Any young, or for that matter old, and thoughtful conservative who finds it difficult to understand why smart people can be quite liberal, and perhaps vice versa, might find it useful to read Thomas Sowell’s A Conflict of Visions — Ideological Origins of Political Struggles (Morrow, 1987). In my 20s and early 30s, I would argue about economic issues with people who just didn’t seem to get it, and I was mystified by their apparent ignorance in the face of compelling argument.  This book helped me to understand when argument would be pointless.  Many of my antagonists were not ignorant, they just had different presuppositions and thus a fundamentally different visions of the way the world worked and the appropriate role of government.  Many people certainly learn this without reading a book — but it helped me, saving lots of time and aggravation over the years.   The book also can help one understand why political compromise is often elusive and would be counterproductive.  People with fundamentally different visions can compromise on small things.  But big things are too important.  You either win or lose, and doing nothing can be preferable to doing something.

I once received a nasty email about a column I had written against the proposal for a government insurance (public plan) option under health care reform. I decided to reply with kindness (with perhaps an unintentional note of academic condescension).   I explained that the commenter and I obviously viewed the world differently and were both being true to our principles.  I also indicated that Sowell’s book had helped me to understand such conflicts.  The reply I received was pretty vicious — I guess the person had not Sowell.