Stopping illegal immigration would mean that wages would have to rise to a level where Americans would want the jobs currently taken by illegal aliens.
Thomas SowellRead
The murder of a dozen innocent people is unquestionably a human tragedy. But that is no excuse for reacting blindly by preventing hundreds of thousands of other people from defending themselves against meeting the same fate.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Violence against innocent people should draw attention, but it shouldn't lead to unfair restrictions on others' rights to self-defense.
In this quote, Thomas Sowell emphasizes the importance of acknowledging the tragedy of violence while cautioning against overreactions that compromise the rights of many. He argues that while the loss of any innocent life is a significant tragedy, it should not justify policies that remove defensive options from countless people, leaving them vulnerable to similar fates. Instead, a balanced approach that respects the right to self-defense is essential.
Themes
TragedySelf-DefenseViolenceRightsBalance
In practice
Example use cases
During a debate on gun control, one might reference this quote to highlight the importance of personal safety.
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One of the reasons for conspiracy theories is an assumption that people in high places always know what they are doing. When they do something that makes no sense, devious reasons are imagined by conspiracy theorists, when in fact it may be due to plain old ignorance and incompetence.
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You will never understand bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats procedure is everything and outcomes are nothing.
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The real problem, both in discussions of mass shootings and in discussions of gun control, is that too many people are too committed to a vision to allow mere facts to interfere with their beliefs, and the sense of superiority that those beliefs give them.
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Why is history important? Without history, many people have no idea how many of today's half-baked ideas have been tried, again and again - and have repeatedly led to disaster. Most of these ideas are not new. They are just being recycled with re-treaded rhetoric.
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