Big Government: Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson interviews Thomas Sowell

“Peter Robinson interviews one of America’s greatest actual intellects, Dr. Thomas Sowell, who makes some strong criticisms about the vanity and danger of the intellectual class: they do not know everything, but in fact lack at least 99% of the “consequential knowledge” needed to function in the world; they manufacture the need for themselves, with one dubious crisis after another; and they have an often terrible track record when given the reigns of society, as with McNamara’s Whiz Kids, FDR’s Brain Trust, and the disarmament movement following WWI. The “Stimulus” and health care “reform” come to mind as well…”

Here is the whole interview:

He offers examples of these missteps in areas as divergent as economics, the environment, and national defense. Finally, he warns us to resist the influence of intellectuals and points out that the demand for public intellectuals is largely manufactured by the public intellectuals themselves. (36:33) Video transcript

To go to segments within a video, click the links below:

start video from beginning Thomas Sowell introduces his new book, Intellectuals and Society, and expounds on what he calls “the fatal misstep of intellectuals.”
start segment 2 at 7:07 Thomas Sowell offers examples of why intellectuals are so often wrong about economics.
start segment 3 at 14:19 What is the vision to which contemporary intellectuals subscribe? Thomas Sowell responds.
start segment 4 at 22:02 Thomas Sowell reasons that intellectuals certainly can renounce war, “and that does not stop your neighbor from building up the biggest army in the world and coming in and killing you.”
start segment 5 at 29:11 Thomas Sowell explains how the demand for public intellectuals is largely manufactured by the public intellectuals themselves.

Guests: