External explanations of black-white differences – discrimination or poverty, for example–seem to many to be more amenable to public policy than internal explanations such as culture. Those with this point of view tend to resist cultural explanations but there is yet another reason why some resist understanding the counterproductive effects of an anachronistic culture: Alternative explanations of economic and social lags provide a more satisfying ability to blame all such lags on the sins of others, such as racism or discrimination. Equally important, such external explanations require no painful internal changes in the black population but leave all changes to whites, who are seen as needing to be harangued, threatened, or otherwise forced to change. In short, prevailing explanations provide an alibi for those who lag–and an alibi is for many an enormously valuable asset that they are unlikely to give up easily. . Thomas Sowell
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More Quotes By Thomas Sowell
  1. It doesn't matter how smart you are unless you stop and think.
  2. People who pride themselves on their "complexity" and deride others for being "simplistic" should realize that the truth is often not very complicated. What gets complex is evading the truth.
  3. There are only two ways of telling the complete truth--anonymously and posthumously.
  4. What is ominous is the ease with which some people go from saying that they don't like something to saying that the government should forbid it. When you go down that road, don't expect freedom to survive very long.
  5. Nothing is easier than to get peaceful people to renounce violence, even when they provide no concrete ways to prevent violence from others.
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