Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays

by Thomas Sowell

A collection of essays that discusses such issues as the media, immigration, the minimum wage and multiculturalism.

Genres: Politics, Economics, Essays, Nonfiction, History, Philosophy, Law

280 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 15, 1999

About the author

Thomas Sowell is an American economist, social philosopher, and political commentator. He is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. With widely published commentary and books—and as a guest on TV and radio—he became a well-known voice in the American conservative movement as a prominent black conservative. He was a recipient of the National Humanities Medal from President George W. Bush in 2002.
Sowell was born in Gastonia, North Carolina and grew up in Harlem, New York City. Due to poverty and difficulties at home, he dropped out of Stuyvesant High School and worked various odd jobs, eventually serving in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War. Afterward, he took night classes at Howard University and then attended Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1958. He earned a master's degree in economics from Columbia University the next year and a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago in 1968. In his academic career, he held professorships at Cornell University, Brandeis University, and the University of California, Los Angeles. He has also worked at think tanks including the Urban Institute. Since 1977, he has worked at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where he is the Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow on Public Policy.
Sowell was an important figure to the conservative movement during the Reagan era, influencing fellow economist Walter E. Williams and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He was offered a position as Federal Trade Commissioner in the Ford administration, and was considered for posts including U.S. Secretary of Education in the Reagan administration, but declined both times.
Sowell is the author of more than 45 books (including revised and new editions) on a variety of subjects including politics, economics, education and race, and he has been a syndicated columnist in more than 150 newspapers. His views are described as conservative, especially on social issues; libertarian, especially on economics; or libertarian-conservative. He has said he may be best labeled as a libertarian, though he disagrees with the "libertarian movement" on some issues, such as national defense.

Reviews

[Sylvester · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of Sowell's essays is bound to make people explode in anger. Sowell is the finest writer I've ever read and his controversial essays were even more fun to read than his other works because he could ignore the formality and let the analogy, simile and other figure of speech flow freely. A must read if one is to improve his debating skills.

[Walter Ullon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Controversial, if not downright scandalous collection of essays from my favorite American Economist.

If this is your first Sowell book, just know that although he seems to have lost any/all measure of "chill" (as exemplified by some of the more ranty essays), he is in fact one of the most informed, unbiased, and even-keeled writers to have ever tackled the difficult issues that you'll find discussed here.

So this is perhaps not the best place to start if you are Sowell-curious; it is not a great representation of his body of work, IMHO. As mentioned previously, some of the essays display an uncharacteristic level of pontification not present in Social Justice Fallacies, or Economic Facts and Fallacies. As he mentions in the introduction, his axe was coarse, and well, being the equal-opportunity (but not equal-outcome -- haha, Sowell pun...) iconoclast that he was, he most certainly delivered...

The other thing you ought to know about this collection is that it is a tad repetitive, even more so if you have read some of his other work elsewhere. One almost gets the sense that some of these essays were written as first-drafts, with the sanitized and editorialized versions making it into his more academic work. As they say, "write with your heart, re-write with your head".

At any rate, even though the delivery is not what I am accustomed to, the content is no less important or thought-provoking. Although I don't necessarily agree with Sowell's views in all subjects, I appreciate his candor in this collection.

Recommended with the above caveats.

[Aaron Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that all folks should read. Thomas Sowell is a black economist that is extremely level headed and displays a high degree of common sense that anybody could look up to as a excellent role model.
This book was published in 1999 but the articles come from the entirety of the 90s I believe. Nearly every single article is pertinent today as much as back then. His words still ring as true now as they did then. I just wish younger folks could just read what he has to say and find a way to apply it to their thinking and living now rather than be out in the streets acting like a bunch of hoodlums.
Highly recommended overall even if your viewpoints are opposite you might come away enlightened on some things.

[Sandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

extremely sharp and informative. especially for those who wants to overlook their ingrained posture.

ძალიან მაგარია!!!

[Jack Greenrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an amusing collection of essays. I don't share Sowell's view on a number of issues, but this man really writes with compelling clarity. The essays are about society, economics, politics, law, racial issues, and education—and what's wrong with all of them. While topics such as "Gays in the Military" and "Televised Lectures" may feel quite outdated in 2018, it's almost disappointing how many of these talking points haven't changed a bit in the past 20 years.

[Aaron Kleinheksel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exactly what the subtitle advertises. These essays from the brilliant Thomas Sowell are dated (mid-to-late 90's) and can be repetitive to some degree when read in book form. This costs the book a 4th star, but it is a good book. Rather than a review, I'll just provide some good Sowell quotes from the book, which is what he's probably best known for.

pg. 31 - Liberals love to say things like, "We're just asking everyone to pay their fair share." But government is not about asking. It is about telling. The difference is fundamental. It is the difference between making love and being raped, between working for a living and being a slave.

pg. 43 - Worse yet, the hard-working, decent and law-abiding majority of Americans are made to feel guilty because others do not choose to work, to be decent or even to obey the law. Those who produce the things we all live on are supposed to "give something back" to those who produce nothing, and from whom nothing could have been taken.

pg. 103 - The most fundamental fact about the ideas of the political left is that they do not work. Therefore we should not be surprised to find the left concentrated in institutions where ideas do not have to work in order to survive.

pg. 115 - Are we to play make-believe for another generation or another century and say that demographic "representation" takes precedence over getting the job done? Are we to indulge in absolute fantasy and say that statistical "diversity" promotes better intergroup relations, shutting our eyes tight against blatant evidence that it is poisoning people against one another?

pg. 147 - Whenever I hear someone take a cheap shot at Clarence Thomas' qualifications, I ask them: "Have you ever read a single opinion of his?" There hasn't been a "yes" yet.

pg. 174 - In the academic world, diversity mean black leftists, white leftists, female leftists, and Hispanic leftists. Demographic diversity conceals ideological conformity.

pg. 195 - Unfortunately, the liberal establishment too often "replaces the intellectual discussion of arguments by the moral extermination of persons," in the words of distinguished French author Jean-Francois Revel.

pg. 195 - In the prevailing liberal vision, problems are caused by "society" and solutions can be imposed by government.

pg. 247 - It is hard to trust very good-looking women. You just know that they have been getting away with murder all their lives.

pg. 250 - The purpose of politics is not to solve problems but to find problems to justify the expansion of government power and an increase in taxes.

pg. 261 - People who believe in affirmative action have yet to explain why something that happened 40 years ago justifies discrimination against some guy who is 39.

pg. 263 - Whenever there is a proposal for a tax cut, media pundits demand to know how you are going to pay for it. But when there are proposals for more spending on social programs, those same pundits are strangely silent.

[Konstantin Samoylov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant as always
* Multiculturalism is not about many cultures. It is about a premise that there is no better or worse parts in each culture. So any culture must be adapted and nothing can be ignored except the idea of choosing the best part. Meritocracy is targeted and criticises because it moves the power to control the human behaviour from the group of 'educated and benevolent' towards individuals who can themselves evaluate the objective outcomes of different cultures.
* The growth of the government parasite class
* If an idea doesn't increase the government control or promotes a politician or activist career, it is ignored.

[Literatures Movies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite an interesting read. Thomas Sowell basically broke open the secrets that are kept hidden in plain sight in this book.

The writing is a bit disjointed and repetitive at times (and could have been shortened by a 50-100 pages), but I do think this is an interesting book to read. Even if not for the interesting nuggets of knowledge that was imparted, but for our own understanding and perspective of the world we live in to be challenged.

Any book where I learn something new is a good book in my opinion. This book is one of them.

Blog: http://literaturesandmovies.com

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

learning from history verses the pinball emotional reactions of herds of people swayed by biased relativism, which would you pick, there is objective truth in all things, making decisions based upon the evidence of history and objective truths can be and usually is the loving approach we could have for each other in all things.

[Martynas · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The first lesson of economics is scarcity: there is never enough of anything to fully satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics."

"Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it."

[Wendy Reese · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of essays from the highly educated and brilliant black economist Thomas Sowell really opened my eyes to a LOT of things. I highly recommend. These essays are a little older, but sadly the problems he writes about haven’t gotten any better. If you want a perspective with data to back it up rather than just rhetoric, this book is for you. Wish I would have read it a lot earlier.

[Jessica Whitmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book of compiled essays by Thomas Sowell. I liked listening to this as an audiobook since the format was short chapters of about 5 minutes each. I never get tired of reading anything this man writes! "Maybe we need less marching, and more thinking."

[Doug J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anything by T. Sowell is worth a read.

[George Polansky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not for the enlightened. Policies should be judged by facts not feelings.

[Gk68 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

[Mark McCormick · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely nuts how these were written in the 90s, lol

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thomas Sowell is an American treasure. The way he uses words to articulate his ideas is amazing. His books should be read and heeded by all Americans.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too many good quotes to include here. Maybe someday I'll add them to this review.

Just read it.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn’t like as much as Sowell’s other books. More rant than analysis, although somewhat entertaining in its own way.

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need to read more of Sowell’s books. This was my first and I loved Sowell’s common sense essays. More people need to read them and perhaps our western world would be doing better.

[Matas Maldeikis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Labai silpna mano vieno mėgstamiausių JAV intelektualų knygų. Pass.

[Vance Ginn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is always informative and enjoyable to read a book by Sowell. This one was no different but is often essays he’s already published so doesn’t flow as well as his other books. Check it out.

[Christiana Nakhla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very profound, but simple thoughts
- "We need less marching and more thinking."
- "Being right doesn't count; saying what others accept count."

[Gijs Limonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5 stars;

[Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barbarians is, on the whole, no less thought-provoking than Compassion versus Guilt, though its essays are noticeably more overlapped. Its primary weakness, however, is that Sowell invests too much energy into making clear his detest of "counterculture liberals". In doing so he strays from the sort of clean, no-nonsense argument that made Compassion versus Guilt so compelling, and instead risks alienating readers using the exact style of divisive rhetoric found in his most hated opponents.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you've read a lot of Thomas Sowell, nothing new here, education, economics, race, etc. Maybe not a ton of new insight, but Sowell is always worth a read in my opinion, but wouldn't recommend this to someone who really wants to know the work of Thomas Sowell, my suggestions would be Vision of the Annointed or a Conflict of Visions.

[Mochama Nyamwega · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Sowell...

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic as ever