THOMAS SOWELL ON BEING LEFT

The indispensable Thomas Sowell understands the appeal of leftism. He describes himself as a one-time Marxist who learned economics. I think he's right about this:

Those of us who can recall what it was like to be an adolescent must know that growing up can be a painful transition from the sheltered world of childhood.

No matter how much we may have wanted adult freedom, there was seldom the same enthusiasm for taking on the burdens of adult responsibilities and having to weigh painful trade-offs in a world that hemmed us in on all sides, long after we were liberated from parental restrictions.

Should we be surprised that the strongest supporters of the political Left are found among the young, academics, limousine liberals with trust funds, media celebrities, and federal judges?

These are hardly Karl Marx’s proletarians, who were supposed to bring on the revolution. The working class are in fact today among those most skeptical about the visions of the Left.

Ordinary working-class people did not lead the stampede to Barack Obama, even before his disdain for them slipped out in unguarded moments.

The whole thing, like all of his essays, is well worth your time. Hie thee hence.