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Heroes Of Old Were Creators — Not Talkers
IBD Editorials ^ | January 24, 2011 | The great THOMAS SOWELL

Posted on 01/24/2011 4:46:28 PM PST by Kaslin

When I mention that my family used kerosene lamps when I was a small child in the South during the 1930s, that is usually taken as a sign of our poverty, though I never thought of us as poor at the time.

What is ironic is that kerosene lamps were a luxury of the rich in the 19th century, before John D. Rockefeller came along.

At the high price of kerosene at that time, an ordinary working man could not afford to stay up at night, burning this expensive fuel for hours at a time.

Rockefeller did not begin his life as rich, by any means. He made a fortune by revolutionizing the petroleum industry. Although we still measure petroleum in barrels, it is actually shipped in railroad tank cars, in oceangoing tankers and in tanker trucks.

That is a legacy of John D. Rockefeller, who saw that shipping oil in barrels was not as economical as shipping whole railroad tank cars full of oil, eliminating all the labor that had to go into shipping the same amount of oil in numerous individual barrels.

That was just one of his cost-cutting innovations. If there was a better way to extract, process and ship petroleum products — or more products that could be made from petroleum — Rockefeller was on top of it.

Before he came along, gasoline was considered a useless byproduct that petroleum refineries often simply dumped into the nearest river.

(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial
KEYWORDS: sowell; thomassowell

1 posted on 01/24/2011 4:46:30 PM PST by Kaslin
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To: jazusamo

Ping


2 posted on 01/24/2011 4:48:54 PM PST by Kaslin (Acronym for OBAMA: One Big Ass Mistake America)
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To: Kaslin; abigail2; Amalie; American Quilter; arthurus; awelliott; Bahbah; bamahead; Battle Axe; ...
Lots of Thomas Sowell action today. :-)

Thanks for the ping, Kaslin! :-)

*PING*
Thomas Sowell

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Recent columns
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Budget Crisis Rhetoric: Part II
Honest Answer To Gov‘t Woes Is Bankruptcy

Please FReepmail me if you would like to be added to or removed from the Thomas Sowell ping list…

3 posted on 01/24/2011 4:53:15 PM PST by jazusamo (His [Obama's] political base---the young, the left and the thoughtless: Thomas Sowell)
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To: Kaslin

“The Great” is right! TS is an American treasure.


4 posted on 01/24/2011 4:53:47 PM PST by Travis McGee (EnemiesForeignAndDomestic is now on Kindle.)
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To: Travis McGee

In the fantasy America in my mind, Thomas Sowell is President and Obama is slinging ice cream at Baskin Robbins.


5 posted on 01/24/2011 4:58:53 PM PST by Argus
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To: jazusamo

You’re very welcome, jazusamo :-)


6 posted on 01/24/2011 5:06:02 PM PST by Kaslin (Acronym for OBAMA: One Big Ass Mistake America)
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To: Travis McGee

He is indeed


7 posted on 01/24/2011 5:07:01 PM PST by Kaslin (Acronym for OBAMA: One Big Ass Mistake America)
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To: Argus

In my fantasy, Tom Sowell is on the other end of the phone from all of our presidents. He should be their go-to guru.


8 posted on 01/24/2011 5:12:35 PM PST by Travis McGee (EnemiesForeignAndDomestic is now on Kindle.)
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To: Kaslin

The left has demonized guys like Rockefeller that had a major part in developing America into a superpower. Yes, they had child labor, unsafe working conditions, and other stuff like that. But in time those things went away.

What I can’t figure out is why liberals keep insisting that we on the right want to bring back CL and unsafe working conditions in the name of smaller government. I have not heard anyone say that. Nor has a single Republican ever proposed restoring institutionalized racism. These claims they make have no basis in reality at all.


9 posted on 01/24/2011 5:17:50 PM PST by Strk321
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To: Argus

Can I join you in your Fantasy America? Sounds like a wonderful place.


10 posted on 01/24/2011 5:47:58 PM PST by EDINVA
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To: Strk321

Secretly, that’s what the Left wants to do: bring back CL, depopulate the planet, and set themselves up as little gods who rule all.


11 posted on 01/24/2011 5:52:38 PM PST by Clock King (Ellisworth Toohey was right: My head's gonna explode.)
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To: Kaslin
Duh, you do know that people used whale oil and coal oil before kerosene, don't you. Probably not!!! And about the same time as kerosene, people were plumbing their homes for carbide gas. Not knowing history is a bitch!!!
12 posted on 01/24/2011 6:21:09 PM PST by org.whodat
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To: jazusamo

Another good one. Thanks for the ping jaz.


13 posted on 01/24/2011 6:39:15 PM PST by rockinqsranch (Dems, Libs, Socialists, call 'em what you will, they ALL have fairies livin' in their trees.)
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To: jazusamo
"Thank you Sir, may i have another"...

wrong thread ???

with all the efforts to 'green' the country, 400 tons of horse-poop/day...the commies really do know their sh!t afterall...

14 posted on 01/24/2011 6:50:59 PM PST by Gilbo_3 (Gov is not reason; not eloquent; its force.Like fire,a dangerous servant & master. George Washington)
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To: Strk321
Nor has a single Republican ever proposed restoring institutionalized racism.

OTOH generations of Democrat Senators and Congressmen fought tooth and nail for a century or more to keep blacks segregated in schools, restaurants, lodging, housing, armed forces, etc.

And how did the black community reward Republican legislators who finally prevailed over pro-segregation Democrats when (thanks to Republicans) they were finally able to exercise their right to vote? Here's how, in every national election in recent decades more than 9 out of 10 black voters voted for Democrat candidates. Go figure.

15 posted on 01/24/2011 9:55:52 PM PST by epow ("Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;")
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To: Strk321

I’ve said before that the Republicans will need to free the slaves yet again. Freedom from crushing statism and lives of dependence.

My true hope is that they become producers enriching their lives and the lives of all that they touch.


16 posted on 01/25/2011 4:00:19 AM PST by listenhillary (20 years in Reverend Wright's church is all I need to determine the "content of his character")
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To: Kaslin
The money comment for me: Many of the people we honor today are people who are skilled in the rhetoric of grievances and promises of new "rights" at someone else's expense.
17 posted on 01/25/2011 7:44:19 AM PST by YankeeReb
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To: EDINVA
Can I join you in your Fantasy America? Sounds like a wonderful place.

Don't know if it's achievable on this planet anymore, but I console myself thinking that my granddaughter will be the first President of the Free Republic of Mars.

18 posted on 01/25/2011 3:04:24 PM PST by Argus
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