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.

The Historian of Decline: Ludwig von Mises’s Relevance Today

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The mistake we made was in believing that there is logic to history. There isn’t. There is only the march of good ideas and bad, and the forever competition between the two. And this is a central message of Mises’s 1954 overlooked masterwork Theory and History. Here he offers a devastating rebuttal to determinism of all sorts, whether from old liberals or Hegel or Fukuyama. 

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Michael Gove Supported Lockdowns Due to Information from "Friends Outside Government"

Michael Gove Supported Lockdowns Due to Information from “Friends Outside Government”

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The idea that behind the scenes intelligence sources were pushing warnings that the virus was a deadly manmade biological agent warranting an extreme response has much to commend it as an explanation, the more so as time has gone on. Michael Gove’s comments to the inquiry today have just added to this.

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In Praise of Semantic Warfare

In Praise of Semantic Warfare

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Could it be that most of us, in fact, are pre-programmed to surrender our agency at the first sign of a canceling putdown or threat of ostracism, however absurd, emanating from someone presented to us as being authoritative, even when that “authoritative” figure issuing the “conspiracy theorist” or “disinformation” fatwa these days is often nothing more a 26-year-old twit with an overly-expensive diploma working in a Silicon Valley cubicle or a Brooklyn coffee shop? 

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Lessons Learned from the West African Slave Trade

Forgive but Never Forget: Lessons from the West African Slave Trade

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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.

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If He Was Alive Today, Socrates Would be Banned

If He Were Alive Today, Socrates Would be Banned

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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.

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Conflicts of Interest in Science: History of Influence, Scandal, and Denial

Conflicts of Interest in Science: History of Influence, Scandal, and Denial

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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. 

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When Nearly All Governments in the World Met Their Match 

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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.

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Great Barrington Declaration

The Declaration That Wasn’t Supposed to Happen

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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. 

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