Social Justice Fallacies

Written by Thomas Sowell

Narrated by Brad Sanders

The quest for social justice is a powerful crusade of our time, with an appeal to many different people, for many different reasons. But those who use the same words do not always present the same meanings. Clarifying those meanings is the first step toward finding out what we agree on and disagree on. From there, it is largely a question of what the facts are. Social Justice Fallacies reveals how many things that are thought to be true simply cannot stand up to documented facts, which are often the opposite of what is widely believed.

However attractive the social justice vision, the crucial question is whether the social justice agenda will get us to the fulfillment of that vision. History shows that the social justice agenda has often led in the opposite direction, sometimes with catastrophic consequences. 

More things are involved besides simply mistakes. All human beings are fallible, and social justice advocates may not necessarily make any more mistakes than others. But crusaders with an utter certainty about their mission are often undeterred by obstacles, evidence or even fatal dangers. That is where much of the Western world is today. The question is whether we will continue on heedlessly, past the point of no return.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette Audio
• Release date: Sep 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9781668629420

Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. For more than half a century, his writings have appeared in both popular and scholarly publications, on both sides of the Atlantic, and his books have been translated into a dozen foreign languages. After a career as an economist in the government, academia, and the corporate world, he has since 1980 been a scholar in residence at the Hoover Institution. His website is www.tsowell.com.

Reviews for Social Justice Fallacies

[khoyt-43756 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thomas Sowell always has great information written clearly and concisely. He is an intellectual who writes in an understandable and eye-opening way. A must-read.

[highlander6022 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely incredible. Mr. Sowell is very clear in his arguments and provides citations that cover one third of the pages in his book.

[tuckerresearch · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

That this nonagenarian hasn't won a Nobel prize is a travesty. (Friedman did.) The man is a national treasure. His writing is lucid, his arguments are cogent, his documentation is impeccable.

Sowell here builds on his previous works and extends it into a discourse against some of the arguments, if they can be called that, of the Social Justice Warriors who inhabit and inhibit academe, politics, and society in these wayward days. He takes on the fallacy that people are "equal" in any sense but legally/politically, i.e., the fallacy that there should be "equity" among groups. He takes on fallacies of racial disparities. He takes on what he calls the "chess pieces" fallacy, the idea that people don't change their behavior due to changes in stimuli. He takes on what he calls "knowledge fallacies," i.e., that some people have better knowledge and should tell you what to do. Or, that, in Reagan's words (Sowell doesn't quote him, but I will) that "a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capitol can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves."

The book is slim, so I won't go into specific detail. The main text is in large font and only comprises 130 pages (the notes occupy pp. 131-188; the index pp. 189-201). Buy it, read it. It is amazing and his argumentation is thorough, his writing engaging, and his conclusions are bold and common-sensical.

[renzomalo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A timely and well documented reminder as to the fallacies and historical presence of every cultural aberration being foisted upon the Western culture. A rare "5" from this old curmudgeon.
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