Conversations With Coleman BONUS: The 1987 Book that Explains Mamdani’s Victory
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Nov 5, 2025 
Shilo Brooks, a professor and the host of the Old School podcast, dives into Thomas Sowell's A Conflict of Visions. They explore the tension between constrained and unconstrained visions in politics, discussing how these perspectives shape views on issues like crime and education. Shilo emphasizes the necessity of accepting trade-offs in a constrained view, while Coleman critiques the idealism of unconstrained thinkers. They also examine personal beliefs and their formation—are they chosen or shaped by experience? Their insights reveal the complexities of modern political discourse.
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Why Incentives Trump Education
- Tragic and unconstrained visions explain why people choose education versus incentives as solutions.
- The tragic vision prioritizes changing incentives because human selfishness limits mass behavioral change.
Accepting Trade-Offs Versus Perfectibility
- The constrained view accepts some injustice as inevitable while optimizing incentives and trade-offs.
- The unconstrained view seeks perfectible solutions and is unwilling to tolerate persistent injustices.
Human Nature Limits Grand Solutions
- Tragic vision holds some social problems (poverty, war) as unsolvable due to human nature.
- Solutions focus on deterrence and incentives rather than moral persuasion or perfect agreements.
