Can Freedom Be Restored?
What a remarkable turnaround. The sweeping changes are everywhere in evidence, as whole agencies are shut, mandates are repealed, freedom of speech is restored.
BY BROWNSTONE INSTITUTE
It was nearly five years ago when our churches, schools, and businesses were suddenly closed, and with a sketchy excuse. The scientists said that this was the only path to preserving our health. Their allied industries – media, tech, and pharma – all agreed.
Dissidents were silenced. Doubters were shouted down. People who refused the mandated potions lost their livelihoods. The ruling class even made fun of the idea of freedom, calling it “freedumb.”
Most of that scheme lies in ruins today, not with apology and justice but by the ascendance to power of people who spoke out the most. Among the major voices at the time was Robert F Kennedy, Jr., who has now been confirmed to head the most powerful health agency in the world.
What a remarkable turnaround, and it is not just about him and his rise. The sweeping changes are everywhere in evidence, as whole agencies are shut, mandates are repealed, freedom of speech is restored, and the censors and fraudsters are disgraced in public culture.
The nightmare we all experienced is far from over, and the damage won’t be repaired for many years. The barriers standing in the way of change are enormous.
And yet we are on a different path today. We have the opportunity now to make things right.
Please take a moment to congratulate yourselves. The supporters of Brownstone Institute have performed the impossible. You had faith in this work before it was fashionable and saw this venue and support network as crucial to making change. We cannot thank you enough.
Many heroes of our time will forever remain unsung but history will not forget.
There is still much work to do, and many great thinkers and writers still need your support. Moreover, the trends in the US still await their spread around the world. This is why we are pleased to announce a European expansion. Please subscribe to Brownstone Espana, which is up and running and doing fantastic work.
Other extraordinary news: we managed to publish David Stockman’s book in a mere 10 days! The book is How to Cut $2 Trillion from the Federal Budget. Stockman is truly the world expert, the man who Ronald Reagan tagged as his first budget cutter. This book will be a powerful guide for the Trump administration.
Please buy as many copies as you can distribute. We have it priced as low as possible to inspire mass distribution and influence. It is available in physical and digital formats.
The plan is to send it to every Senator and Member of Congress. We need your help to make this possible: please donate here.
We are holding a book party for Stockman in West Hartford, CT, as a monthly supper club, on February 19. You can sign up here (capacity limit 100).
Here is some content since our last email.
The Congressional Record on Covid Vaccines: Corrections By Bret Swanson. Summing up the evidence from an array of sources, we arrive at an estimate: the modRNA vaccines are associated with direct non-Covid deaths of between 500,000 and 800,000 in the U.S. and between three and five million around the world.
Covid’s Biggest Villain Gets His Pardon By Ian Miller. While there was little chance Fauci would face severe consequences for his actions, at the very least a Congressional hearing run by his opposition party might have provided some answers or incriminating statements. Now, we likely won’t even get that.
Is Our Five-Year Nightmare Finally Over? By Jeffrey Tucker. RFK, Jr.’s confirmation is a symbolic repudiation of the most egregious public policies on record. And yet, the repudiation is entirely implicit: there has been no commission, no admission of error, no one truly held responsible, and no real accountability.
Connect the Dots: Trump, Public Health, and the Third World By Steven Kritz. Despite the fact that Trump’s just-announced funding freeze could negatively impact PEPFAR, I don’t believe for a second that he is going to let this program, and the people it serves, languish.
In Defense of Conspiracy Theorists By Bill Rice. A conspiracy is simply two or more people or organizations working in tandem to perpetrate a nefarious crime or fraud…or conceal or cover up activities that, if exposed, would harm certain people and organizations.
Facebook’s Flip-Flop By Carl Heneghan and Tom Jefferson. It is time to reveal to the public the political interference that supported the Facebook takedowns. If Facebook wants to make amends, it needs to revisit its past mistakes and assess the impact its mistaken policy had during the pandemic.
Western “Public Health”: A Socialist Vanguard By Robert Malone. As both physicians and citizens, we must wean ourselves from the false idol of centralized planning, utilitarianism, socialism, a nanny state bureaucracy, and a conflicted medical elite that seeks to optimize equality of outcomes.
Napoleon: Then and Now By Thomas Harrington. Like Napoleon’s troops, the legions of cognitive warriors from the myriad government-financed, non-governmental organizations are sure they have arrived at the end of history when it comes to understanding what it means to live a free and dignified life.
The Tangled Web of Foreign Aid By Armando Simon. Peter Bauer pointed out that foreign aid is the means by which poor people in rich countries are forced to give money to rich people in poor countries. How else are the families of African dictators to maintain their mansions?
How to Forge the Spectator Class By Josh Stylman. The state can only expand into the vacuum left by weakened men and disconnected women. Those who recognize this pattern face a simple choice: remain comfortable spectators in our own decline, or reclaim the authentic virtues that make us human.
FDA Misled the Judiciary about Pfizer’s Vaccine Documents By Maryanne Demasi. On December 6, 2024, a federal judge ordered the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to release documents related to the emergency use authorisation of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine. These documents had been hidden from public view.
USAID Staff Cry for Their Fiefdom By David Bell. USAID has been an integral part of this problem. We can hope that those tasked with sorting out the mess this institution created have the wisdom and compassion to rapidly sift the wheat from the chaff and minimize further harm.
Individualism: The Basis of Public Health or Its Nemesis? By REPPARE. The attempt to codify the concept that individualism is a threat to health into international law, through the draft Pandemic Agreement, should alarm us all. Those advocating this change should reflect on why we have designated the individual as primary.
The Futility of Covid Passports By Filipe Rafaeli. Many other places are likely still enforcing these mandates. I am against pointless oppression. Well, at least pointless from a public health perspective—but very useful for generating demand for the big pharmaceutical corporations that manufacture these vaccines.