History

History articles provide critical analysis of historical context in relation to censorship, policy, technology, media, economics, social life, public health, and individual liberty.

We explore recurring themes such as pandemic profit motives, medical thinking collapse, ignored warnings, industry capture of regulation, government restrictions on freedom, societal cowardice in crises, addiction politics, plus pathways to restore truth, wisdom, and human-centered systems.

All history articles from Brownstone Institute are translated into multiple languages to enable global access, encourage international dialogue on historical lessons, and support readers worldwide in applying past insights to defend liberty and challenge overreach.

absinthe-green-fairy

The Moral Panic Over Absinthe Lasted 100 Years

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The war on absinthe – this won’t surprise you – created the opposite of its intended effect. It raised the status of the drink and created a completely unwarranted hysteria in both directions: overconsumption followed by bans followed by speakeasy indulgence. Can you think of anything else, perhaps, that has fit that general model? Marijuana perhaps? Liquor in general? Tobacco? Politically incorrect speech? 

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A President Betrayed by Bureaucrats: Scott Atlas’s Masterpiece on the Covid Disaster

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Atlas’s book has exposed a scandal for the ages. It is enormously valuable because it fully blows up what seems to be an emerging fake story involving a supposedly Covid-denying president who did nothing vs. heroic scientists in the White House who urged compulsory mitigating measures consistent with prevailing scientific opinion. Not one word of that is true

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A Fantasy of Virus-Free Air

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In our current safety culture-driven pandemic response, any risk of infection is deemed unacceptable, and those who highlight potential costs of mitigation measures are labeled irresponsible and dangerous. However, safety worship and building engineers might override old-fashioned common sense, but they can’t override our own biology.

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New Book Exposes Fauci’s Mythological Scientific Acumen

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Fauci and his compatriots flourish in Washington, D.C. because they are masters of media manipulation and the federal government bureaucracy. According to Dr. Atlas, Fauci, routinely exposed his lack of intellectual capacity and scientific expertise.

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Donald Trump March Press Conference

Donald Trump’s March 16, 2020, Press Conference that Kicked Off This Catastrophe, Transcribed

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On March 16, 2020, President Donald Trump gathered with Deborah Birx, Anthony Fauci, and others, to announce “15 Days to Slow the Spread.” That slogan of course has become the source of ridicule nationally and internationally. 

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What It Means to Experience “Social Death”

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After quite consciously using the enormous moral and rhetorical force of the government and media to label a third to a half of its own citizens as social pariahs, the Biden Administration is now working hand-in-glove with the country’s large corporations to destroy these same citizens’ standing as fully empowered citizens through the destruction of their livelihoods. 

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Police Charged Thousands of People For Petty COVID Violations

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The discretionary powers granted to state authorities to curtail the spread of the virus have yet to be fully documented or interrogated. Did these tactics accomplish anything that benefitted public health? Particularly with a year and a half of hindsight, it’s doubtful. Unless “needlessly hassling a bunch of people” somehow counts as a public health triumph.

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Rev. Cotton Mather and the 18th-Century Battle Over Smallpox Inoculation

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One of the most fascinating battles between opposing views about variolation occurred during the New England smallpox epidemic of 1721. When a ship brought smallpox to Boston, authorities responded by ordering a cleaning of the streets and isolation of cases. It did not work.

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