Category: lockdowns

Sharing and Collecting COVID Stories: For Those Who Were Burned

Commentary Traumatic times in human experience are often best understood, across cultures, through the sharing of stories. I have a few personal stories from the COVID restrictions. As a mother, daughter, and human, they illustrate to me that something is deeply wrong. First, I was furious that the daycare centers, playgrounds, and local libraries were…


Our Nation’s Long Dark Night of the Soul

Commentary Forty months ago began the lockdowns that set in motion a grim trajectory of misery for Americans and the world. It was the long dark night of the soul, in the words of St. John of the Cross. It was a challenge to everyone and everything. Do you really believe in freedom and human…


COVID-19 Lockdowns ‘Damaged a Generation’: Former Chief Medical Officer

The interruption of education during COVID-19 lockdowns “damaged a generation,” England’s former Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dame Sally Davies has said. Giving evidence to the COVID-19 Inquiry on Tuesday, Davies, who is now the master of Trinity College, Cambridge, said education “has a terrific amount of work to do” to mitigate the impact on children and students….


The Personal Tragedies of the Lockdown Years

Commentary Here at Porcfest, a week-long celebration of freedom in New Hampshire, there are many hubs of activities, with talks and sessions all day every day, and a central campfire near the pavilion each night. Close by is the large tent for Brownstone Institute where we have had talks and discussions all day and evening….


Only a Minority of Canadians Would Support School and Business Closures in Future Pandemic: Government Research

In the event of a future pandemic, only a minority of Canadians would support the reintroduction of school and business closures and nightly curfews as part of public health measures, according to in-house research conducted by the Privy Council Office. The May 2022 report titled “Support for and Adherence to Public Health Measures” was based on…


Chinese Economy Now in Deep Peril

Commentary At the beginning of the year, many economists had predicted that the COVID “great re-opening” of China would spur domestic spending and the consumer sector. Following years of periodic lockdowns, the hope is that consumers would roar out of the gates to offset slowdowns in traditional growth areas such as manufacturing and real estate….


New CDC Director Is Another Lockdowner

Commentary In the old Soviet Union, citizens were not required to be a member of the Communist Party. But if you were not, you could never expect to rise far professionally or socially. You would never be the head of a department in university, a factory manager, much less the General Secretary. They were always…


COVID Policies Harmed Children’s Emotional and Social Development, Psychotherapist Tells National Citizen’s Inquiry

A psychotherapist with a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology testified to the National Citizen’s Inquiry that COVID-19 policies such as masking and lockdowns harmed the emotional and social development of Canadian infants and children. “[Children] are at risk for failed developmental milestones, disrupted social-emotional interaction, and risk for reduced capacity for emotional and behavioural regulation,” registered psychotherapist…


Andrews Government Offers $5 Million to Shut Down COVID-19 Lockdown Class Action

The Victorian government is offering $5 million in compensation to end an ongoing class action against it in response to placing nine public housing towers under strict lockdowns in 2020. Over 3,000 residents across nine public housing towers in North Melbourne and Flemington in Australia were detained—without notice—in their apartments from July 4 to either…


The Freezer-Truck Canard

Commentary These are the days of grasping for excuses. In sector after sector, leaders who gave us lockdowns and all that followed are trying to account for their actions, not apologizing of course but admitting that, in the classic formulation, mistakes were made. That said, they all agree on the core point. The government had…