History articles feature analysis of historical context in relation to censorship, policy, technology, media, economics, and social life.
All Brownstone Institute articles on the topic of history are translated into multiple languages.
West Africans endured slavery for 400 years, when 15 million human beings were forcibly captured and sold into bondage. During this era, the world’s major secular and sectarian institutions regarded slaves as no better than animals, but modern West Africans look to the future, adopting a philosophy of forgiving but never forgetting.
Forgive but Never Forget: Lessons from the West African Slave Trade Read More »
It recently occurred to me that if Socrates was alive today, he would be censored, de-platformed, smeared, cancelled and labeled a grave threat to society. In short, he would be charged with spreading disinformation and would no doubt be Target No. 1 of the massive Censorship Industrial Complex.
If He Were Alive Today, Socrates Would be Banned Read More »
As far back as 2000, experts questioned the ability of academic institutions to regulate financial conflicts of interests when they were so reliant on billions of dollars annually from industry. University leaders avoid discussing the imperative to regulate financial conflicts because they fear losing revenue.
Conflicts of Interest in Science: History of Influence, Scandal, and Denial Read More »
Art and literature are not enemies of reason – they are partners in the quest for knowledge. And in the quest for wisdom and for love, one might add. This insight is invaluable at a time when imagination as well as reason should be enlisted in the struggle against tyranny.
Love Really Can Thwart Tyranny Read More »
The intellectuals bombarded the populace with empirically unproven models of their own making about many things connected with Covid. And when the vast majority of them proved completely at odds with observable reality, they simply doubled down.
How Modeling Can Go Terribly Wrong Read More »
The implication of there being something beyond our immediate self, a shared experience across time, changes everything. It means there is something no longer measurable within all of us, and we can no longer ignore the results of our deeds, or those we condone in others.
The Emptiness of the Transhumanist Ideal Read More »
To contain and combat: that was the goal of the policy, in words drawn from the modern history of US warfare abroad. The war finally came home in ways that have broken the American spirit, shattered dreams, and wrecked confidence in the future. The war failed in every way, at least according to its stated aims, but it was still a sure winner for elites.
When Nearly All Governments in the World Met Their Match Read More »
The problem with the Great Barrington Declaration was not that it was not true. It’s that – unbeknownst to its authors – it flew in the face of one of the most funded and elaborate industrial plots in the history of governance. Just a few sentences sneaking through the wall of censorship they were carefully constructing was enough to threaten and eventually dismantle the best laid plans.
The Declaration That Wasn’t Supposed to Happen Read More »
The measure of freedom in any society is the degree of inclusion for those who stand on the margins, those who linger on the edge, and those who suffer in silence. The potential and eventual realisation of inclusion is evidence of a free society, of genuine enfranchisement for all who seek it. Good rulers take care of those who come under their authority, including those parties on the losing side of military conflicts. Freedom is not achieved by overturning the results of conflict, revising the past, or instilling guilt and shame on the victors.
What is the Measure of True Freedom? Read More »
Drosten is the chair of the virology department at the prestigious Charité university teaching hospital in Berlin – which, incidentally, hosts and organises the annual World Health Summit on behalf of the German government. But how many outside of Germany know that serious doubts have been raised about Drosten’s own qualifications and the validity of his own degree?
Critics Cast Doubt on Dr. Drosten’s Doctorate Read More »
Everything is dirty. Nothing works. But everything’s also more expensive. And oh, by the way, you don’t have privacy anymore.
The US has Lost its First-World Status Read More »
Absent concerted action on our part, our recent past is our foreseeable future, because neither the ideology nor the power-centers profiting from it have changed. At stake in our response is our liberal democracy and our humanity.
Confronting Pandemic Tyranny Read More »
