---
product_id: 8726980
title: "The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy"
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---

# Top 10 in Public Affairs & Libertarianism 30+ years of social policy analysis 2000+ pages of rigorous critique The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy

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## Summary

> 📖 Unlock the truth behind social policy failures — don’t get left behind in the debate!

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- **What is this?** The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy
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## Key Features

- • **Decades of Insight:** Unpacks 30+ years of failed social policies with razor-sharp clarity.
- • **Timeless Relevance:** A must-read that explains today’s social crises through historical patterns.
- • **Elite Mindset Exposed:** Reveals how self-congratulatory elites shape flawed social visions.
- • **Empirical Truths Over Rhetoric:** Challenges politically correct theories with hard, undeniable facts.
- • **Intellectual Rigor Meets Accessibility:** Clear, thought-provoking prose that demands and rewards deep reflection.

## Overview

Thomas Sowell’s 'The Vision of the Anointed' delivers a compelling, data-driven critique of the intellectual elite’s role in shaping failed social policies over the past three decades. Ranking top in Public Affairs and Libertarianism, this book dismantles politically correct assumptions with empirical evidence, offering a timeless analysis essential for understanding contemporary social challenges.

## Description

A provocative critique of the failures of liberalism “Compelling.” —Wall Street Journal This book is a devastating critique of the mindset behind the failed social policies of the past thirty years. Thomas Sowell sees what has happened not as a series of isolated mistakes but as a logical consequence of a vision whose defects have led to disasters in education, crime, family disintegration, and other social pathology. In this book, “politically correct” theory is repeatedly confronted with facts—and sharp contradictions between the two are explained in terms of a whole set of self-congratulatory assumptions held by political and intellectual elites. These elites—the anointed—often consider themselves “thinking people,” but much of what they call thinking turns out, on examination, to be rhetorical assertion, followed by evasions of mounting evidence against these assumptions.

Review: A Must-Read - Tom Sowell writes several kinds of books: magisterial textbooks such as BASIC ECONOMICS, collections of journalistic pieces like IS REALITY OPTIONAL? and single-themed studies such as THE VISION OF THE ANOINTED. The latter contrasts the liberal vision (that of the self-anointed) with what he terms the tragic vision. The first vision is theoretical, unencumbered by altercations with recalcitrant reality and anchored in the clouds rather than in the collective experience of the masses of the world. It is the vision of self-appointed elites who feel that their expertise should supersede the accumulated wisdom of those who they consider rubes. I have always loved a Sowell analogy that is comparable to Milton Friedman’s discussion of the knowledge and skill that is required to make a simple #2 pencil. Consider a socialist country that considers its engineers/activists superior in intellect to those it seeks to rule. It wants to reconstitute the economy by removing it from the hands of the bourgeoisie and placing it in the hands of experts. First task: creating hardware stores. A hardware store consists of thousands upon thousands of items made in different skews and carried in different numbers. How many boxes of 16-penny finishing nails should the store carry vs. the number of boxes of roofing nails vs. the number of screw nails in different sizes? Successful hardware store operators know these things, because they interact with thousands of people with specific needs. A state apparatchik knows none of this and will doubtless make decisions that quickly result in unnecessary surpluses and unnecessary shortages. This, however, makes no difference to the anointed. They are never prepared to subject their theories to empirical tests because they believe that they are always smarter than the rest of us, so that even if they have to break a lot of our eggs to make their omelettes those omelettes will be a thing of beauty and a joy forever when we reach their utopia. When you add their virtue-signaling ‘moral’ imperatives to this mix you see quickly how we have found ourselves in our current condition in 2025 (the book was published in 1995). I particularly like the ways in which TS traces the anointed’s etiology to the thought of certain figures of the Enlightenment, though I would probably emphasize Rousseau more than, e.g., Condorcet. I would also change the labeling. (Borrowing from Don Greene’s comments on the conservatism of the English Enlightenment), I would call the conservative view (the world of limited resources in which choices are based on trade-offs rather than on fever dreams) an ‘Augustinian’ view. Our world is not so much ‘tragic’ as it is ‘fallen’, though there is tragedy in original sin. Bottom line: a wonderful, incisive, definitive book, one that explains a great deal of our current condition and (in a fairer world) the kind of book that should be the universal read for an incoming college class. Five stars.
Review: The Writings of a Discerning Individual - WOW - this book has been put on my "to read again shelf" - If this is any indication there are only 5 other books there and I read about 100 books a year. Terms such as superlative and magnum opus easily come to mind. First of all this book is cerebral - the writing is clear and plain but requires thought on almost every page. Therefore, most of those who need it most will not be able to wade through it because to do so would force you to think. Thomas Sowell has dived deep into the muddy waters of the thought patterns of the left (vision of the anointed) and the right (tragic vision). He wants to understand the true motives of the left not just the results of their actions. I will not insult you any further with my word since they will only subtract from this awe-inspiring book. Instead enjoy a few words from the tome itself. "The focus here will be on one particular vision - the vision prevailing among the intellectual and political elite of our time. What is important about that vision are not only its particular assumptions and their corollaries, but also the fact that it is a prevailing vision - which means that its assumptions are so much taken for granted by so many people, including so-called "thinking people," that neither those assumptions nor their corollaries are generally confronted with demands for empirical evidence. Indeed, empirical evidence itself may be viewed as suspect, insofar as it is inconsistent with that vision." "(T)he vision of the anointed is not simply a vision of the world and its functioning in a causal sense, but is also a vision of themselves and the moral role in the world. It is a vision of differential rectitude. It is not a vision of the tragedy of the human condition: Problems exist because others are not as wise or as virtuous of the anointed." "Factual evidence and logical arguments are often not merely lacking but ignored in many discussions by those with the vision of the anointed. Much that is said by the anointed in the outward form of an argument turns out not to arguments at all. Often the logical structure of an argument is replaced by preemptive rhetoric or, where an argument is made, its validity remains unchecked against any evidence, even when such evidence is abundant. Evidence is often particularly abundant when it comes to statements about history, yet the anointed have repeatedly been as demonstrably wrong about the past as about the present or the future - and as supremely confident." "Those with the vision of the anointed are particularly prone to think of their own philosophy as new, and therefore as adapted to contemporary society, but their framework of assumptions goes back at least two centuries - as does the framework of those with the tragic vision." "But one of the crucial differences between those with the tragic vision and those with the vision of the anointed is in what they respectively assume that we know how to do. Those with the vision of the anointed are seldom deterred by any question as to whether anyone has the knowledge required to do what they attempting." "The hallmark of the vision of the anointed is that what the anointed consider lacking for the kind of social progress they envision is will and power, not knowledge. But to those with the tragic vision, what is dangerous are will and power without knowledge - and for many expansive purposes, knowledge is inherently insufficient. In their hast to be wiser and nobler than others, the anointed have misconceived two basic issues. They seem to assume (1) that they have more knowledge than the average member of the benighted and (2) that this is the relevant comparison. The real comparison, however, is not between the knowledge possessed by the average member of the educated elite versus the average member of the general public, but rather the TOTAL direct knowledge brought to bear through social processes (the competition of the marketplace, social sorting, etc.), involving millions of people, versus the secondhand knowledge of generalities possessed by a smaller elite group. Moreover, the existing generation's traditions and values distill the experiences of other millions in times past. Yet the anointed seem to conceive the issue as one of the syllogistic reasoning of the past versus the syllogistic reasoning of the present, preferring to believe that improvements in knowledge and reason permit the former to be dismissed." "What is seldom part of the vision of the anointed is a concept of ordinary people as autonomous decision makers free to reject any vision and to seek their own well-being through whatever social processes they choose. Thus, when those with the prevailing vision speak of the family - if only to defuse their adversaries' emphasis on family values - they tend to conceive of the family as a RECIPENT institution for government largess or guidance, rather than as DECISION-MAKING institution determining for itself how children shall be raised and with what values." "The anointed do no simply HAPPEN to have a disdain for the public, Such disdain is an integral part of their vision, for the central feature of that vision is preemption of the decisions of others." "Perhaps the most fundamental difference between those with the tragic vision and those with vision of the anointed is that the former see policy-making in terms of trade-offs and the latter in terms of `solutions'." "The point here is not simply that some people were mistaken in their beliefs and hopes for this particular program, but that they barricaded themselves against all beliefs to the contrary and morally condemned those who express such beliefs. It is this pattern which has been all too characteristic of the anointed, on this and other issues, over a very long span of time." I hope this woefully small smattering of quotes has helped enlighten you about this great book.

## Features

- devastating critique of the mind-set behind the failed social policies

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #19,378 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #5 in Public Affairs & Administration (Books) #6 in Libertarianism #7 in Government & Business |
| Customer Reviews | 4.8 out of 5 stars 2,166 Reviews |

## Images

![The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61rPwNvBreL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Must-Read
*by R***Z on January 13, 2025*

Tom Sowell writes several kinds of books: magisterial textbooks such as BASIC ECONOMICS, collections of journalistic pieces like IS REALITY OPTIONAL? and single-themed studies such as THE VISION OF THE ANOINTED. The latter contrasts the liberal vision (that of the self-anointed) with what he terms the tragic vision. The first vision is theoretical, unencumbered by altercations with recalcitrant reality and anchored in the clouds rather than in the collective experience of the masses of the world. It is the vision of self-appointed elites who feel that their expertise should supersede the accumulated wisdom of those who they consider rubes. I have always loved a Sowell analogy that is comparable to Milton Friedman’s discussion of the knowledge and skill that is required to make a simple #2 pencil. Consider a socialist country that considers its engineers/activists superior in intellect to those it seeks to rule. It wants to reconstitute the economy by removing it from the hands of the bourgeoisie and placing it in the hands of experts. First task: creating hardware stores. A hardware store consists of thousands upon thousands of items made in different skews and carried in different numbers. How many boxes of 16-penny finishing nails should the store carry vs. the number of boxes of roofing nails vs. the number of screw nails in different sizes? Successful hardware store operators know these things, because they interact with thousands of people with specific needs. A state apparatchik knows none of this and will doubtless make decisions that quickly result in unnecessary surpluses and unnecessary shortages. This, however, makes no difference to the anointed. They are never prepared to subject their theories to empirical tests because they believe that they are always smarter than the rest of us, so that even if they have to break a lot of our eggs to make their omelettes those omelettes will be a thing of beauty and a joy forever when we reach their utopia. When you add their virtue-signaling ‘moral’ imperatives to this mix you see quickly how we have found ourselves in our current condition in 2025 (the book was published in 1995). I particularly like the ways in which TS traces the anointed’s etiology to the thought of certain figures of the Enlightenment, though I would probably emphasize Rousseau more than, e.g., Condorcet. I would also change the labeling. (Borrowing from Don Greene’s comments on the conservatism of the English Enlightenment), I would call the conservative view (the world of limited resources in which choices are based on trade-offs rather than on fever dreams) an ‘Augustinian’ view. Our world is not so much ‘tragic’ as it is ‘fallen’, though there is tragedy in original sin. Bottom line: a wonderful, incisive, definitive book, one that explains a great deal of our current condition and (in a fairer world) the kind of book that should be the universal read for an incoming college class. Five stars.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Writings of a Discerning Individual
*by E***A on November 27, 2005*

WOW - this book has been put on my "to read again shelf" - If this is any indication there are only 5 other books there and I read about 100 books a year. Terms such as superlative and magnum opus easily come to mind. First of all this book is cerebral - the writing is clear and plain but requires thought on almost every page. Therefore, most of those who need it most will not be able to wade through it because to do so would force you to think. Thomas Sowell has dived deep into the muddy waters of the thought patterns of the left (vision of the anointed) and the right (tragic vision). He wants to understand the true motives of the left not just the results of their actions. I will not insult you any further with my word since they will only subtract from this awe-inspiring book. Instead enjoy a few words from the tome itself. "The focus here will be on one particular vision - the vision prevailing among the intellectual and political elite of our time. What is important about that vision are not only its particular assumptions and their corollaries, but also the fact that it is a prevailing vision - which means that its assumptions are so much taken for granted by so many people, including so-called "thinking people," that neither those assumptions nor their corollaries are generally confronted with demands for empirical evidence. Indeed, empirical evidence itself may be viewed as suspect, insofar as it is inconsistent with that vision." "(T)he vision of the anointed is not simply a vision of the world and its functioning in a causal sense, but is also a vision of themselves and the moral role in the world. It is a vision of differential rectitude. It is not a vision of the tragedy of the human condition: Problems exist because others are not as wise or as virtuous of the anointed." "Factual evidence and logical arguments are often not merely lacking but ignored in many discussions by those with the vision of the anointed. Much that is said by the anointed in the outward form of an argument turns out not to arguments at all. Often the logical structure of an argument is replaced by preemptive rhetoric or, where an argument is made, its validity remains unchecked against any evidence, even when such evidence is abundant. Evidence is often particularly abundant when it comes to statements about history, yet the anointed have repeatedly been as demonstrably wrong about the past as about the present or the future - and as supremely confident." "Those with the vision of the anointed are particularly prone to think of their own philosophy as new, and therefore as adapted to contemporary society, but their framework of assumptions goes back at least two centuries - as does the framework of those with the tragic vision." "But one of the crucial differences between those with the tragic vision and those with the vision of the anointed is in what they respectively assume that we know how to do. Those with the vision of the anointed are seldom deterred by any question as to whether anyone has the knowledge required to do what they attempting." "The hallmark of the vision of the anointed is that what the anointed consider lacking for the kind of social progress they envision is will and power, not knowledge. But to those with the tragic vision, what is dangerous are will and power without knowledge - and for many expansive purposes, knowledge is inherently insufficient. In their hast to be wiser and nobler than others, the anointed have misconceived two basic issues. They seem to assume (1) that they have more knowledge than the average member of the benighted and (2) that this is the relevant comparison. The real comparison, however, is not between the knowledge possessed by the average member of the educated elite versus the average member of the general public, but rather the TOTAL direct knowledge brought to bear through social processes (the competition of the marketplace, social sorting, etc.), involving millions of people, versus the secondhand knowledge of generalities possessed by a smaller elite group. Moreover, the existing generation's traditions and values distill the experiences of other millions in times past. Yet the anointed seem to conceive the issue as one of the syllogistic reasoning of the past versus the syllogistic reasoning of the present, preferring to believe that improvements in knowledge and reason permit the former to be dismissed." "What is seldom part of the vision of the anointed is a concept of ordinary people as autonomous decision makers free to reject any vision and to seek their own well-being through whatever social processes they choose. Thus, when those with the prevailing vision speak of the family - if only to defuse their adversaries' emphasis on family values - they tend to conceive of the family as a RECIPENT institution for government largess or guidance, rather than as DECISION-MAKING institution determining for itself how children shall be raised and with what values." "The anointed do no simply HAPPEN to have a disdain for the public, Such disdain is an integral part of their vision, for the central feature of that vision is preemption of the decisions of others." "Perhaps the most fundamental difference between those with the tragic vision and those with vision of the anointed is that the former see policy-making in terms of trade-offs and the latter in terms of `solutions'." "The point here is not simply that some people were mistaken in their beliefs and hopes for this particular program, but that they barricaded themselves against all beliefs to the contrary and morally condemned those who express such beliefs. It is this pattern which has been all too characteristic of the anointed, on this and other issues, over a very long span of time." I hope this woefully small smattering of quotes has helped enlighten you about this great book.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent read, highly recommend
*by Z***H on March 13, 2023*

This book thoroughly exposes the (generally leftwing) pseudo-intellectualism that has dominated so many institutions and power centers in the world, particularly in the west, with special focus on the United States. The book accomplishes this in a fairly concise manner of 9 easy to read, well written and well reasoned chapters supported by a moderate-or-higher amount of examples and historical cases demonstrating various points. Ultimately the book demonstrates in stunning clarity that American society has more and more come to be dominated by what are like modern day sophists. This class of people, whom Sowell names "the anointed" in sarcastic reference to their own inflated egos and views of themselves, is one which is expertly skilled in rhetoric and highly articulate. A fundamental flaw in society/human nature is that large swaths of the public are unable to see through the charade that is the verbal cunning of the anointed because they equate verbal skills/articulate speech with high intelligence and virtue. Or they cannot tell the difference between those who are smart and those who appear or sound smart, those who are virtuous and those who appear or sound virtuous, those who want and pursue what's best for society and those who claim to do so, and so on. And so the anointed are able to achieve huge success in their ambitions through clever manipulation and exploitation of the large swath of society which is gullible and easily manipulated, especially emotionally. Yet virtually whenever the anointed exercise power, they leave a trail of destruction in their wake. But they never examine themselves, their presuppositions, the ultimate effects of their policies, etc. They always find other things to blame, they redouble their commitments, they redefine terms and abuse language, they rewrite history, they slander and demonize their opponents, they silence opposition and debate, they hide or dismiss contrary evidence, and so on. This book is a walk through all of that, how the anointed tend to think, how they tend to operate, how their various misguided crusades and misadventures come to be, their strategy and tactics for achieving their goals and dealing with their opponents, the gargantuan gaps in their thinking and in their overall processes which serves to insulate them from evidence and from reality itself really, and the disastrous results that they have tended to achieve (and ignore).

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