The Metaphysics of Lockdown, According to Albert Camus
For many people, it was their first experience in a full denial of freedom. Locked in their homes. Prevented from…
What Good Comes from this Tragedy?
Many millions have spent the last four months in sadness and depression. It’s hard to watch the world shattered by…
Smallpox Ravaged the Soldiers but They Still Fought and Won a Revolution
One of the most marvelous books I’ve read this year is Donald Henderson’s personal story of the eradication of smallpox.…
The Dubious Origins of the Lockdown Idea (podcast)
Peter R. Quinones interviewed me on his podcast on the topic: the origin of the lockdown idea. This was the…
Why Election Markets are Betting Against Trump
The betting markets judge Trump’s prospects for keeping the presidency with more negativity each day. As of this writing, there…
Broadway Closed but Porcfest Stayed Open
It was the 17th year for the Porcupine Freedom Festival in Lancaster, New Hampshire, held at the Rogers Campground. It…
Small Convertibles are Safer? Why?
It’s some kind of intuition we have. We see a little convertible with the top down, buzzing here and there.…
Smart Society, Stupid People
We’ve lived through the most bizarre experience of human folly in my lifetime, and perhaps in generations. Among the most…
At Least Some Politicians Admit Error (Sort of)
We live in the age of pretend. Governments have behaved more regrettably, ignorantly, arbitrarily, and capriciously than in a generation…
The Return of Brutalism
The lockdowners probably had no idea what they were about to unleash. On paper, their plans all seemed fine. Keep…
The Day First-World Problems Became Real
Ten years ago or so, a popular meme spread on the Internet called first-world problems. The idea here is to…
World Health Organization Walks Back Claim about Asymptomatic Spread
People are so bored with COVID-19 these days that it takes a special kind of disease news to light up…
Why Did they Close the Schools?
On March 12, 2020, a banshee-like cry went out to an email list of public health professionals and government officials…
America Rediscovers Empathy
From early in the lockdown days, it became clear that this crisis would not make us “come together” and be…
Why Does the New York Times Brazenly Deny the Obvious?
Don’t laugh derisively, as people do these days, but I’ve always admired the New York Times. First draft of history.…
Looters, Lockdowners, and the Law
“Coronavirus hasn’t been a thing since Friday,” said a friend. “The new story is racism.” Following American media culture can…
Delayed Medical Procedures: Stories from the Front Lines
Last month, there was a bit of a chill in my right molar. My left molar was already capped after…
Will the Politicians Admit Their Lockdown Mistake?
See if you can make sense of the following transcript of an interview with Donald Trump on the lockdown, as…
The 2007 Origins of Forced School Closings and Mandatory Human Separation
The idea of a full lockdown of society in the event of a pandemic first emerged as an extremist proposal…
America Is Opening. It Never Should Have Shut Down
I wanted to celebrate the opening day of breweries in Connecticut. But it was hardly that. Open means freedom of…
Lockdown Suicide Data Reveal Predictable Tragedy
On March 28, the American Institute for Economic Research ran a terrifying article that didn’t receive the attention it deserved,…
Pandemics and the Liberal Path
The record shows that the global economy collapsed not because of the COVID-19 pandemic but because governments around the world,…
Did the Lockdown Save Lives?
For two to three months, Americans have suffered the loss of liberty, security, and prosperity in the name of virus…
The 2006 Origins of the Lockdown Idea
Now begins the grand effort, on display in thousands of articles and news broadcasts daily, somehow to normalize the lockdown…
No Lockdowns: The Terrifying Polio Pandemic of 1949-52
Many people infected with polio don’t show any symptoms. Some become temporarily paralyzed; for others, it’s permanent. In 1952, the…
Elvis Was King, Ike Was President, and 116,000 Americans Died in a Pandemic
The year was 1957. Elvis’s new movie “Jailhouse Rock” was packing the theaters. The last episode of “I Love Lucy”…
Woodstock Occurred in the Middle of a Pandemic
In my lifetime, there was another deadly flu epidemic in the United States. The flu spread from Hong Kong to…
“I’ve Lost Faith in Humanity”: The Psychological Toll of the Lockdown
We have heretofore lived our lives with the presumption that we possess the inalienable right to choose. We are self-governors,…
There Will Be Blowback, In Mostly Good Ways
Two months ago, it had been mandatory in my local grocery to use only shopping bags brought from home. Plastic…
An Egregious Statistical Horror Story Suffused with Incense and Lugubrious Accents
With the latest reports of plummeting death rates from all causes, this crisis is over. The pandemic of doom erupted…