Social Justice Fallacies

The quest for social justice is a powerful crusade of our time, with an appeal to many different people, for many different reasons. But those who use the same words do not always present the same meanings. Clarifying those meanings is the first step toward finding out what we agree on and disagree on. From there, it is largely a question of what the facts are. Social Justice Fallacies reveals how many things that are thought to be true simply cannot stand up to documented facts, which are often the opposite of what is widely believed.

However attractive the social justice vision, the crucial question is whether the social justice agenda will get us to the fulfillment of that vision. History shows that the social justice agenda has often led in the opposite direction, sometimes with catastrophic consequences.

More things are involved besides simply mistakes. All human beings are fallible, and social justice advocates may not necessarily make any more mistakes than others. But crusaders with an utter certainty about their mission are often undeterred by obstacles, evidence or even fatal dangers. That is where much of the Western world is today. The question is whether we will continue on heedlessly, past the point of no return.

"The quality of his output has been even more impressive than its quantity. Light on rhetoric, seriously heavy on data, and accessible in style, there is a reason why Sowell has been described as 'among the most brilliant thinkers in the world today' by Harvard University's Steven Pinker and an 'American sage' by the Wall Street Journal...[Social Justice Fallacies] can equip anyone with the facts and concepts necessary to undercut the entire premise of a vision that is, at least for now, ascendant. And, in that way, Sowell's newest book is yet another winner."--The Washington Examiner
"The book shows how the intellectual giant has profoundly affected public policy and economics for decades."--National Review
"Thomas Sowell's Social Justice Fallacies is well worth reading.--American Institute for Economic Research
"This book, as always, from Dr. Sowell, is bracing in the way it cuts through conventional wisdom and assumptions with facts and logic and explains how the world really works....If you read Social Justice Fallacies by Dr. Thomas Sowell.... you will have....intellectual ammunition, factual ammunition to make the case to fight against those fallacies and the dangerous direction that we are taking on so many areas of American life."--Paul Gigot, Potomac Watch, Wall Street Journal
"For some six decades Thomas Sowell has applied his legendary erudition and scholarship to challenge most progressive economic assumptions. Now he has summarized his countless scholarly articles and books to focus on the current age of woke social justice. The result is a timely reminder that free-market capitalism under the aegis of constitutional government has lifted the vast majority of Americans out of poverty and ended racial oppression as it was defined just a generation ago. A brilliant warning that so much of our current strident rhetoric about victimization and a lack of equity is not grounded in either historical or economic data."--Victor Davis Hanson, author of The Dying Citizen
"With Social Justice Fallacies, Sowell has delivered yet another classic title - brave, deeply thought out and singularly frank. The smartest man in the room has struck again...Here, the noted social commentator examines the powerful movement's track record to show that many things that are thought to be true, simply cannot stand up to documented facts...Social Justice Fallacies is a game changing book...Meticulously researched...it goes beyond refuting fallacies to explore the crusaders' very mindset and twisted view of reality...Social Justice Fallacies is an important book - a wakeup call to society."--The Times of Israel

Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is the author of dozens of books including Charter Schools and Their Enemies, winner of the 2021 Hayek Book Prize. He is the recipient of numerous other awards, including the National Humanities Medal, presented by the President of the United States in 2003.

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