History ⋆ Page 22 of 48 ⋆ Brownstone Institute

They Hit the Pause Button and the Music Stopped

Jeffrey A. Tucker / April 4, 2023 / History, Law, Policy / 8 minute read

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Society is not a machine that anyone can control. It has no pause button. Attempt to treat it as if it does and you end up creating something distorted and possibly terrible, certainly the end of material and cultural progress but probably something much worse. It was utter folly for anyone to imagine that what they thought they were doing should ever be done. It is even more egregious that so many played along when they should have refused the pause.

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The Waiting-For-Pandemic Cult of Biodefense

Sasha Latypova / March 31, 2023 / History, Policy / 11 minute read

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The Government mafia (HHS, NIH, DOD, DARPA, BARDA, DTRA, etc, etc,) and their vassals in academia, the biopharma industry, and media have all been feeding at the “biodefense” money trough for decades. What can be better than an invisible threat to justify printing and spending truckloads of money for mega-defense/research contracts, while flying to the global champagne-caviar events and giving each other diverse-inclusive-sustainable science awards?

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Sweden Did Exceptionally Well During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Peter C. Gøtzsche / March 28, 2023 / History, Public Health / 9 minute read

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When people argue for or against lockdowns and how long they should last and for whom, they are on uncertain ground. Sweden tried to go on with life as usual, without major lockdowns. Furthermore, Sweden has not mandated the use of face masks and very few people have used them.

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The Reopening Racket

Jeffrey A. Tucker / March 28, 2023 / History, Public Health / 8 minute read

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The “reopening” plan was a presumptuous use of state power that had no basis in science but rather only served to broadcast the message of who had power and who did not. It was structured to fail, and fail again if it accidentally succeeded. Dressed up in the authority of a grand government plan, it was nothing but a stalking horse for continued lockdowns on a rolling basis until our masters in Washington decided otherwis

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The Alien and Sedition Acts are Back

Eric Hussey / March 28, 2023 / History, Law / 9 minute read

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With the Alien and Sedition Acts, not-yet-Presidents Thomas Jefferson (an icon of freedom, having been the primary author of the Declaration of Independence) and James Madison (an icon of a strong but restricted Federal government, having been the primary author of the Constitution) both suggested the individual states nullify the Acts within those individual states. HB1333 has the potential to codify what frightened Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

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What Happened When the Georgia Governor Tried to Open the State?

Jeffrey A. Tucker / March 26, 2023 / History, Law, Public Health / 7 minute read

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Georgia is important because it was the first state to open. Trump tweeted his opposition to this move both in general and then, two weeks later, in opposition to Kemp’s opening. Every bit of documentation absolutely contradicts Trump’s claim that he “left that decision up to the Governors” as a matter of his own intention. It was his intention to achieve what he later bragged he had done, which is “turned it off.”

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How They Convinced Trump to Lock Down

Jeffrey A. Tucker / March 23, 2023 / History, Policy / 8 minute read

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To be sure, this scenario cannot be proven because the entire event – certainly the most dramatic political move in at least a generation and one with unspeakable costs for the country – remains cloaked in secrecy. Not even Senator Rand Paul can get the information he needs because it remains classified. If anyone thinks the Biden approval of releasing documents will show what we need, that person is naive. Still, the above scenario fits all available facts and it is confirmed by second-hand reports from inside the White House.

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The Lab Leak and the Counter Measures: What Really Happened

Debbie Lerman / March 23, 2023 / History, Policy, Vaccines / 13 minute read

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Some have argued that it was the powerful forces backing the vaccines, without reference to or need for a lab leak, that set the whole Covid disaster in motion. There is also some resistance to the idea that the entire Covid disaster was – and still is – a conspiracy of the international biodefense network. I would contend that the only explanation for the cascade of Covid events is that it began with a lab leak that required a cover-up, and that those involved in the cover-up were those who dictated and benefited from the response.

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The Covid Disaster was Foreshadowed with Love Canal

Tara Raddle / March 23, 2023 / History, Public Health / 10 minute read

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Those at the highest risk from Covid were given a piece of cloth to wear over their faces, while those at very little risk from the virus itself saw their future prospects decimated because of overly broad restrictions. Both groups were told that $.05 masks were the difference between life and death, despite a lack of scientific consensus at any juncture. Both groups were told that questioning any of this was tantamount to terrorism; that embracing one-size-fits-none restrictions held the only path forward.

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The Real Trauma of Love Canal

Tara Raddle / March 22, 2023 / History, Public Health / 8 minute read

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In thinking only about the (very real) dangers posed by benzene and dioxin, activists forgot about everything else. They forgot about the fact that happy communities are healthy communities; that family dinners and book clubs are every bit as essential to a healthy life as staying away from pools of chloroform. Well-meaning people developed tunnel vision; thinking only about the dangers of the landfill, while forgetting about the dangers that come with upending a community.

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Dr. Frieden’s Follies

Bret Swanson / March 21, 2023 / History, Public Health / 10 minute read

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The failure of public health authorities to honestly appraise a series of historic failures shows why they were so ill-suited to the task. Perhaps they do not have the skills to analyze, execute, learn, and course correct. Or maybe the institutions – from the FDA and CDC to local and state health departments to medical schools – lack some kind of organizational fortitude or resistance to groupthink.

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The Devastation is Deeper and Wider than We Know

Justin Hart / March 21, 2023 / History, Public Health / 4 minute read

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The Covid policies and their aftermath have had far-reaching impacts on our society. People now have lowered trust in public institutions, raised worries about privacy and freedom of speech, and the financial ramifications will persist for a long time. As we face the challenges posed by this pandemic and its policy outcomes, it’s vital to draw lessons from these missteps so future responses are more balanced, open, and successful in tackling public health crises without compromising civic rights and public confidence.

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