You’re right. Mr. Sowell was pointing out it wasn’t the poverty so much that these groups believed they were victims and acted accordingly. That’s the other side of the socialism coin. On the one side you have the socialists who redistribute other people’s money (OPM) out of a desire to help. On the other side you have the victim groups who believe they are owed something simply for being born.
Which comes first? I don’t know, but I do know the victim groups really do believe they’re owed something. That’s something we need to consider if we ever get a chance to roll back some of the government programs that are channeling money to the victim groups. Those groups will likely react, violently.
Government has always channeled money to the idle classes. Rome did it. It is how a ruling group keeps itself in power. It always has a horde of bodies that it can call out to attack the opposition or to vote for the rulers who give them the money. It always has been. It always will be except with a new government of a new society that hasn’t developed such idle classes yet. Alas, we cannot return to that new condition such as pertained in 1787.
I wonder if that is a key role of fathers, to teach their children not to be victims. Dads regularly encourage and push kids to overcome obstacles in life, not just people, but skills, nature, etc. I wonder if that is why socialism is so anti-male?