Society ⋆ Page 52 of 60 ⋆ Brownstone Institute

Which Pandemic Response Achieves the Greater Good?

Genevieve Briand / February 12, 2022 / Economics, Policy, Society / 6 minute read

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How do individuals know what’s best for them? While the scientific knowledge, theoretical or technical expertise of one person, or one profession, may help shed light on what’s best for individuals, it can never be enough. Only individuals themselves have the unique knowledge that all others do not have, about their individual-specific ever-changing circumstances, constraints, needs and preferences.

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Sick and All Alone

Brownstone Institute / February 11, 2022 / Policy, Public Health, Society / 13 minute read

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It shouldn’t be needed, but it is. Florida governor Ron DeSantis has introduced a patient protection bill, so that ‘if you’re in a hospital or long-term care facility, you have a right to have your loved ones there present with you.’ Every other state and country will hopefully follow. Some places have even prevented the dying from dying in the company and warmth of loved ones.

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Where Were the Great Covid Speeches?

Gabrielle Bauer / February 11, 2022 / History, Philosophy, Society / 9 minute read

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Lacking the big-picture thinking and inner convictions to make tough calls, our ostensible leaders let themselves be pushed around by scientists whose ideas they did not understand. Nor did they have the guts to balance them with other measures of societal health. Mix in the fear of angering the Twitter mob and you get a recipe for timid, uninspired orations.

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The Freedumb Fallacy

Gabrielle Bauer / February 10, 2022 / Philosophy, Policy, Society / 7 minute read

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Freedom matters—even in a pandemic. Without freedom, elderly people may spend their remaining time on earth isolated from their loved ones, and we know that social isolation kills. Without freedom, people may lose not only their livelihoods but the momentum and opportunity to build careers as flight attendants, orchestra musicians, chefs, or scientists working on viruses. Without freedom, children may lose important and irretrievable experiences and milestones. Without freedom, life becomes a shadow of itself.

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The Limited Hangout of the Mandaters

Thomas Harrington / February 8, 2022 / Law, Masks, Philosophy, Policy, Society / 4 minute read

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There is nothing more central to the idea and practice of freedom than bodily autonomy. It is the basal freedom from which all others are derived. Without it—as the history of slavery starkly reminds us—all other liberties are comparatively ornamental.

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The Meaning of the Covid Street Art

C. Travis Webb / February 7, 2022 / Philosophy, Society / 6 minute read

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So you’ll forgive the people who don’t want to play a bit part in the weird, hyperventilating Covid reality show the media’s producing 24-7. You’ll understand when the art appearing on their streets takes an edge, bucktooths a lower lip, and throws you the bird.

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Brownstone Institute at Six Months

Brownstone Institute / February 6, 2022 / Education, History, Philosophy, Policy, Society / 7 minute read

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Freedom is not an option, despite what they say. It is not something granted to us by the powerful at their discretion. It is a universal right, one protected only by a culture that loves it, institutions that guard it, and people who fight for it. We can get there. We are in a position to help prove this, to rebuild, and work for a world in which nothing like this ever happens again.

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The High Costs of the Appearance of Safety

Steve Templeton / February 6, 2022 / Public Health, Society / 13 minute read

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The public demanded control over something that couldn’t be controlled. Local, state, and national leaders, whether they understood that they couldn’t actually offer increased safety or not, began to offer the next best thing—The Appearance of Safety.

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Inside Governor Newsom’s head

Richard Koenig / February 4, 2022 / Masks, Policy, Society, Vaccines / 4 minute read

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The other day I see this guy with a little kid on a playground. Both masked up. Only the two of them, in the open air, masked. The kid had two masks, no, three. Different colors. The fear’s still there. But people could get over it. Even in California.

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The Power of Protest

Jeffrey A. Tucker / February 3, 2022 / Law, Policy, Society / 6 minute read

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Freedom can win in the long run. And the world will be rebuilt, on a much more solid foundation than was present two years ago. We tried an experiment in tyranny. It flopped. Despite the enormous cost of what took place, we will all find ourselves in a good position to see a rebirth of liberty, human rights, and prosperity on the other side.

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Why Academia Is Drawn to Fascism

Paul Frijters,

Gigi Foster,

Michael Baker / February 2, 2022 / Law, Philosophy, Policy, Society / 9 minute read

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Central to the lure of fascism is the lie that power will not corrupt us. As illustrated poignantly in The Hobbit, the lure of fascism – even to the morally upright person – is the delusion that he can both hold absolute power and continue to be a morally good person. By succumbing to the lure of power, an otherwise good person succumbs to the lie that power corrupts everyone else, but not himself, because he is Better.

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Trudeau Is Playing with Fire

Laura Rosen Cohen / February 1, 2022 / Law, Policy, Society / 4 minute read

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Will Justin Trudeau back down and negotiate? Capitulate? Or will Trudeau’s classless verbal attacks morph into physical retaliation against the mostly working class truckers, their supporters on the ground in Ottawa and the millions of Canadians who also disagree with him and his sweeping mandates and are demanding their freedom?

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