Robert Freudenthal, Author at Brownstone Institute

The Missing Progressive Jewish Response

By Robert Freudenthal March 31, 2022 April 1, 2022 Philosophy 13 minute read

Our response to the pandemic not only elevated false authority, built on ideas disconnected from the realities of human existence, and not only did it create a system of idolatry, of symbols which were used to mediate this authority; but furthermore that system of idolatry was welcomed in and installed within the very hearts of Jewish communities, and therefore in many ways we directly relived that destruction ourselves, which is so powerfully described in the Book of Lamentations.

The Medical Objectification of the Human Person

By Robert Freudenthal December 3, 2021 June 12, 2022 Philosophy, Psychology, Public Health, Society 8 minute read

The pandemic has turbocharged this process of medical objectification. We are no longer individuals, with unique desires, responses, wishes and drives, but rather are primarily considered by policy makers to be infection risks. Once we are primarily objects, rather than diverse human beings, it then becomes legitimate for medical procedures to be mandated, mask wearing to be forced, or our movements to be tracked and traced.

The True Meaning of Masking

By Robert Freudenthal October 30, 2021 June 12, 2022 Masks, Philosophy, Policy, Psychology, Public Health, Society 9 minute read

If we are people in a society with an authoritarian structure, where our ability to participate and do the things we wish to do every day are conditional on the approval of government, then our way of relating with power structures is no longer one of “We are all in partnership together” but one of “behavioural correction.” In such a system the mask becomes a tool for enacting that behavioural correction.

Psychiatry Will Not Save Us from Lockdown Harm

By Robert Freudenthal September 28, 2021 June 12, 2022 Policy, Psychology, Public Health, Society 6 minute read

The solution to distress that is caused by closed services, missed education, lost income, poverty, debt, or coercive public health interventions is not to be found in psychiatric services – and particularly not in psychiatric services whose treatment options have been restricted to pharmacology only approaches.

The Religious Institutions Should Never Have Acquiesced to Lockdowns

By Robert Freudenthal September 8, 2021 September 9, 2021 History, Public Health, Society 6 minute read

At a time of crisis, such as during a pandemic, is exactly when such institutions are even more needed than ever, and when faced with uncertainty, many seek the comfort and support of religious institutions.Yet during the pandemic and the lockdowns, religious institutions were only too willing to shut themselves down, close their doors, and therefore abandon those that depended on them.

The Forgotten Principles of the Risk Assessment

By Robert Freudenthal August 23, 2021 August 23, 2021 Philosophy, Policy, Public Health 5 minute read

These principles can help risk assessments function as intended – as a tool to help individuals and communities evaluate risk and put in place targeted measures, to contain and ultimately reduce anxiety, and to move away from more performative measures that simply serve to entrench anxiety and cause harm, without any benefit.

Three Tragic Assumptions Behind Lockdown Strategy

By Robert Freudenthal August 10, 2021 June 12, 2022 Philosophy, Policy, Psychology, Public Health 6 minute read

The lesson is that the questions, answers, and solutions are within the capacity of individuals in society to discern and implement. We do not need powerful institutions with legal rights over us to feed them to us, to legislate us, to coerce us.