Thomas Sowell

Ideas can be dangerous things.

We need not look far in history to see how incredible and destructive they may be too not only those within reach, but to those who hold them.

Ideas define an individual. Where an intricate web of ideas roots, belief hangs. On the foundation of that which we idealize, what we think begins to define who we are.

And as a man inspired by the manifestation of the human spirit, I believe who we are, is all that matters.

Part 1: Who is Thomas Sowell?

Thomas Sowell is a free-market libertarian who has published over thirty books ranging on topics from politics, social theory, race-relations, wealth, poverty, and late-talking children. He's a senior fellow at the Stanford University Hoover institution where he wages war against welfare, affirmative action, and anything that may interfere with free-markets.

He is also black.

This seems the true characteristic that labels him a traitor within the African American community.

When I first came across Thomas I was an impossible-to-budge democrat who believed the word alternative was synonymous with "wrong". I thought because of what I was, who I was was already defined for me, and I was then meant to define others, while never allowing myself the opportunity to change and grow.

Thomas stood out because of how I assumed his life experience to be. Being from Harlem, he continues to amaze in what he's been able to accomplish. There are many athletes that come from predominantly black communities, but rarely do we see such a remarkable academic. In Thomas's eyes this is mainly due to the culture within the communities themselves. He argues that these communities don't promote academia as rigorously as they do other things, citing the high concentration of African Americans in professional sports and the music industry as supporting evidence. Arguments can be made for African Americans not having access to proper resources required to succeed in school or the institutions themselves boxing young African Americans into hail-mary careers with the hopes of "getting out". Although I care about the substance of Thomas's arguments, the arguments themselves are inconsequential to his continued inspiration. What inspires me about Thomas is he remains one of few individuals utterly himself, no matter how isolating and detrimental that may be.

Group-think has ravaged both sides of the political spectrum to the point most arguments are equally as convoluted as their counterparts. News rooms seem like echo chambers that only seek to remind viewers of what to think and attempt to avoid any real thought leaking into the equation. It seems a mystery of why this is, my best guess is genuine contemplation being to wayward for news organizations to allow. People tend to self-regulate to a place of comfort and safety, and no where is more comfortable than a place where everyone agrees.

Thomas has made something of a career out of entering these comfortable spaces and circumventing the expectations of those who would assign him certain beliefs. In 2016 48% of African American voters identified themselves as "strongly democratic", compared to only 4% identifying as "strongly republican". Thomas being libertarian, highly educated, and a prolific writer against that which it seemed the entirety of the African American community agreed upon, makes him that much more of a unicorn.

Part 2: Belief in the face of ridicule

What would you do if you knew you were going to die?

Some would say travel the world, others say stay at home and enjoy that which they recognize as love. At the centre of these decisions lays belief or, more directly, a lack of uncertainty. For as long as I can remember I've been uncertain. That feeling made it seem like I spent my time avoiding discomfort. I never planned to enjoy but schemed to avoid its opposite. I never thought to roll with the punches if one can actively avoid them all together. Punches still landed, and because of my inexperience I found them infinitely more world-ending than they should have been.

As I interacted more with Thomas's work I was continually perplexed by how utterly wrong I thought him to be. I couldn't understand how he could believe that. Again and again he astounded me with how backwards his beliefs were. Sure, he had solid arguments. But those arguments were followed up by some of the rawest "words of affirmation" I had ever been exposed to. To me they were akin to the ramblings of a mad man.

Then I researched.

What I found was a mix of everything and nothing at the same time. Someone would show factual evidence for one side while others countered with equally factual evidence for the other. Arguments presented quantitatively would be scrutinized for their lack of emotion while qualitative discussion would be assumed irrelevant within scientific discourse. In short, no one could agree.

This excited and terrified me all at the same time. What I believed to be correct opinions became as questionable as those I thought to be nothing less than outlandish, and slowly my world view began to change.

This marked my first encounter with what it really means to be emotionally mature.

In years prior and laying at the foundation of my blindly-democratic beliefs was an assumption that what we are is the most important predictor of who we are. I lived in a way that put the increased quality of my external environment negatively correlated to that which lay within. The first thing being a decision of what I was, with who I was following like an obedient dog behind. This caused a face of happiness plastered on top of a healthy body, but an uneasy feeling settled itself deep within me, with no indication that it would leave anytime soon.

I now know that it was a feeling of guilt, I was living a lie.

The lie could have been my political views, or my obsession with gaining weight to show bullies from high school that I wasn't as weak as they thought. It could have been my shame when I listened to music I loved because I so wished I had spent my time doing that instead of sports and video games. I wished it was that easy, but the problem lay far deeper.

This feeling was a crack in the foundation of who I was.

I didn't know.

Thomas didn't show me a particular way, he did something far greater. He showed me you don't have to be what you are. He lived with belief in who he was at his heart, and allowed what he was to flow through it. This may seem obvious in theory, we're shown as children the benefits of strong values. In practice, I began to think of my potential in relation to personal, financial, and social success not as what they are but how they are. My world flipped and I allowed myself to step into my own skin, whole-heartedly believing that whatever manifested in what I became would only be sufficiently satisfying if I allowed it to flow through who I was.

That's when my real life started.

I began to read, write, and create. I dropped out of nursing school where I was easily underachieving and entered a certificate music program and worked. During work I was scouted by an international modelling agency that gave me the opportunity to travel and see the world. I found myself in places like Italy and China modelling for brands like Stone Island and Tommy Hilfigure. Now I'm back in school on the path of behavioural neuroscience where my marks look as if the classes are being taken by a completely different person. All because I know who I am and who that is in relation to who I want to become.

I continue to be more left of centre than right. I whole-heartedly support the strengthening of our social safety nets by supplementing it with higher taxes on the rich. Not because they do, but because I do.

If I ever met Thomas Sowell we would disagree more than we would agree. I'm sure we could go back and fourth in argument for hours with facts and clever anecdotes to supplement ideas. Oh what an amazing experience that would be.

In being right or wrong, the only thing that matters is how true you remain to who you are. In an argument with Thomas, who's right is the least important part of the discussion. The important part is the exchanging of ideas and the upkeep of values. The mind should be allowed the opportunity to change, or so Thomas has shown me.