Stopping illegal immigration would mean that wages would have to rise to a level where Americans would want the jobs currently taken by illegal aliens.
Thomas SowellRead
There are 3 questions that would destroy most of the arguments of the Left. The first is - compared to what? The second is - at what cost? And the third is - what hard evidence do you have?
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the importance of critical thinking and evidence in arguments.
Thomas Sowell emphasizes the necessity of questioning assumptions and considering alternative perspectives when evaluating arguments, especially in political discourse. By asking 'compared to what?', 'at what cost?', and 'what hard evidence do you have?', he advocates for a rigorous examination of claims to better understand their validity and implications.
Themes
ArgumentsEvidenceCritical ThinkingPoliticsAnalysis
In practice
Example use cases
During a debate on economic policy, one might quote Sowell to challenge assertions that seem unfounded.
More from Thomas Sowell
All quotes →Blacks were not enslaved because they were black but because they were available. Slavery has existed in the world for thousands of years. Whites enslaved other whites in Europe for centuries before the first black was brought to the Western hemisphere. Asians enslaved Europeans. Asians enslaved other Asians. Africans enslaved other Africans, and indeed even today in North Africa, blacks continue to enslave blacks.
Thomas SowellRead
One of the reasons for conspiracy theories is an assumption that people in high places always know what they are doing. When they do something that makes no sense, devious reasons are imagined by conspiracy theorists, when in fact it may be due to plain old ignorance and incompetence.
Thomas SowellRead
You will never understand bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats procedure is everything and outcomes are nothing.
Thomas SowellRead
The real problem, both in discussions of mass shootings and in discussions of gun control, is that too many people are too committed to a vision to allow mere facts to interfere with their beliefs, and the sense of superiority that those beliefs give them.
Thomas SowellRead
Why is history important? Without history, many people have no idea how many of today's half-baked ideas have been tried, again and again - and have repeatedly led to disaster. Most of these ideas are not new. They are just being recycled with re-treaded rhetoric.
Thomas SowellRead
Similar quotes
Too many people take New York for granted. The primary reason is that history is not taught. That's outrageous in a city where the past is still visible.
Pete HamillRead
The heart of a Christian, like the moon, commonly suffers an eclipse when it is at the full, and that by the interposition of the earth.
John FlavelRead
In our own hearts, we mold the whole world's hereafters; and in our own hearts we fashion our own gods.
Herman MelvilleRead
Allegories are, in the realm of thought, what ruins are in the realm of things.
Walter BenjaminRead
And yet the true creator is necessity, which is the mother of invention.
AristotleRead
I've always thought if we don't want to enforce laws on the books, we should remove them from the books. But when you have laws, you breed contempt if you don't enforce them.
Michael BloombergRead