Thomas Sowell is one of the great minds of our time.  In this book he identifies how government and especially liberalism is failing us all.   We govern by moving from crisis to crisis never taking the time to examine the consequences of the actions we take to solve said crisis.  He outlines the pattern of failure.

Stage 1. THE “CRISIS”:  Some situation exists, whose negative aspects the anointed propose to eliminate.  Such a situation is routinely characterized as a “crisis” even though all human situations have negative aspects, and even though evidence is seldom asked or given to show how the situation at hand is either uniquely bod or threatening to get worse.  Sometimes the situation described as a “crisis” has in fact already been getting better for years.

Stage 2. THE “SOLUTION”:  Policies to end the “crisis” are advocated by the anointed, who say that these policies will lead to beneficial result A.  Critics say that these policies will lead to detrimental result Z.  The anointed dismiss these latter claims as absurd and “simplistic”if not dishonest.

Stage 3. THE RESULTS: The policies are instituted and lead to detrimental result Z.

Stage 4. THE RESPONSE: Those who attribute detrimental result Z to the policies instituted are dismissed as “simplistic”: for ignoring the “complexities” involved, as “many factors” went into determining the outcome.  The burden of proof is put on the critics to demonstrate to a certainty that these policies alone were the only possible cause of the worsening that occurred.

Sowell examines The War on Poverty,  Criminal Justice Reform,  Sex Education, and many more “crisis” as they progressed through these 4 stages.  The results are stunning and devastating.  This book will change how you look at governance forever.