Dr. Thomas Sowell describes the critical differences between interests and visions as revealed in his book A Conflict of Visions. Interests, he says, are articulated by people who know what their interests are and what they want to do about them. Visions, however, are the implicit assumptions by which people operate. In politics, visions are either constrained or unconstrained. A closer look at the statements of both John McCain and Barack Obama reveals which vision motivates their policy positions, particularly as they pertain to the war, the law, and economics.

Environmentalists are in the unconstrained vision camp. The video interview goes into the differences and why they are important touching on the issues raised in Dr. Sowell’s book.