successful people do.. I dont think its a function of color but attitude and hard work..
I’m a white woman with black husband and a biracial son. Most of my children’s lives my older daughter and my son, I raised them on my own. I’m here to tell you the world is not as racist as you think it is. They’re just prejudiced against the poor. If you already are struggling, they put their boot to your throat and make it worse. Your interest rate is higher than rich peoples, you can’t get car insurance if you’ve lapsed and of course, when you’re poor, you’re going to lapse, if your credit rating is not great which of course it wouldn’t be, you have a very difficult time getting homeowners insurance or loans of any kind. You can’t get a boot up. Once you’re down, they want you to stay down. And they climb on top of you. You have to fight doubly hard to get out of the situation. You have to educate yourself. You have to push beyond this black moment In your life. You can’t just stay there and say this is what they’ve done to me. Even if you go to a trade school, you do something to better yourself. And before you know it, you will join the rest of the crowd. The crowd that has some credit, the crowd that can buy a home even if it’s small, the crowd that can participate in Some luxuries and going on a vacation. It takes work and foresight to get past this point in life. But if you sit there telling yourself, it’s all because you’re black and you take all the hand outs the government gives you, you’re screwed. Once you start taking handouts, they will hold you down. As soon as you start to earn any kind of income, they will take your handouts away. It’s a way of keeping you from trying. Just screw the handouts and make it on your own.
Five basic things that all successful people do to succeed in America regardless of race: (1) Graduate from high school (2) get a job- any job, (3) obey the law, even the small ones like traffic rules, (4) don’t have children out of wedlock and (5) Don’t do illegal drugs or abuse alcohol. Too many Black people don’t do any of these.
Hundreds of years of continuing, unique and disfavored treatment was SPECIFICALLY directed against Black Americans under a white dominated system of power. THAT is the absolute primary factor that creates and maintains the huge economic disparity between white and Black Americans! Everything else is just minor secondary details after the fact!
@@willharriman1881 if historically wronged is the reason why so many blacks fail to succeed today explain why Japanese Americans do so well? They actually were displaced and interned in camps during WWII, yet the race with a strong family culture succeeds in great numbers today?
@@GuyDedje In other words,YOU mean that white people will continue to SPECIFICALLY harm Black Americans FURTHER for the next 100 years! If so, the problem remains the same! You cannot SPECIFICALLY harm Black Americans continually for hundreds of years and then feign surprise at the negative effects that resulted!
It saddens me to hear someone so intelligent promote the narrative that black people are solely responsible for their situation in America. It is not productive to engage in discussions with individuals who hold this viewpoint, yet I cannot help myself. It is true that we are all shaped by our environments, regardless of our skin color. If you are white and raised in a disadvantaged area, you face steep obstacles on the path to success and the odds aren’t in your favor to make it out. However, if you are black and raised in such circumstances, the challenges are even greater due to additional hurdles like racial profiling, predatory lending, the not so subtle messaging that you’re expendable, and the intergenerational trauma that has impacted the community. Personally, I have faced the threat of gang violence on one side and police profiling on the other, being targeted because I 'fit the description.' It’s a real pressure cooker when you hit those teen years, especially when you’re a little nerdy which means you might get chased home by a gang one day and the police the next. The playing field has never been level for anyone in America. While we cannot deny that modern-day issues exist, we should not overlook the lasting effects of centuries of government-sanctioned oppression.
How do you explain all the other races that have come to America and succeeded? America has created more black millionaires and billionaires than any other country.
@@user-hk9ny7qk9u Your argument is ridiculous! A few Blacks succeeded even at the height of Jim Crow segregation! That doesn't mean there was equal opportunity.
By pfp, notice there are hardly any black people in the comments. The speaker reminds me of my uncle. He was bullied by his own people as a teen and now has a chip on his shoulder as a grown adult… The monopoly analogy is insane. Based on his follow the river analogy, the pieces wouldn’t start at the same point or follow the same board. Based on generational wealth, some players wouldn’t start with the same amount of money and couldn’t afford to invest in certain opportunities. The one with the most money to start and the best board (river to follow) would win almost 100% of the time! If the one with less to begin and a bad board to play on wins, it’s an anomaly or an outlier. I’m all about accountability in the black community. But it’s sad this corner of the internet is designated to this type of confirmation bias.
The goal should not be to ‘win’, or to be THE wealthiest person. The goal should be simple success… paying your own bills without assistance, and having true love and happiness.
Once again, Dr. Sowell hits on geomorphology as a critical variable in outcomes. If you can't get out or have no motive to get out your opportunity pools are pretty small. And, someone else will make the gains in outcomes. It is profound how geomorphology and cultures so dominate the levels of wealth when you look at opportunity vs. outcomes..
i saw a seattle high school cancelled it's gifted program as it was overrepresented by whites and asians... "you can't measure opportunity by outcomes" - Dr. Sowell. Brilliant.
While some of this is true it ignores the fact that people have stolen wealth throughout history. It’s easy to say people with lower credit don’t get loans, but ignores that many had good scores and still were denied. And who controls the credit system? Not the poor.
As long as people blame things out of their control and therefore reject personal change, they will fail. And it is a canard that massive “good credit risks” were denied loans. That didn’t happen. 2007 proved they were never “good credit risks” in the first place.
The monopoly game analogy at the end of the video sums up the issue very well
Not really.. in monopoly, you start out with the same wealth
No it doesn't. Monopoly is based on rolls of dice. Reality is based on a multifaceted set of attributes and situations
Analogies are what grifters use because they have no evidence.
@@domestinger8805Monopolies and oligopolies exist. What do you think of them?
@@MDpart2 what I think of them doesn't affect their truth
I am 78 years old and Hillbilly White. After experiencing the first integration of schools
in Maryland in 1962, and 25 years in the US Army, I can say with certainty Black Men
and Women with strong conservative and family values are the most successful
people I have ever had the opportunity to be associated with in life. Growing up
in Howard County Maryland in the 50's and 60's one of the wealthiest men in the
county was a man named Johnny Howard. He was a man my father loved to trade with.
Mr. Howard was a man with strong family ties, very religious and truly honest in
his dealings. He made his fortune raising hogs and buying choice central Maryland
real estate. Both investments made him a multi-millionaire years ago.
Johnny Howard was not white. He was a wonderful man and a credit to our Nation.
I love stories like that instead of the constant victimhood or I'm a minority it's the white man's fault.
God bless Mr Howard. I wish there were more like him in this world today.
Not taking accountability away from blacks like myself, but your comment falls largely flat and is purely anecdotal.
There is plenty of documentation of how wealth was taken from African Americans in the past, burned, stolen, conned by government and private entities solely based on color.
Most wealthy African Americans are not conservative, but liberal-leaning, with some conservative values.
Two things can be 👍
Mr. Howard practiced delayed gratification. He used profit from selling hogs to purchase real estate, not a Cadillac or other asset that soon became worthless.
Bro you think in your old age the problems given to blacks from whites, didn’t have a lasting affect? Enslavement for 300 plus years? That was pretty easy to deal with righ? Legalized r*ping of black women and children, that was easy to deal with right?
Instant gratification is what keeps many people poor.
Many Black Americans are held down specifically by genuine injustices! Today, most specific injustices imposed against Black Americans are highly COVERT practices in order to evade legal liability!
Poor in more than one way.
Bingo -- great comment!
This is SO right.
Really?
What of a youngster born prematurely to a drug addicted mother?
He will likely do poorly in a school and thus be poor, the cycle of poverty
What poor choice did he make?!?!
The world sorely needs minds like Mr Sowell. Great interview.
Amen!
No.....we don't.......thankfully he's up in age and will clock out sooner than later
@@fredtolliver4798 once again the "party of love and tolerance" wishing harm on someone because they have different opinions
@@jsquared1013 I said what I said and meant it...your opinion is mute, Colonizer
@@fredtolliver4798 Sowell swing his bat for team Republican in the capitalist league of thieves.
I’m a white male born in poverty. Though I’m not rich, I’m miles better off than I was. This is due to determination and education.
You can sit back and complain about your situation or you can do something about it.
If you want to understand the problem...
Just start asking everyone you meet:
_"How would you FEEL if you did not have Breakfast this morning"._
Now, except for a few situations, such as myself that don't eat breakfast, you'll be able to parse people into two interesting groups.
Look up black Wall Street
So, the opportunities you have had are solely created by your determination and education, and did you create the education you had too?
@@riesjart1000 create the education?
I would say I created the situation. I did without to pay for my education.
That's racist....
People don’t deserve equal income, you get what you work for
People deserve EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK!
In an ideal world yes, but a glass ceiling for women and only receiving 75 cents to a dollar for equal work by men is not fair as one example. There are also countless inequities due to other forms of discrimination preventing the ideal of equal income for equal work.
@@javiercastro8466I believe that statistic is a ratio of women’s earnings divided by all men’s earnings not average ratio taken in each job and job level
@@timdiorio9664 I do not have the Department of Labor methodology on how the number is obtained, but to be specific, women make 83 cents to every dollar earned by a man in the workforce for the same work.
@@javiercastro8466 Women aren’t men, and Latinos are not Caucasian.Caucasian made electricity, cars, phones.Latinos made tacos, and you should be paid in pesos Javier
"The world has never been a level playing field", i.e., the earth is not flat
By level playing field we mean that the rules of the game are the same for everyone. What you then achieve is up to the individual
The earth is not flat for anyone. That is a level playing field.
But your interpretation of the statement is biased by your perception that everyone has the same rights as you do. News flash, they don't
Now you are going to piss off the communists AND the flat earthers. 😄
@@dfitzerl Actually, yes they do. And if the case was they don't, then the "minorities" have it better than the whites do. They can get into schools faster, get government help faster. If a poor black and a poor white kid was applying to a school, the black kid would get in first. Good point is this. My niece went through nursing school. Because she had a job, has two kids and a husband, even though he doesn't work, and a home, she got no government help at all. Not one penny. She's got over $80,000 in school debt she's paying off. In her class, it was probably 3/4 black. Most of them didn't work, not even part time. They got everything handed to them. And you cannot tell me they couldn't find some kind of job. Don't get me wrong. I applaud these kids for bettering themselves. Bottom line is this. I know a lot of black people that have good jobs, own homes, got good cars. Just like I know a lot of white people that are very poor. Just like a lot of black people that are poor. If you do not do something to better yourself.... that's on you. Not society or the "white oppression." This country has more opportunities for EVERYONE. Not just one race of people. The government tries to keep this division going, and people keep buying into it. Think about it. They keep us divided, then we fight amongst ourselves while they sit in office doing absolutely nothing, and doing the big money grab. It's all political. Bottom line.
The "Pitcher" still gets to stand on a mound, and those not currently working can sit in the "dugout"
So true there is no flat earth, but there are very flat minds….
I was raised by a single mom making minimum wage. I worked hard, went to school on scholarships and am now a retired millionaire. Sometimes it takes a generation to break the cycle of poverty but I’m proof it can be done.
She let him hit it raw?
Are you people blind non of this has anything to do with reality. if you have cutthroat competition among companies that forces companies to pass on increases in efficiencies to there customers in the form of lower prices thats got nothing at all to do with how hard someone works. 200 years ago 90% of the people in the USA lived worked on farms today 1% of the population produces all the food for 100% of the population thats because of advancements in technology The PER capita GDP in western europe in 500 AD would have been about the same in 1000 ad because technology advanced at a snails pace. Technology is what causes living standards to increase over time.most of the labor 200 years ago was needed to produce food. It was technology that enabled that labor to be redeployed elsewhere. if you need just 10 men to produce the food needed to feed 100 men than those other 90 men are free to produce other things table chairs bricks cannals roads. Lumber mill 1 man working on sawmill can produce enough lumber to build 10 houses a month before it would take 10 men a month to chisel enough wood planks from a tree trunk to produce enough wood for 10 houses. The inputs of labor make up a smaller and smaller fraction of wealth creation over time the vast majority of wealth creation is due to advancements in technology not labor.
Too many variables to specifically replicate the conditions that lead to your outcome. That's why there are more people in abject poverty than there are millionaires, unfortunately
@@tavongazhanje4055 I wasn’t talking about replicating my scenario. My point was that it can take a generation to break the poverty cycle. It takes hard work.
@@tavongazhanje4055 variables shmariables
I was poor in the 1970's, but I fixed it by working hard, slowly building
with patience, smart budgeting, wisely investing and going into business
for myself as a black man.
I watched people around me complain and do nothing about their poverty
so eventually I changed my surroundings and left behind the excuse makers
and surrounded myself with people with upward mobility and learned from
them the ins & outs of how to stay out of poverty.
Race has nothing to do with poverty. Your life choices & the company you
keep have everything to do with it. Winners stick with winners, losers stick
with losers.
I must disagree that race has nothing to do with poverty, black men where deliberately held back, I have experienced this in my 66 years. I remember at 16 my first part time job back in 1973, I worked at a tobacco factory at night, most of us were high school students, the manager would pick blacks to do more the physical labor while the white kids would get the pencil and paper jobs. So don't tell me race has nothing to do with poverty because you know nothing about being black, But you are right though you have to pull yourself up bye your bootstraps which I did. I find white people who say their is no discrimination, try living black for a day and you will see.
@@jamessutton9874 You sound like you're making excuses for black people to
stay poor. Black people are the only race that discourages other blacks from
being successful..
I've seen black people go to college and then go back to their hood just to see
their old drug dealer friends tell them they are acting "white" and shame them
for leaving "the hood" and these same black people throw parties for those
who get out of jail before celebrating them for opening up a legit business or
graduating college.
Again I repeat... race has nothing to do with it. Winners hang with winners.
Losers hang with losers. A successful black man has to leave behind his
old loser friends before he can be successful. If he cannot, then he repeats
the age old cycle that's been happening in his neighborhood.
@theharshtruth8563 Facts bro! 💯
@@jamessutton9874 Nah, you don't have a clue what you're talking about.
Success is for those who make an effort to get out of poverty.
Just turn on the TV and you can see that the majority of shooting
and robbery in 2024 is done by POC. They chose that route by their
own free will.
It says more about their addiction to poverty than it does about
race. Some of us black people put in the effort to escape poverty
and succeeded in doing it. I got my passport, left America & became
successful overseas so theharshtruth is right on the money on this one.
I was raised with enough money to have a roof, food, winter coat all the essentials. We had a great childhood. Never knew til college that we were lower middle class. I went to grad school, self paid, have a small home. Paid for, almost a million in the bank and I have been handed…nothing. You must work, save be sensible..have some treats but be vigilant.
I had the same upbringing - never knew how tight money was because there was so much love.
Well said! 💪🏾😎👍🏾
Some ppl are raised without a roof, food, winter coat & essentials
REALLY THE WORLD NEED TO WORRY ABOUT IS REPENTANCE NOT IF MY BLOODLINE INHERITED MONEY OR NOT JUST THE TRUTH WHAT DO THY KNOW!!!!
So your answer to not be poor is to go to college?
I was born into a homeless family in post war England.
In those days there was very little state aid and we were expected to just get on with life.
It is so easy to blame everyone else for your poor life.
Get to work is my advice.
When an evil system ruins the lives of millions of Black Americans, that system must be blamed for what it has actually done! No one needs YOU to tell them to do the best that they can!
Well said!
You're riling the Communists. 😂
@@willharriman1881 Excuses for lack of IQ. Period.
You're in Britain. Different sitch.
All m'y respect to this great man...
I have read 5 of Thomas Sowell books and they are without doubt some of the most informative books I have ever read. The man is a treasure to the world.
I get smarter every time I listen to Thomas Sowell.
Me too!
@@vanyeldell1506Sewell is not smart. He only sounds smart to ignorant people. His statements are not based on fact, and they are not rooted in the soil of reality. If you want me to back up what I am saying, I can.
Are you people blind non of this has anything to do with reality. if you have cutthroat competition among companies that forces companies to pass on increases in efficiencies to there customers in the form of lower prices thats got nothing at all to do with how hard someone works. 200 years ago 90% of the people in the USA lived worked on farms today 1% of the population produces all the food for 100% of the population thats because of advancements in technology The PER capita GDP in western europe in 500 AD would have been about the same in 1000 ad because technology advanced at a snails pace. Technology is what causes living standards to increase over time.most of the labor 200 years ago was needed to produce food. It was technology that enabled that labor to be redeployed elsewhere. if you need just 10 men to produce the food needed to feed 100 men than those other 90 men are free to produce other things table chairs bricks cannals roads. Lumber mill 1 man working on sawmill can produce enough lumber to build 10 houses a month before it would take 10 men a month to chisel enough wood planks from a tree trunk to produce enough wood for 10 houses. The inputs of labor make up a smaller and smaller fraction of wealth creation over time the vast majority of wealth creation is due to advancements in technology not labor.
@@themack74 You could try to spell his name correctly if you want to have any credibility, LOL.
@@Betcsbirds i do not care what his name is. He is a clown to me. He does not know what he is talking about. He actually said that Christianity became the State religion in America. That is a lie. There is no State religion here. Again, you have to have an education to catch his lies and to be fooled by his eloquence.
Sowell is underappreciated.
"famous underappreciated people" Ok
Sowell is DELUSIONAL!
Major understatement. He holds the keys of knowledge that can turn a nation around. The fact he’s been ignored and called an uncle Tom doesn’t hurt him but those who could have been transformed.
@@trombettas He a Black man for Conservative Republican bosses. Which is why the Black working class ignores him.
You cannot listen to this man and remain ignorant. He’s amazing, intelligent and should be a role model for all Americans.
I was born poor but had a great family cohesiveness. Me and all of my siblings worked hard to better ourselves and most of us were successful and live a better than our parents did. We had nothing given to us.
You weren’t really poor if you had great family cohesiveness.
You had piles of love and support handed to you which means safety and security of self mentality and emotionally plus absence of abuse.
It means it’s hard for other to hurt you emotionally and mentally and you brush of negatively easily as it’s normal sense love is stable at home.
You fail to understand the blessing you started with.
You rich b*tch.
I think Milton Freidman would be so honored to know that Dr Sowell is teaching economics to those that don't understand.
Wasn’t that his mentor?
@@JJ-jn7eiDr Sowell studied under Milton Friedman in his college years. It should also be noted that he was a Marxist during this time and still was when he finished. It wasn't until he got a job with the Government, did he truly understand the flaws of central planning and government control.
You will always have income inequality because one boy in 10th grade wants to go to medical school and the other wants to drop out, thereby insuring their incomes won’t be equal.
@@phyllisjohnson8456 SO true!
@@FEiSTYFEVER Sowell is a simpleton who like Jordan Petersen lacks the reading comprehension to understand even the most basic ideas of Karl Marx. The only ones who could possible think he was a "Marxist" would be Joe McCarthy or J. Edgar Hoover of the secret police.
“You can’t measure opportunities by outcomes”. Brilliant and logical way of thinking
Single dad here at 45 and full time dad to my 8 year old son. I wasn't lucky enough to have been handed a family fortune so have started with my hands and my brain. I own my own home and earn a good wage that still allows me to provide for my son with no financial stress and still able to add to my savings account each week. I don't have any misgivings for having to forge my own life and consider it a good lesson for my son to grow up observing.
As someone who grew up in the 50’s my take on today’s problems in America is a breakdown within the family structure. approximately 70% of black children are born out of wedlock with limited father role models. We all suffer from this slide into the abyss
The biggest different between black people and everyone else is their resistance to cooperation. What can you accomplish if you don't cooperate? Nothing, except getting yourself into conflicts. But black people see cooperation as weakness, although it's just common sense.
@@teastrainer3604 A lot of white people have the same issue. I come from a family and neighborhood where everyone is looking out for their own interests and won't lift a finger to help you. Just a bunch of backstabbers.
The CDC said 50% of black females have genital herpes. 40% of males. The condition of the black family
@@teastrainer3604 prove what you're saying. Provide evidence. If you're so bold as to speak about an entire demographic of people in such a manner, you must be able to provide some supporting evidence pretty easily, right? Unless it's just some generic racist trope that you are repeating because you think it makes you sound good and just like to hold your nose up at people.
@wecandobetter9821 I see some truth in what you're saying from what I've studied. Do you have any thoughts on what may have caused these social shifts? I definitely do but I'd like to hear your insights if you're willing to share. It's not very common to find people who are actually thoughtful with their opinions about topics like these. Most people just run their mouths and say whatever nonsense they heard from some other loudmouth who doesn't have any idea what they're talking about
Great line.
You can’t measure opportunities by outcomes.
In many cases, you can definitely "measure opportunities by outcomes". In legal terms, it means personnel who are "similarly situated". That is personnel with the same qualifications, job titles, job tasks, job results, etc. When "similarly situated" personnel have unequal pay rates, it's ILLEGAL!
@@willharriman1881 Credit score system is biased toward rich people. If you have a BS low income job like Wal-Mart and Home Depot how can you possibly pay every single utility bill car payment credit cards on time month after month. The big box stores don't even give you 40 hours a week. How can you possibly budget your money to pay bills on time if your income changes from week to week. What about people working through temp agencies that lay you off with no notice? Temp jobs are ruining peoples lives. Memes express frustration anger at the stupidity of American culture. You just can't keep concentrating wealth to the top 1% without negative outcomes. Why are politicians so blind to this fundamental truth. I guess they don't care.
Most in the USA are clueless as to why we have been so blessed with so many advantages that other countries do not have.
What is sad, is those who fail in the US, do so due to mostly individual choices.
Yesss!
Yes, how stupid of me choose to live in the path of a forest fire. But my cousin was dumb too. He decided to live in the way of a tornado.
A thief believes that the stolen loot in his possession is a blessing. What else would he think? And why would he think otherwise? That is the way of a thief. That is his nature.
White people's gross, massive wrongdoings against Black Americans and native Americans played a vast role in creating the current economic disparities.
Yet if you tell the TRUTH, you get demonized and cancelled.....
It's not an issue of black or white. It's an issue of culture vs mindset. There are plenty of wealthy blacks, and there are a lot of impoverished whites. The difference between success and struggle is the difference between "I have a goal, but i also have a problem. How do i solve this problem to achieve my goal?" vs "I have a goal, but i also have a problem. Who is going to solve this problem for me and help me reach my goal?" It's that simple. People in poverty have a mindset of waiting for others to fix their problems, while successful people handle things on their own. Do they get help from investors? Sure. But that still requires being proactive.
Good point!
Beautiful comment and point. I agree completely
This mindset was on full display in New Orleans after Katrina. Thousands upon thousands of able bodied people standing around waiting for somebody else to do something. Plenty of areas get slammed by hurricanes and within a short time you'd never know anything happened.
@@AmandaHugenkiss2915 Capitalism is organized based upon wage labor and capital. When a disaster occurs the politicians first call out the cops and national guard. The protection of property always comes first while disaster aid awaits approval by insurance racketeers and contractors who want written payment guarantees before a finger is lifted. Their may very well be plenty of construction workers and others willing to help but the tools and resources are under lock and key being protected by the cops and national guard.
KUDOS Hard-R-Energy! You're 100% RIGHT! It's okay to "accept a Hand UP" when life gets tough, but it's NOT okay to constantly DEPEND on someone else (or the government) to provide you with "FREEBIE HAND-OUTS!"
Our Own Lives are Created by what we are WILLING TO DO to make Our lives Better OR Worse.
Life DEPENDS on WORK! My Mom used to have a sign that said: "You dirtied it... YOU CLEAN IT. You used it... YOU PUT IT BACK! You broke it... YOU FIX IT! You sleep in it, YOU MAKE IT! You want it... YOU WORK FOR IT!" There were like 10 or 12 more things just like that. But her point was that "EVERYONE" has to DO their own part! That "Life is NOT a Free Ride!" We ALL have to Work Together and Contribute to making OUR Lives what we want it to be! Everybody has to DO THEIR PART in life and be CONTRIBUTING members of the family, or household, or community where they live in order to have a good and enjoyable life for ALL of us!
We've gone from a land of opportunity to a land of entitlement. I once heard a lady being interviewed on TV, and I quote, "I don't believe I should be denied the things that I want, just because I can't afford them". This is the mentality that our welfare system has fostered, and it has become a disease infecting not only those in poverty, but many of our younger folks.
Bingo 👍🇨🇦
So you heard one person say something that you disagreed with and now all of a sudden everyone who is similarly situated folks that you have never met that are on welfare or have received welfare, and now they have to be reflective of that person's opinion.
So now you wanna characterize all of them based on one person's opinion. What if I did that to you? What if I heard someone make a statement that was reflective of who you are and I said that that person represents you and everyone in your particular racial, gender, and social economic group, how would you feel about that?
Would you think that's fair? Would you think I was being an ass for making such a broad generalization about people that I don't know and have never met?
I don't think sociologist conduct their business that way, and so unless you're a sociologist, you're entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts and neither am I or anyone else.
So unless you want someone doing that to you, maybe you might wanna consider stop generalizing about all the people that you don't know, have never met and probably never will especially with that type of attitude. Cheers 🥂
@@theodorehaskins3756 You should really try to educate yourself about human nature. Its very obvious that most people feel like they deserve things. You are the one who is doing the generalization. Go get a job.
@@tomlord4469 So you first! Don’t tell people to do something that you yourself refuse to do. I have worked for over 40 years, and I am now retired, and I am financially independent.
So I don’t need a job, and I certainly don’t need someone who’s obviously as closed minded, as you are, telling me what to do, and so the next time you open your mouth, you might want to think about not inserting your foot by maybe thinking about what it is you’re about to say, before you actually say it, and then you write it, and put it on social media, so everyone else can know how closed minded/ignorant you are?
Oh, by the way, if you wanna continue to argue, you’re going to have to change the subject. Capeesh!
That attitude is what President Johnson had in mind when he invented the Welfare State, "Once we get those (people) on welfare, they'll be stuck in poverty". I also noticed above a reference to what Thomas Sowell said: why reparations will destroy black Americans forever. That is true. Married black families are the backbone of this country. Blacks that sit around and nod "yeah" to being told they are entitled to money they didn't work for are the problem for the black community, along with those who turn to violence and endanger the innocent.
“You cannot measure opportunity by outcomes.” Near Solomon levels of wisdom here.
Deep
It's amazing how every time there's an objective way of measuring ability (like sports, poker, etc), nobody complains about differences of achievement.
It's verifiable with no room for opinion.
If they did we would have affirmative action for basketball. 🏀
@@mrjeffjob No. We just have affirmative action for basketball salaries.
They only don't complain if the POC's are good at it!
@@darrennew8211 Two of the top twenty highest-paid NBA players are white.
It's often asserted that Black children (on average) don't have equal access to quality education compared to different groups. That's sort of true, but the dynamics are complicated. Despite heroic and sincere efforts to provide for the needs of Black children, predominantly Black schools tend to under perform. When we honestly try to figure out why this happens, we aren't allowed to identify the reasons for this since these explanations are unacceptable despite clear evidence that they are true. How can a problem be dealt with if we refuse to acknowledge the reality of the situation?
I attended predominantly black public schools K-12 and although the populous of the schools were predominantly black, the majority of the teachers and staff were white. Nearly 70% of grade school teachers in urban communities were white women when I was a youth. Why didn’t these white women of all ages teach in their own communities? I have never known any text books on any subject being constructed or published by blacks nor any curriculum that is implemented in any school district in America. The question is why is the curriculum so different from schools in the “ghetto” vs. schools in rural communities when the curriculum is constructed and prepared mainly by whites? Even the food in the cafeterias are “better” in rural areas, as well as the playgrounds, gymnasiums, school buses, etc. Thomas Sowell is an extremely intelligent man but he makes it a priority every time he speaks to not hold whites accountable for their heinous actions whether past or present towards blacks and other minorities in America.
They underperform because those schools are dangerous. I've met teachers who taught in the wards of Houston, and they recounted stories about how students threatened teachers all the time. For whatever reason, being intelligent and studying hard is stigmatized in those communities. Fix their culture, and I bet good money that you will fix their problems.
@svendays you mean eliminate the "authenticity card".
It's hard to "fix" when it's SPLATTERED everywhere, including by you.
I really love the last sentence in your comment .
In general people hate it when you tell them what they're doing wrong even your own little children have to be told very nicely 😂
@@svendays Several commentators spoke of how the black community has poor examples that they raise up for heroes. They don't use well educated, successful blacks as heroes rather they use rappers who use horrific lyrics in their songs, criminals and self centered athletes
NO ONE IN THIS COUNTRY! Can stop u from being successful but yourself!!
That's why American is becoming a nation of CEO's lead by Bill Gates and Elon Musk. LMAO!!!
Some work, some work the system.
Low IQ and lack of impulse control / reasoning skills is the norm with this "demographic". It needs to be discussed more. Sowell doesn't suffer from it, but 95% of his people do.
yeah, like Bernie Madoff......he worked the system pretty good, didn't he? lol
After studying from some of the great yogis for the last few years, I realized that none of my pursuits for financial wealth was ever going to make me happy. The United States constitution is based on the pursuit of happiness. Since I am free to pursue happiness, I figured the best way was to stop chasing materialism. And yes, I am now happy.
I'm white from Italy and I inherited nothing from my parents. I studied and work since the age of 17 and eventually got a master's degree at 24. Then I moved to Asia and worked for different multinational companies up the CEO position. Now at 55 I run two companies and I enjoy a very nice lifestyle. Hard work, dedication, perseverance are the keys to improve your life.
Sure you do and you threw anyone who got in the way of bigger profits under the bus.
@@kimobrien. do we know each other's? I doubt, so keep your nonsense to yourself ..."comrade"
@@carlogardella5808 What's the matter cat got your tongue or guilty conscience? How many pink slips were handed out and lives destroyed just so you could live in luxury?
When my dad left us, he took everything in our bank account forcing us into a shelter. We lived on welfare and had very little.
Don’t buy cars you can’t afford.
And silly spinning rims
2024 advice - don’t steal cars
@@skeezix8156 Don’t race cars carrying guns and drugs.
Dont buy anything you cant afford.
Or have babies you can't afford.
Building wealth involves developing good habits like regularly putting money away in intervals for solid investments. I believe every Investor should start with ETFs for a solid foundation, then diversify across asset classes and maintain disciplined, regular investing to minimize risks and maximize growth.
I feel investors should be focusing on under-the-radar stocks, and considering the current rollercoaster nature of the stock market
A lot of folks downplay the role of advlsors until being burnt by their own emotions. I remember couple summers back, after my lengthy divorce, I needed a good boost to help my business stay afloat, hence I researched for licensed advisors and came across someone of utmost qualifications. She's helped grow my reserve notwithstanding inflation, from $275k to $850K.
This is definitely considerable! think you could suggest any professional/advisors i can get on the phone with? I'm in dire need of proper portfolio allocation.
Amber Dawn Brummit is the licensed fiduciary I use. Just research the name. You’d find necessary details to work with a correspondence to set up an appointment..
She appears to be well-educated and well-read. I ran a Google search for her name and came across her website; thank you for sharing.
What people need to learn is how to save money and only buy something that appreciates in value with borrowed money. Only exception to this rule is buying a car. But with that said by want you need in a car not what you want. People have done a terrible job of teaching the difference between wants and needs today. You need basic transportation to get to work and that doesn’t come with leather seats and air conditioning.
I have rust holes you could fit soft balls through but a fat savings account.
@@hoppes9658 You must invest, not save!
I am the child of immigrant Cuban patents who only had a third grade education and came to the US with only the clothes on their backs and few dollars in the late 50s. I grew up on the West side of NYC then NJ in poor working class neighborhoods. I worked to get a college degree and got my pilots licenses. I am retiring this year as a very well off captain of a major airline and will be starting a job as an instructor for corporate jet company. The story of my whole family is similar. GOD bless America for the opportunities it gave my family. Non of my family got hand outs.
The handout you got was being allowed to come to America. If you were born in Haiti things would have ended up completely different for you.
Great news, I love the story
Dr. Sowell is a blessing to the American people. His race, religion or politics have nothing to do with his greatness, it is his hard work, brilliance and drive that made him this way!
And that he recognised early on what he can or cannot do or achieve in his life. He did set himself realistic goals.
One of the GREATEST MINDS on micro/macro-economics. Love the man and his intellectual prowess.
The world is not a level playing field, a reality that so many fail to grasp.
Abolish the fixed game instead.
But isn't saying "the world is not a level playing field" the same thing as asserting "survival of the fittest?". Human beings are not packs of wolves.
@@virginiatierney408 Human beings are social animals actual more like a pack of wolves than a solitary hunter like a cat. Liberals think one can just level the results of capitalism out through some new reform implemented by appealing to the good graces of the bosses rather than the working class having to wage a long term struggle to abolish private property, markets and commodity production all together.
We are actually @@virginiatierney408
Simple; get an education or training in a field, work steady, don't buy BMS's and Mercedes you can't afford, stay away from hard drugs, don't make babies you can't afford and don't commit crimes
Thomas Sowell should have been our first black president. But he's too smart to want the job, and too honest.
To honest, and to candid.
What many people do not understand is that nobody Deserves Anything. Absolutely Nothing. You Earn It. There Is No Free Lunch. Not Even Love Is Free. You Must Earn It too.
And Personal Presentation Is Everything. How You Walk, Talk, Cloth and Groom Yourself. It All Matters To The Eyes Of The World. The Sooner You Understand And Know That, The Better Off You Will Be In The Struggles Of Life. Life Is A Journey Of Struggles, Large And Small.
And Realizing The Opportunities As They Arive From Time To Time And To Seize That Opportunity As It Arises. And Or Create An Opportunity Of Your Own Making.
I wish someone would have told the founding fathers of america that maybe we would have a more sensible world by now.
That’s an excellent comment
Tell that to all the rich white ppl that got caught paying for their children"s degrees.
@@Mr626667 I think the founders understood that far better than most people today. They created a country where people were free to pursue their dreams. The Constitution provided everything necessary to enforce the end of slavery so that everyone created in the image of God could determine their own future. Your comment tells me you've been told much about the founders but actually know very little.
'Meritocracy' is an important social concept that has been buried by the Marxist kooks who want EQUAL OUTCOMES in everything....NOT POSSIBLE, as we are all uniquely DIFFERENT from one another; it's the miracle of life and is self-evident across the animal and plant kingdoms. If that is distasteful to anyone reading this, complain to the Creator and stop whining about your circumstances.
Hustle beats luck and opportunity every time. Create your own luck.
That's crap just try outperforming Bill Gates children, you can't.
Create your own destiny by hard work, following BIBLE inspired instruction, knowing what God expects of you as a human being in your character! Seek Truth!
I grew up in Vicksburg, MS in the forties parentless after my eleventh birthday. My father was a brick layer and we had little money. I was able to graduate from high school and college by working hard and dedication. I went into business did well and invested with Warren Buffett many years ago. Thus I can say through living proof life is what you make it regardless of your circumstances. All one needs is opportunity, that road to success.
No more excuses for us black Americans ❤do for self
I have never cared why they are poor. I had cared why I was not rich yet
And Africans too
The actual problem was never just a matter of mere "excuses". The actual problem has always been RACE INJUSTICES!
No excuses for poor Whites...they out number poor Blacks in the US.
Lol! Do self and fight the system. Trust me. This guy hides alot of information on how the system is skewed.
Love Thomas Sowell . This gentleman is so spot on with his philosophy and common sense. Extremely intelligent .
Start practicing birth control. Instead of getting pregnant over and over finish school and make something of yourself. Kids growing up in poverty have no chance at life. It's death or prison. The numbers don't lie.
The ugly fact of continuing injustices against Black Americans has nothing to do with single mothers. NOTHING AT ALL!
finally someone calls it as it is...kids growing up in poverty have no chance...true here, other places they do..shame, as their success benefits society..
I have always loved Thomas Sowell’s common sense and logic. He is brilliant! One of the best minds currently alive! Not all whites are rich, and not all blacks are poor. Life choices, education(real, not government imposed) and one’s character have a large part to play.
I grew up poor in rural Alabama, I have a G.E.D and a CDL and am about to go into business for myself and as a company driver I made 65,000 to 80,000 a year , My Choices got me to the position I'm in Nothing Else
"My Choices got me to the position I'm in Nothing Else"... I'm certain that is true. Here's something many would do well to ponder, what precedes choices? The answer is beliefs. Our choices and behaviors stem from our beliefs. If your life, your relationships, aren't what you would like them to be, question your beliefs!
@@TomR-z1x He'll find out soon enough that a small business man has no friends only acquaintances. He'll be lucky if the trucking and load schedules bosses don't eat him for breakfast.
TS, A human treasure for the ages......
I knew of Mr Thomas Sowoll for years and just now I stopped and took time to listen to him . Thank you for sharing your wisdom 🙏👍
I put in 20k into various assets last year and flipped into six figures within a few months and still going. I’ve always been an advocate of investing because it has been rather rewarding. I hope to attain financial freedom soon. One more thing, I always look forward to your content brother, keep up the good work.
You can’t overlook the fact that it’s paramount not to get greedy but to remain invested through careful study, if not you can lose it all.
It’s not rocket science. As I said previously, I got into stocks, index funds, and REITs, myself but wasn't getting the results I wanted the first couple of months. Got tired of losing and decided to seek mentorship from Jonas Herman, a certified fiduciary who helps oversee my investments.
Over the years, I've been part of numerous investment programs, sifting through a barrage of information. Yet, none comes close to the sheer clarity, depth, and precision of Herman’s instructions and insights. It's akin to finding a diamond in the dirt.
Hi, can you please introduce me to Herman? I'd love to know more about his service.
Hermanw jonas that’s his gmail okay
I wish everybody in America could get a steady dose of Thomas soul into their lives. His life stories, and practical with he can change peoples lives. I wish I had found him sooner..
I have a black female friend. My friend is a smart woman, she trades and does well. She put both her kids through University. One of her children is a professor at a major university heads the laboratory. The other is a CEO of a very well known multi National. Neither of her children have achieved anything near the wealth of their mother, she despairs, their income has virtually NEVER been less than 4 times her income in the first 20 years of her working life. They are both “addicted” to consumerism and conspicuous consumption. This is from intelligent, very highly educated, employed adults!
We may all be equal under the law, but we are not all equal in our decision making.
Every Teaching Institution should have a man like Thomas Sowell as an Educator 🏆👏The Mind is a terrible thing to waste. Reading is fundamental
I love Thomas Sowell and the way Peter interviews him to bring out his points so clealy, it really is like a light bulb flashing on in my head.
I was born in Britain just after World War 2, we were poor, food was rationed and times were hard. We didn't have electricity, or gas, no heating and an outside toilet shared by three other families. but then we were privileged
UA-cam forbids calling anything affecting a certain race for what it really is.
You’re correct, centuries of Slavery they should just “move on” despite all the numerous studies that shows the damage your ancestors have committed
🐒
@@KBTadieh Throughout history, most slaves were not black, and blacks sold most of the black slaves who ended up in the New World. Slavery is still practiced in Africa, by blacks.
The word "slave" means "Slav." It comes from the fact that people were so used to seeing Slavic (white) slaves.
@@KBTadieh The nightly news reflects what’s going on in the black community every day.
@@KBTadieh Exactly! And nobody can give a specific year when the oppression abuses actually ended... BECAUSE IT NEVER ACTUALLY ENDED!
I was never given anything. It took me until 30 before I started. I worked my way through college and certifications. Worked job after job, until finally getting 4 very good jobs. I got married, had children, and saved everything i could. My goals have always been to make my family's lives easier and sacrifice my freedom for their benefit. I have learned a lot about investing and i teach my children everything including investing and accounting. This is what i believe makes people wealthy. I drive a 15 year old Toyota where most people i know drive this year's Lexus. Hard work and constant thought and devotion to your family are big keys to success IMHO.
This wonderful video dealing with outcome vs opportunity makes me think of a wonderful story told to me by a colleague. This colleague told me that when he was a boy in rural Arkansas he was very close to a family employee. Once the employee was telling my colleague how unfair the economic system was and how all wealth should be divided and given equally to everyone. My colleague stated that even as a young boy he knew this would not work and he told his friend that eventually the old rich would just get their old share of the money back. The old employee agreed but interjected “ I know ; that is why you would split it up again every Saturday night.”
Just working hard doesn’t cut it. I could work hard pushing against a brick wall 60 hours a week, but since nobody would demand and pay for me to do this I will not prosper from doing it. I could be the smartest person but if I don’t want to work hard I limit how prosperous I can become.
In the US, no matter who you are, if you develop marketable skills that people demand and have a work ethic that makes you productive you can prosper if you want.
Capitalism always works to replace higher paid skilled labor with unskilled labor and machines. The only people that can prosper in these conditions are thieves and capitalist property owners. Increases in productivity since 1973 have all gone to the bosses and property owners.
Your Monopoly comparison is very appropriate.
Dr Sowell always has important wisdom to share, it is pitiful more are not listening!
Sowell is just a paid shill!
I agree, it hit the nail on the head.
@@MrGroganmeister Sowell is wrong! He keeps pretending that 400 years of oppression never happened! He's DELUSIONAL!
Hundreds of years of continuing, unique and disfavored treatment was SPECIFICALLY directed against Black Americans under a white dominated system of power. THAT is the absolute primary factor that creates and maintains the huge economic disparity between white and Black Americans! Everything else is just minor secondary details after the fact!
I love the example of Monopoly where everybody starts with the same amount, but in the end, somebody is going to be rich and somebody is going to be poor based on the decisions they make, and a bit of luck. It just illustrates that if you took all the money in the US and gave everybody the same amount, some would become rich and others poor within a short time.
Yep thats true Monopoly is a great demo of Marxism, revolution and communism. Say there are 8 players and they can see one player is going to own it all and bankrupt them all. The answer is knock the winning player off and take their spoils. How should they be split such that all 7 players join the revolution. Lets split it equally is the easy answer. This is Marx's Crisis in Capitalism where wealth accumulates in fewer and fewer hands and eventually leads to revolution and communism.
So what could prevent this outcome and its democracy. Now on the Monopoly board we get to vote and can make the rich dude pay $ 400 for passing go where as if you are very poor you collect $ 400 not $ 200 and by redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor we prevent revolution.
Great game Monopoly.
This comment is profound
We may all be equal under the law, but we are not all equal in our decision making.
You should take a look at the study they did using Monopoly. They put two people against each other, giving one very clear advantages, more money, more dice, more property etc.and the other a clear disadvantage. In every case, the advantage player thought he won because of his cleverness and ability to make great deals, his superiority, not the fact that he was given a very clear advantage. Take a look at the study, it's pretty fascinating. I ended up creating a version of a monopoly game partly because of it.
@@Aria-lm1fc Please direct me or tell me where u found it. I would love to look at it.
Love Thomas Sowell and the truth.
Dr. Sowell may be the most intelligent American of the past Century. His work should be taught more broadly in America, and we will see how positively people are affected by his work. What a Treasure!
I worked in SE Africa. The native people had a history of kindness.
But what I exoerienced so debilitating for them was the heat, diseases that come on suddenly, the snakes and mosquitoes, the lack of proper drinking water, its men leaving their wives and children for work elsewhere, many not returning. To survive it was a miracle. They hold on to ancient traditions because it helped them to survive, thus development toook a long time.
You are spot on. Same in most sub Saharan African countries.
At the end of slavery in America, the slave owners were given reparations. The slaves were not compensated for being brutally treated. The newly freed slaves were mistreated, still. 😮
How can the descenents of slavery ever catch up?
This was the plan all along! Massive economic disparity dosn't just fall out of the sky!
Just like all these people with nothing did well for themselves. I come from the BS story of slavery I'm doing amazing better than the majority of Americans. The secret is save, budget, work hard, work smart, work legally, get economic profitable education, do not buy wants buy needs only, invest small amounts over long period of time than poof you are winning. Just like Asian Americans do great in USA and out perform whites.
I like the Monopoly analogy at the end of the video. In Monopoly everybody is given the same amount of money from the bank to start with but they all end up with different outcomes by the end of the game based on their choices and their actions.
In life we're all given the same human body and human brain (except for birth defects) but we all have different outcomes by the end of the life.
It's ridiculous to pretend that white people's continuing wrongdoings played no role at all in creating the current economic disparities!
But as kids we are not given the same chances. You were born in a broken family in the hood, your chances are different than in a family oriented well established setting. The Monopoly analogy is severely flawed. I was born in a family where education mattered. My mom was constantly on top of us, and she gave up her career for us to flourish. I know for a fact that had I been born in a family where parents would not have cared (and those family are out there a LOT), I would not have been where I am now.
Sowell's theory that hasn't been proven true.
Sowell is a bootlick!
@@Imran-ShahNow you're selectively choosing what to compare with...
Because your assumption is EVERYONE born with fewer opportunities/chances is bound to fail. Well that's wrong because many successful people today came from broken homes, toxic parents and dangerous neighborhoods.
As matter of fact, many today have succeeded not inspite of those disadvantages but BECAUSE of them.
We never talk about how many rich kids end up as spoiled brats living off the success of their parents till it's worn out... They're spoiled brats who fail in life BECAUSE of the so called "better opportunities" they were born with.
So no, humans are not mere victims of their circumstances as Thomas Sowell points out very accurately. The fact is there are many who had your same opportunities and resources and are doing way better than you right now... Are you the victim or you simply didn't work hard enough?
Steve Jobs once said: “I’m a very big believer in equal opportunity as opposed to equal outcome.”
It was several years after he died that Apple launched a big DEI program, which essentially reflects an opposite sentiment.
Depends on your upbringing treat a child well with decency and respect he or she will turn out well regardless of race or financial situation. Treat the same child with scorn and disdain you can almost guarantee failure. Add in extreme poverty and slum housing very few can rise above that combination.
hard to find slum housing in USA, that is like luxury or middle class in the developing world.
Opportunity vs outcome.... opportunity vs outcome... opportunity vs outcome. Thank you !!!!
Hundreds of years of continuing, unique and disfavored treatment was SPECIFICALLY directed against Black Americans under a white dominated system of power. THAT is the absolute primary factor that creates and maintains the huge economic disparity between white and Black Americans! Everything else is just minor secondary details after the fact!
The monopoly analogy at the end perfectly describes poverty in the West.
That comment is head on starting in grade school everyone in that class starts with the Exact same Opportunity to Behave Learn and Develop sadly as a Rule not the exception black children are unruly loud and at that young age resist Authorities. I was at easter egg with my grandson the poor just installed Mexican children at lease Behaved when asked to sit quitely
I was born into a low income , but conservative family. I was able to rise from that situation because my father made me believe my life would be a total failure without a college education. I found a way to get one. No student loans.
My life is a success without a college education. Hard work, frugal living and smart budgeting also make for success, especially when you avoid debt.
@oneperson5760 I agree. But you may have been more successful with a college education. We will never know , will we?
Unfortunately, at the lower end of the spectrum, we Americans have become ingrates with our hands out for more and more and more free goodies….. This portion of Society, has lost the ability to appreciate ANYTHING!
We don't need handouts or lowered standards! We need serious enforcement of our civil rights! But that never happened!
The rich and powerful get free handouts all the time in terms of inflated government contracts, tax breaks and bailouts when they make poor business decisions and fail. People like you never rail about it. However, you show fake outrage when the poor need handouts to survive. What is wrong with you? Have you been so brainwashed as not to be able to think clearly?
@@willharriman1881what? What rights don’t you have? How is that why you’re not successful? Stop making excuses
@@dcg590 You cannot fix the systemic abuses simply by PRETENDING ! Obviously, there are circumstances where various Black Americans made bad life decisions and sabotaged themselves. But whether you like it or not... hard work, earnest study and merit cannot fix genuine systemic injustices! That's the actual problem with the white American system! The only real solution is as follows:
(1) PERSONNEL CHOSEN FOR MERIT IN FAIR COMPETITION. (2) ADVANCEMENT THROUGH MERIT.
Just forget about all the rest!
especially our farmers, who rely on the government ropping up the price of their crops, grazing their cattle on federal lands for pennies..its a shame..welfare farmers
My Grandma and Father retired from the same company. My Grandma died penniless and my father is worth over a million dollars. If you make the wrong decision every time you get a chance you will not accumulate wealth. If you make the right choices even with a mediocre income you can do well. You don’t have to agree but that doesn’t change that it’s a fact.
As legal immigrants from Vietnam, i came here with zero dollars, got help to start up from a church’s for few months
Now i am not wealthy but upper middle class, earned two degrees , have stable job, own three houses…… i am an example of working hard, have good education to get good job, save money to be freedom from government assistance which also freedom to live prosperity
What I don’t understand is why people who were born here in America, but still live poorly????? America offer people generously of opportunities to become whatever one desire to be, why settle for such poor living conditions ? Accepting government help will tie one’s life down since help is limited, and be under controlled or conditions, thus one cannot advance in any things
Mindless
Do you live in three houses at once? Your job is only as stable as the market for what ever it is your selling.
As a New Zealander i was staggered to learn the black soliders returning after the 2nd world war were denied housing loans. Thats a big handicap for the black boomers and their children
Racism unfortunately is sometimes hidden in plain sight. Black people get 5x the charge of other races on average for the same crimes as well.
However, the Welfare State & Civil Rights Act (1963 -1965) destroyed black families more so than any who were denied housing loans.
My white father never got any help from the government he was a ww2 vet
@@susandowler5271hope he's fine
Not all black soldiers were denied loans. Your comment makes it seem that was how it was.
Being rich and being poor is a mindset here in the United states.
If you work hard and save and invest in the right things, the sky is the limits!
But if you are brainwashed to look for handouts, give your money to the organizations that don't give back financially, like churches,🤔 think that you just need the bare minimum to survive or even better, waste your wealth constantly trying to keep up with the Jones and impress people that really don't care. You will continue to find yourself being of the lower class. 😮
Real rich people don't compete with one another, they don't have time for that nonsense and it doesn't make them any money! It just cost them money to compete. 🤔
So they continue to find ways to make more money and enjoy life. Like the saying goes "I got my mind on my money and my money on my mind "
I know a lot of black Africans who couldn't succeed in the UK, came to USA and within a few years worked hard and became multimillionaires. Discrimination will always exist but we just have to work hard.
Thomas is too intelligent. Love the dude. Most people, as stated in this post, are limited in their education by their environment. They often choose to stay there as well. Once you travel or study the world (I've vacationed in 30 different countries and lived outside the USA for a time) you learn the truth about what Thomas is relating in this post. Weirdly, I have to add...I'm a black American.
or just google
The Monopoly analogy is excellent.
I don't agree. In real life we start off with very different resources available to us.
No comparison between someone with an expensive education and access to family capital versus most people.
The "just work hard" mantra is a distraction used by the wealthy to stay wealthy.
If Thomas Sowell decided to Run for Vice President with Trump OMG the Education Level of Americans would improve 1000 Fold🎙🎯👏
Read!!!
Blame is easier than hard and harder work (and circumstances matter).
Yep. That's what the libs preach
Systemic abuses imposed against Black Americans must be blamed on the perpetrators of the actual wrongdoings!
I think the last comment about Monopoly says a lot. My wife and I used to play Monopoly with our grandson and my wife always worked to own property and I always wanted the cash. Each of us did OK but if the game had gone on long enough, I am pretty sure she would have ultimately won my cash. In real life I saw this as complementary and we did very well and I hope my grandson learned from this.
This country is very easy to figure out. Learn something,work very hard and don’t make dumb mistakes.
Yes but what about the book, the richest man in Babylon, in which it it is stated that Babylon was one of the richest countries ever but the only resource they had was their brains since Babylon was in a desert with no natural resources.
NOW THAT IS A THOUGHT TO GIVE MUCH CONSIDERATION FOR YOUR SELF.
Yea Nimrod was black.
Babylon wasn't always a desert but a very green and fruitful land. Global warming?
People don't know how to save.. all they want to do is spend and live for today😢
Very good point. Mass marketing of products is too successful.
I know alot of black people that are very well off ( richer than me for sure) .. but they did the same things that most successful people do.. I dont think its a function of color but attitude and hard work..
America is blessed with many things.
This man is one of the greatest blessings.
Too bad so few know about him 😢
I’m a white woman with black husband and a biracial son. Most of my children’s lives my older daughter and my son, I raised them on my own. I’m here to tell you the world is not as racist as you think it is. They’re just prejudiced against the poor. If you already are struggling, they put their boot to your throat and make it worse. Your interest rate is higher than rich peoples, you can’t get car insurance if you’ve lapsed and of course, when you’re poor, you’re going to lapse, if your credit rating is not great which of course it wouldn’t be, you have a very difficult time getting homeowners insurance or loans of any kind. You can’t get a boot up. Once you’re down, they want you to stay down. And they climb on top of you. You have to fight doubly hard to get out of the situation. You have to educate yourself. You have to push beyond this black moment In your life. You can’t just stay there and say this is what they’ve done to me. Even if you go to a trade school, you do something to better yourself. And before you know it, you will join the rest of the crowd. The crowd that has some credit, the crowd that can buy a home even if it’s small, the crowd that can participate in Some luxuries and going on a vacation. It takes work and foresight to get past this point in life. But if you sit there telling yourself, it’s all because you’re black and you take all the hand outs the government gives you, you’re screwed. Once you start taking handouts, they will hold you down. As soon as you start to earn any kind of income, they will take your handouts away. It’s a way of keeping you from trying. Just screw the handouts and make it on your own.
Jesus.
Five basic things that all successful people do to succeed in America regardless of race: (1) Graduate from high school (2) get a job- any job, (3) obey the law, even the small ones like traffic rules, (4) don’t have children out of wedlock and (5) Don’t do illegal drugs or abuse alcohol. Too many Black people don’t do any of these.
Hundreds of years of continuing, unique and disfavored treatment was SPECIFICALLY directed against Black Americans under a white dominated system of power. THAT is the absolute primary factor that creates and maintains the huge economic disparity between white and Black Americans! Everything else is just minor secondary details after the fact!
@@willharriman1881 if historically wronged is the reason why so many blacks fail to succeed today explain why Japanese Americans do so well? They actually were displaced and interned in camps during WWII, yet the race with a strong family culture succeeds in great numbers today?
@@willharriman1881your grandchildren would be writting the same message in 2124....😂😂😂😂
@@GuyDedje In other words,YOU mean that white people will continue to SPECIFICALLY harm Black Americans FURTHER for the next 100 years! If so, the problem remains the same! You cannot SPECIFICALLY harm Black Americans continually for hundreds of years and then feign surprise at the negative effects that resulted!
@@GuyDedje It's the same thing as SHOOTING someone and then acting surprised that they were harmed!
DO something. Don't wait for something to fall in your lap. And certainly don't expect that you are OWED anything. The world doesn't work that way.
It saddens me to hear someone so intelligent promote the narrative that black people are solely responsible for their situation in America. It is not productive to engage in discussions with individuals who hold this viewpoint, yet I cannot help myself.
It is true that we are all shaped by our environments, regardless of our skin color. If you are white and raised in a disadvantaged area, you face steep obstacles on the path to success and the odds aren’t in your favor to make it out. However, if you are black and raised in such circumstances, the challenges are even greater due to additional hurdles like racial profiling, predatory lending, the not so subtle messaging that you’re expendable, and the intergenerational trauma that has impacted the community. Personally, I have faced the threat of gang violence on one side and police profiling on the other, being targeted because I 'fit the description.' It’s a real pressure cooker when you hit those teen years, especially when you’re a little nerdy which means you might get chased home by a gang one day and the police the next.
The playing field has never been level for anyone in America. While we cannot deny that modern-day issues exist, we should not overlook the lasting effects of centuries of government-sanctioned oppression.
How do you explain all the other races that have come to America and succeeded? America has created more black millionaires and billionaires than any other country.
@@user-hk9ny7qk9u Your argument is ridiculous! A few Blacks succeeded even at the height of Jim Crow segregation! That doesn't mean there was equal opportunity.
By pfp, notice there are hardly any black people in the comments. The speaker reminds me of my uncle. He was bullied by his own people as a teen and now has a chip on his shoulder as a grown adult…
The monopoly analogy is insane. Based on his follow the river analogy, the pieces wouldn’t start at the same point or follow the same board. Based on generational wealth, some players wouldn’t start with the same amount of money and couldn’t afford to invest in certain opportunities. The one with the most money to start and the best board (river to follow) would win almost 100% of the time! If the one with less to begin and a bad board to play on wins, it’s an anomaly or an outlier.
I’m all about accountability in the black community. But it’s sad this corner of the internet is designated to this type of confirmation bias.
Generational trauma is bullshit. We either all have it, or none of us do.
The goal should not be to ‘win’, or to be THE wealthiest person. The goal should be simple success… paying your own bills without assistance, and having true love and happiness.
A terrific discussion! This series should be required viewing in high school. We are all in Thomas Sowell's debt.
Once again, Dr. Sowell hits on geomorphology as a critical variable in outcomes. If you can't get out or have no motive to get out your opportunity pools are pretty small. And, someone else will make the gains in outcomes. It is profound how geomorphology and cultures so dominate the levels of wealth when you look at opportunity vs. outcomes..
i saw a seattle high school cancelled it's gifted program as it was overrepresented by whites and asians...
"you can't measure opportunity by outcomes" - Dr. Sowell. Brilliant.
While some of this is true it ignores the fact that people have stolen wealth throughout history. It’s easy to say people with lower credit don’t get loans, but ignores that many had good scores and still were denied. And who controls the credit system? Not the poor.
As long as people blame things out of their control and therefore reject personal change, they will fail. And it is a canard that massive “good credit risks” were denied loans. That didn’t happen. 2007 proved they were never “good credit risks” in the first place.
Get rich slowly. Work, save money by being thrifty, avoid alcohol and tobacco and drugs. Be frugal. Use a $200 smartphone.
‘The Bell Curve’ explains why, perfectly
I never trust someone saying they were successful because of hard work.