The Quote by Thomas Sowell on Making Choices
“Many of the words and phrases used in the media and among academics suggest that things simply happen to people, rather than being caused by their own choices or behavior.” -Thomas Sowell on Making Choices
My Take on this Excellent Thomas Sowell Quote
I think that this quote by Thomas Sowell on making choices is exactly right, as many of his quotations, such as his one on socialism being the ideology of greed. It perfectly sums up the conservative idea that people are responsible for their own actions once they reach the age of adulthood and should be treated like that.
Everything that does not treat them in that manner is absurd and should be fought back against, especially the leftist welfare policies that keep people dependent on the state like children are dependent on their parents. Such a welfare state is incompatible with conservative philosophy.
Leftists like to pretend that actions don’t have consequences and are more or less spontaneous. That’s the impetus behind the many welfare programs America has, especially Lyndon Johnson’s failed War on Poverty programs, which were created precisely because the leftist ideologues and “best and brightest” in the LBJ administration either didn’t understand this quote by Thomas Sowell on making choices, forgot about the sentiment in it, or just completely disregarded the idea that American adults should be responsible for their own choices. I see no other explanation for the creation of their responsibility-destroying welfare policies.
If liberals understood the meaning of this quote by Thomas Sowell on making choices, then I think America would have far fewer problems today.
Many of the societal tensions would ease as, rather than having to view people as part of a group or take care of them for making bad decisions, we could instead all recognize the fact that everyone is responsible for their own actions. Once we no longer had to pay for people’s medical bills because they got too fat or hurt themself while doing something stupid, or send off part of our paycheck in the form of taxes that are converted into welfare dollars that pay for someone’s illegitimate kid, then I think that Americans would calm down.
The productive would be treated as productive people and rewarded for that and those that made bad decisions and did not use their liberty wisely would be punished by nature on that. But no one would be forced to be responsible for someone else or bow down to a Marxist organization that detests the idea of personal responsibility. Instead, we’d all just be free to do what we want and let others do what they want. People would be happier like that.
That’s the truth, of course. Everyone is only responsible for their own actions. Most Americans already know that, of course. It’s the basis of capitalism and free-market societies.
Without individual responsibility, how would a free market work? Rather than being guided by an invisible hand that makes markets efficient, they would instead bounce around as if shaped by the trembling hand of a drunk or insane lunatic.
However, if we are to read and understand this quote by Thomas Sowell on making choices, then we can see the fallacy of that view. Markets are efficient, more or less. They’re guided by market participants making choices as they see fit, with their full knowledge of the issues at play in mind.
Furthermore, this quote by Thomas Sowell on making choices is instructive when dealing with the rioters that are tearing Americans apart and causing the great American unraveling. Those rioters aren’t innocent of the charges against them just because the media pundits looking at them either can’t comprehend or don’t want to honestly represent their behavior.

The truth is that those rabid rioters are making their own choices to to everything possible to tear America apart. As said in this quote by Thomas Sowell on making choices, things don’t simply happen to people. Individuals make choices and are responsible for those choices. Or, at least, they used to be before the welfare state became such a large fact of life in American society.
So, with that in mind, I think America should start to reevaluate many of its failed policies. Welfare, ridiculous calls to defund the police, and the regulatory state are all born out of the idea that people aren’t responsible for their actions and things simply happen.
That idea is patently false. People are responsible and need to be held to account for their actions. Increase opportunity for economic achievement, not welfare payments to those that don’t work. Help businesses get started, don’t regulate them to death for having the audacity to want to do business. And recognize that the police deal with criminals as they should.
With those recognitions of fact in mind, America has a bright future. Without them, we’ll continue to stagnate as we struggle to make welfare payments to the unproductive members of society. Responsibility is the other side of liberty. Take this quote by Thomas Sowell on making choices to heart and demand people start taking responsibility for their own actions!
By: Gen Z Conservative. Follow me on Parler, Gab, and Facebook
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