Become a Reader
The Wisdom of Thomas Sowell
“I started becoming a reader”
The video interview from the Uncommon Knowledge Podcast has the following Bio. It gives a concise reason for listening to this man, one of our many wise elders. What knowledge and insight a 90-year-old has to give!
“Thomas Sowell delivers a sweeping critique of American education, affirmative action, and modern universities, drawing on his own life story—from Harlem classrooms to Ivy League institutions—decades of research, and hard data. Sowell argues that ideology has replaced knowledge and that well-intentioned policies often harm the very people they are meant to help. He explores intersecting issues of race, charter schools, universities, AI, and the future of American institutions.”
The first month of 2026 has been a whirlwind of surprises for the USA as well as for the rest of the world. A USDA Food Pyramid flipped, the forced removal of a President in Venezuela, protest from Tehran to Minneapolis, huge fraud gangs uncovered, fatal shootings, new Epstein documents dropped, a possible 51st State and war looming. Without a strong political or historical foundation, without wise leaders, we stand no chance of unraveling this mess.
What makes a strong political education? I’ll start by eliminating what doesn’t.
1. A political education is not handed out at graduation. Degrees in political science or any professional degrees at all, are not enough. Academics and the “certified” class can only go so far in solving the problems of this world. Expertise represents a way of thinking, a way to have open debate, it allows space for doubt and flatly rejects Dogma.
2. Listening to corporate media isn’t helpful. In fact, most media today is corporate and therefore propaganda. To be specific here are some examples of corporate media: the New York Times, CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX, Washing Post, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Time Magazine.
Big money, big egos and little to no content.
These corporations have billion-dollar budgets and large staffs, but they seem to obscure truth more than uncover anything. Decades ago, they may have started out as journalist, an American institution protected under the 1st amendment, but they have either ignored or intentionally side-stepped their duty. It is their duty to speak truth to power and to inform the public of information the powerful do not want us to know. If any journalist is afraid the next interview could be uncomfortable or they could be denied access or not invited to the next party because they have so many friends among these powerful, then they are NOT journalists. Seek journalists who do the opposite and they are worth our attention.
3. A political education cannot be based on “lived experience” alone. We all have our story, the place from which we hail and the family from which we descend. That is by definition a narrow perspective. I believe if one defines their political ideas based on identity then we will be forever divided. Identity politics is a dead end. Because I am a woman does not mean I must caucus with only women, because I’m a descendent of immigrants does not mean I should only see that point of view. Because I have melanin in my skin does not mean I am a slave to one political party’s ideology. Identity politics is the road to tribal warfare, division and chaos.
4. Comic book heroes and villains are not good frameworks for complex human problems. They lay out simple morals and lessons for life, but they cannot be overlaid upon the complexity of real current events. Villains and heroes are one-dimensional characters created to push forward a made-up plot or caricature. Let us not make heroes or villains of our political leaders. Political parties are not sports teams to either love or hate, to defend no matter what. The fractious nature of our political parties has, since our nation’s founding, been a threat. Real life, real politics is multidimensional. 3 or 4 things can be true at one time.
Rather, the way to true political education is a combination of 3 ideas. Study history, listen to various and conflicting ideas and use common sense gained from maturity and wisdom.
Imagine a venn-diagram with these 3 ideas, each in their own zone and where they overlap, they form a truly strong political education. Once achieved, a citizen is free to go out and discuss, share and debate with confidence. No idea or word is off limits. Words are not violence. Violence is violence. Science is not dogma, science is a process. Liberty underlies our Republic and that makes America great in the past in the present and for the future.
If Sowell has a positive outlook and he thinks there are still places and institutions open to free thinking, then I must be optimistic about the future of education as well.