The Vision of the Anointed is a book by economist and political columnist Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell is an American economist, social theorist, political philosopher, and author. A National Humanities Medal winner, he advocates laissez-faire economics and writes from a libertarian perspective...

 challenging people Sowell calls "Teflon prophets," who predict that there will be future social, economic, or environmental problems in the absence of government intervention (Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....

 is one of his foremost examples).

Sowell claims that these thinkers, writers, and activists continue to be revered even in the face of evidence disproving their positions. He claims that they are promoters of a worldview concocted out of fantasy impervious to any real-world considerations.

Title

The title of book refers to the view of human nature that Sowell called "the unconstrained vision" in his earlier book a Conflict of Visions

A Conflict of Visions

A Conflict of Visions is a book by Thomas Sowell. It was originally published in 1987; a revised edition appeared in 2007.Sowell's opening chapter attempts to answer the question of whythe same people tend to be political adversaries in issue after issue,...

, and that Steven Pinker called "the utopian vision" in his book the Blank Slate

The Blank Slate

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature is a best-selling 2002 book by Steven Pinker arguing against tabula rasa models of the social sciences. Pinker argues that human behavior is substantially shaped by evolutionary psychological adaptations...

.