Monday, May 02, 2005

Two Quotes, Same Point

Shelby Steele:

[Since the 1960s in America] “any preoccupation with principles can only be read as a failure of remorse. ‘Caring, compassion,’ ‘feeling,’ and ‘empathy’ must be seen to displace principles in public policy around race.”

(Shelby Steele, “The Culture of Deference,” Academic Questions 12 [1998-1999], 58.)

Thomas Sowell being interviewed by Brian Lamb:

LAMB: Thomas Sowell, quote, "The older I get, the more I realize that arguing on the basis of facts and logic gets you labeled as someone who is out of step with the times, if not lacking in compassion."

SOWELL: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. The—we’ve reached a point where there are great numbers of people who don’t argue in terms of what the facts are. They argue, well, your motivation must be wrong, you lack compassion for the poor, et cetera, et cetera.