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Articles by Barry Brownstein
Humility Is Civilization’s Price of Admission
If I don’t mow the forest line around my meadow, tree saplings appear within weeks. If we don’t use our muscles, they begin to atrophy. If we don’t clean our kitchen after each meal, the space to make another nourishing meal disappears. All around us, order requires maintenance. Our lives are a struggle against entropy. Earlier this year, my wife lost the rubber sealing ring for her indispensable Oster Versa blender.
The Ethic of Booker T.
Commentary Labor Day has just passed, which calls for a remembrance of a great apostle of dignified work. I mean Booker T. Washington, a man born into slavery and who became by 1900 perhaps the most famous American in the world. His life story is told in “Up from Slavery,” which is still an assignment in U.S. history and literature courses in high school, as it should be. His message has never been more timely. For all his fame and travels, Washington devoted most of his life to education.
Fauci Didn’t Create Faucism. He Exposed It
In a 2021 AIER essay, “Liberating Yourself from Faucism,” I wrote: “The issue isn’t Anthony Fauci’s failings. The problem is Faucism, the fantastical belief that wise and beneficent experts should rule.” Five years later, many remain committed Faucists — not just in support of Dr. Fauci, but in support of the failed idea that Americans should conform to expert rule.
The Case for Talking to Strangers
Nicholas Epley’s new book argues that small acts of connection build the trust and goodwill on which a free society depends. Commentary “A Little More Social,” University of Chicago professor Nicholas Epley’s book that can help repair our frayed civic fabric, opens with a hat story. Riding a commuter train, Epley watches a woman in an elegant red hat take the last open seat beside him.
The Case for Talking to Strangers
A Little More Social, University of Chicago professor Nicholas Epley’s book that can help repair our frayed civic fabric, opens with a hat story. Riding a commuter train, Epley watches a woman in an elegant red hat take the last open seat beside him. Around them, passengers sit with “heads bowed in silence on the hunt for their own isolated acreage of solitude.” Then Epley says, “I love your hat.” She lights up.
From Victimhood to Agency: Understanding What Is Up to Us
Excuses protect us from guilt, but they also rob us of hope. Commentary Decades ago, in a British prison, Dr. Anthony Daniels heard a murderer explain how he came to be serving a life sentence. “It’s just my luck to be here on this charge,” the prisoner answered. He had served a dozen prior sentences. He carried the knife to the scene. He sought out the victim. Luck? Daniels worked for decades in prisons and poor neighborhoods of England.
Thomas Paine’s Challenge to a Complacent America
Paine warned that complacency endangers liberty, and that only when freedom is threatened do people discover whether they are willing to defend it. A bronze of Thomas Paine in Morristown, N.J., in a file photo.
Thomas Paine’s Challenge to a Complacent America
According to a late 2025 Heartland Institute/Rasmussen Reports poll, “58 percent of likely voters aged 18 to 39 support government-run grocery stores in every town in America.” Fifty-one percent of younger likely voters “say they would like to see a democratic socialist win the White House in 2028.” It’s easy to see such numbers and fall into despair about America’s prospects. If you have ever been tempted to withdraw from public concerns and simply enjoy your own life, who could blame you?
From Victimhood to Agency: Understanding What is Up to Us
Decades ago, in a British prison, Dr. Anthony Daniels heard a murderer explain how he came to be serving a life sentence. “It’s just my luck to be here on this charge,” the prisoner answered. He had served a dozen prior sentences. He carried the knife to the scene. He sought out the victim. Luck? Daniels worked for decades in prisons and poor neighborhoods of England.
Roddie Edmonds and the Power of Saying No
The newest Medal of Honor recipient, the late Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds, was honored because he said no. So much goodness in our lives, including the defense of liberty, begins with saying no. It was January 1945. The war was months from ending, and Edmonds was the highest-ranking soldier among 1,292 American prisoners at a German stalag. The camp commandant ordered all Jewish soldiers — around 200 men — to fall out the next morning. Anyone who disobeyed would be shot.
Ben Sasse's Warning: Reclaim Your Attention Before It's Too Late
Historian, former Republican senator, and former college president Ben Sasse is dying of pancreatic cancer. In a recent and profoundly moving interview, Sasse, who recently turned 54, offered wisdom on maintaining personal autonomy in our digital age.
Civility: The Invisible Glue of Society
There has never been a time when more people had an “excuse” for being rude at an airport. We had a problem loading this article. Please enable javascript or use a different browser. If the issue persists, please visit our help center.
Civility: The Invisible Glue of Society
There has never been a time when more people had an “excuse” for being rude at an airport. During the recent TSA government shutdown, some airports, including Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, experienced screening lines that on some days reached more than six hours. During the showdown, my wife and I flew home through Atlanta. Thanks to a real-time Reddit thread, we found the fastest line and didn’t encounter anything close to a six-hour wait.
Burnt Toast, Stoics, and Finding Growth in Small Frustrations
It was a brutal winter in New England. Many mornings, I got out of bed to fire up our snowblower and tackle the latest round of snow. When the wind was blowing, I often got snow blasted right back in my face. We had a problem loading this article. Please enable javascript or use a different browser. If the issue persists, please visit our help center.
Invierte en una mentalidad de crecimiento: Antídoto contra el nihilismo pesimista de Estados Unidos
Imagen ilustrativa. (Universo N/Shutterstock) 7 de abril de 2026, 1:46 a. m. | Actualizado el7 de abril de 2026, 1:46 a. m. Opinión El pesimismo extremo ya no es cosa exclusiva de los incels: un análisis de 2025 apunta a un creciente "nihilismo cultural" entre los miembros de la Generación Z en Estados Unidos, caracterizado por una sensación de impotencia tal que el cambio parece imposible y la vida carece de sentido.
Burnt Toast, Stoics, and Finding Growth in Small Frustrations
It was a brutal winter in New England. Many mornings, I got out of bed to fire up our snowblower and tackle the latest round of snow. When the wind was blowing, I often got snow blasted right back in my face. I could have fought reality, but instead I came to see—as the burnt-toast theory suggests—that inconveniences (like burnt toast) can lead to positive outcomes. While snowblowing, I don’t have to wait too long for positive opportunities to crop up.
Theocrats, Socialists, and the Totalitarian Impulse to Plan
We will probably never know the true death count of the courageous Iranian revolutionaries, but what has been shared in graphic detail is the horrific brutality of the Iranian theocracy towards its own people. In a recent New Yorker essay, “A Massacre in Mashhad,” Cora Engelbrecht reported on one multi-day slaughter of an enormous crowd of Iranian protesters filling the streets, bridges, and highways of Mashhad. Children with their mothers and grandparents were among the dead.
Invest in a Growth Mindset: The Antidote to America’s Black-Pilled Nihilism
Barry Brownstein is professor emeritus of economics and leadership at the University of Baltimore. He is the author of “The Inner-Work of Leadership,” and his essays have appeared in publications such as the Foundation for Economic Education and Intellectual Takeout.
Invest in a Growth Mindset: The Antidote to America’s Black-Pilled Nihilism
Being blackpilled isn’t just for incels anymore — a 2025 analysis points to a rising “cultural nihilism” among Gen Z in America, marked by a sense of helplessness where change feels impossible, and life seems meaningless.
Economics of Gratitude: What New Yorkers Forgot About Prosperity
If I were to sum up the mindset of New Yorkers who elected Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City, it would be We want something for nothing, and we want the rich to pay for it. Instead, they will get nothing for something, and they will pay for it with a degraded quality of life. Mamdani’s victory was paved with ingratitude for the blessings New Yorkers receive daily.
【名家專欄】毛式革命正在荼毒年輕人的心 | 暴力革命 | 人性 | 毛澤東思想 | 台灣大紀元
⊙Barry Brownstein 該學生是毫不掩飾的受毛思想啟發的革命者，主張對「反動派」和「資本家」實施更多政治暗殺，並限制其言論自由，希望「某些人」在「公開場合表達意見時感到恐懼」。 在大學課程中，她學習毛澤東時代中國「暴力革命如何解放千百萬人民及婦女」。她的觀點很極端，但卻並非孤例。一項對美國排名前150名大學調查的發現，近25%學生認為使用暴力壓制有爭議演講者是可接受的。在一些女子大學，50%學生提倡使用暴力。這位歐柏林大學女生自鳴得意又無知無畏，如果她參加柯克的活動，很可能不會改變立場。但如果她提問，查理可能會告訴她以下事實。 毛澤東時代的食人現象 英國記者貝克（Jasper Becker）在《餓鬼：毛時代大饑荒揭祕》中說，共產黨目標之一是消滅家庭和愛產生的紐帶：「把人民公社當成家，世上最親是父母，但比不上毛主席和共產黨，給予我們一切不是家庭，而是共產黨和偉大革命，愛情不重要：女人不應該占用丈夫太多精力。」...
Mao’s Children: How Revolutionary Zeal Is Still Warping Young Minds
Red Guard members wave copies of Chairman Mao’s “Little Red Book” during a parade in Beijing in June 1966. Young people are easily manipulated, and when they act in concert for what they believe are good causes, those causes often end up in disaster and mass violence.
Mao’s Children: How Revolutionary Zeal Is Still Warping Young Minds
Having read and written extensively (for example, here) about the suffering of the Chinese people under Mao, I was horrified and alarmed to listen to this short take by an Oberlin College student shortly after the Charlie Kirk assassination.
Adam Smith on Duty and ‘the Great Division’ of the Human Spirit
Adam Smith on Duty and ‘the Great Division’ of the Human Spirit Adam Smith saw that civilization advances or declines based on our sense of duty and our ability to rise above fleeting emotions. The statue of Adam Smith in front of St. Giles’ Cathedral at Parliament Square in Edinburgh, Scotland, in a file photo.
Adam Smith on Duty and 'the Great Division' of the Human Spirit
Ichiro Suzuki was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this summer. With his nearly unmatched bat control, Ichiro had ten consecutive 200-plus hit seasons and the single-season record of 262 hits.
New Yorkers Flirt with Socialist Grocery Store Scheme
Living in New York City is not easy. The Cato Institute ranks New York State as the least free state in the United States. On top of high state income taxes, New York City residents pay an additional tax of 3.876 percent on income above $50,000. The total New York City sales tax is 8.875 percent. Along with the tax burden, New York City and State residents endure extreme regulatory burdens. Huge bureaucracies and corruption go together, and NYC has no shortage of either.
独裁者が教える 独裁者の倒し方 | ナチス | ヒトラー | ユダヤ | 大紀元 エポックタイムズ
故ピーター・ドラッカーは現代経営学の父とされている。ウィーン生まれの彼は、ヒトラー政権初期にフランクフルト大学の若き講師だった。著書『傍観者の冒険』（『第三帝国の生活』でも再話）で、1933年のヒトラー政権成立直後に行われた、ナチスが支配する最初の教授会について語っている。 ドラッカーは当時の状況を次のように説明している。「フランクフルトには、学問的にもリベラルな思想の面でも優れた科学系の学部があった。中でも際立っていたのは、ノーベル賞級の業績を持ち、自由主義の理念に忠実な生化学者・生理学者だった。」 ナチスの委員は会議の主導権を即座に握った。委員は教授たちに対して、「ユダヤ人は大学構内への立ち入りを禁じられ、3月15日付で無給のまま解雇される」と告げた。 「ナチスの激しい反ユダヤ主義にもかかわらず」、教授陣はそこまでやるとは予想していなかった。 委員は下品な言葉と脅しを繰り返し、「次々と各学科長を指差しながら、『言うことを聞かなければ強制収容所に送るぞ』と告げた」とドラッカーは記している。...
Nazis Teach Us How to Defeat Them
Commentary The late Peter Drucker is considered the father of modern management theory. Born in Vienna, he was a young lecturer at Frankfurt University early in Hitler’s regime. In his book “Adventures of a Bystander” (retold in “Life in the Third Reich”), Drucker recounts the initial Nazi-controlled faculty meeting at Frankfurt University, which occurred shortly after Hitler’s rise to power in 1933. Barry Brownstein is professor emeritus of economics and leadership at the University of Baltimore.
Nazis Teach Us How to Defeat Them
The late Peter Drucker is considered the father of modern management theory. Born in Vienna, he was a young lecturer at Frankfurt University early in Hitler’s regime. In his book Adventures of a Bystander (retold in Life in the Third Reich), Drucker recounts the initial Nazi-controlled faculty meeting at Frankfurt University, which occurred shortly after Hitler’s rise to power in 1933.
The Steep Price of Declining Civility
AD Commentary Civilization is fragile. Countless social and commercial interactions build civilization.
The Steep Price of Declining Civility
Civilization is fragile. Countless social and commercial interactions build civilization. In one of his most essential essays, “Individualism: True and False,” F. A. Hayek warns, “While it may not be difficult to destroy the spontaneous formations which are the indispensable bases of a free civilization, it may be beyond our power deliberately to reconstruct such a civilization once these foundations are destroyed.” Today, an alarming number of people see a collapse as a good thing.
Adam Smith vs. the Tariff State: A Timeless Case for Free Trade
If you maintain that over time, the United States has been the best country at exemplifying the teachings of Adam Smith, you would get no argument from me. Sadly, that imagined crown no longer fits.
5 Ways to Not Let Politics Ruin Thanksgiving
Political divisions are ugly, and those divisions have spilled over onto the Thanksgiving table. One study found that “partisan differences cost American families 62 million person-hours of Thanksgiving time.” Presumably those same differences are impacting the quality of family time throughout the year. Time to count our blessings has become another opportunity to count our grievances. Here are five suggestions to help bring harmony to your Thanksgiving table. 1.
Building an America We Are Proud Of
R.C. Sherriff, the late English writer, had a talent for depicting the mundane in a way that celebrated life. His writing, characterized by an understated style, provides a deep understanding of human nature. In his 1931 novel, The Fortnight In September, he tells the story of a lower-middle-class family taking their annual holiday at a rundown guest house in an English seaside village. He delves into the inner thoughts of his main characters.
Principles Are the Antidote to Politics
Only four percent “of US adults say the political system is working extremely or very well.” Sixty-five percent say we “always or often feel exhausted when thinking about politics.” Yet, we keep doubling down, thinking that more attention on politics will somehow fix what ails society. In 2020, candidates spent over $14 billion seeking the presidency. This was double the amount spent in 2016. The 2024 presidential campaign is far from over.
Principles are the Antidote to Politics
Only four percent “of US adults say the political system is working extremely or very well.” Sixty-five percent say we “always or often feel exhausted when thinking about politics.” Yet, we keep doubling down, thinking that more attention on politics will somehow fix what ails society. In 2020, candidates spent over $14 billion seeking the presidency. This was double the amount spent in 2016. The 2024 presidential campaign is far from over.
The Dangerous Reinterpretation of Freedom
A reader recently reminded me that North Korea’s official name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. North Korea’s bitterly ironic naming convention has been used by other totalitarian states. The German Democratic Republic was the official name for East Germany. The genocidal government of Pol Pot in Cambodia was known as Democratic Kampuchea. South Yemen’s breakaway communist regime was known as the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen.
People Without Meaningful Lives Seek Power Over Others
One of my more memorable exchanges with a student came in a principles of economics class. Part of the assignment for that week was chapters from Matt Ridley’s The Rational Optimist. Ridley compared the living standards of an average worker today with those of The Sun King, Louis XIV, in 1700. Some of my more ahistorical students were incredulous at Ridley’s description of the grinding poverty of the average person just a few centuries ago. The King had an opulent lifestyle compared to others.
People Without Meaningful Lives Seek Power Over Others
One of my more memorable exchanges with a student came in a principles of economics class. Part of the assignment for that week was chapters from Matt Ridley’s The Rational Optimist. Ridley compared the living standards of an average worker today with those of The Sun King, Louis XIV, in 1700. Some of my more ahistorical students were incredulous at Ridley’s description of the grinding poverty of the average person just a few centuries ago. The King had an opulent lifestyle compared to others.
Why Karl Marx Hated Jews
Let us be wary of the soothing narrative that downplays the seriousness of growing antisemitism. The belief that Jew hate will diminish once the Israel-Hamas war concludes may be misguided. As I go about my daily life, antisemitism is still a thing of the past. Not so on college campuses and in some cities. Like Elon Musk, I am shocked by the exposure of rampant Jew hatred. Last November, when our local farmer was closing for the season, he asked about our holiday plans.
Danger Ahead: Why Antisemitism Is Likely To Grow – OpEd | Flipboard
14 hours ago On the eve of the election the then shadow minister without portfolio Nick Thomas-Symonds appeared to be getting Labour’s excuses in early. If an incoming Labour government started to look at the books and realised that things were even worse than they had thought, he said, then the new …
Danger Ahead: Why Antisemitism Is Likely to Grow
Let us be wary of the soothing narrative that downplays the seriousness of growing antisemitism. The belief that Jew hate will diminish once the Israel-Hamas war concludes may be misguided. As I go about my daily life, antisemitism is still a thing of the past. Not so on college campuses and in some cities. Like Elon Musk, I am shocked by the exposure of rampant Jew hatred. Last November, when our local farmer was closing for the season, he asked about our holiday plans.
Lincoln’s 1838 Warning: The Threat to Liberty Comes From Inside the House Original
In 1838, 28-year-old Abraham Lincoln delivered a Lyceum lecture, The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions. The Lyceum lectures were part of a voluntary adult education movement. Lincoln was a new lawyer and member of the Illinois House of Representatives. It had been just over 60 years since the start of the American Revolution.
Are You a Servant of Tyranny or Liberty?
In 1788, George Washington wrote letters to the Marquis de Lafayette during the process of ratifying the proposed Constitution by the states. Washington made clear to General Lafayette the essentials to prevent the new American republic from devolving into “despotic or oppressive form”: limited delegated powers to the government, checks and balances, and “virtue in the body of the People.” Often “virtue in the body of the People” is overlooked.
What the Campus Protesters Don’t Understand About Civilization
Recently, when disembarking a flight, the “thank you” I gave the pilot and crew was not perfunctory. Although my gratitude probably didn’t seem effusive from the outside, a depth of emotion touched me after I delivered it. Airline travel is one of the miracles of modern living, requiring human cooperation and coordination. Deeply, I felt the human connections the miracle of airline travel requires. I’m still thinking about that recent flight.
Illiberal Youth Threaten Freedom
In The Road to Serfdom, F.A. Hayek called cultural historian and philosopher Moeller van den Bruck “the patron saint of National Socialism.” Hayek quoted him describing the fierce opposition of German youth to liberalism: “Liberalism is a philosophy of life from which German youth now turns with nausea, with wrath, with quite peculiar scorn, for there is none more foreign, more repugnant, more opposed to its philosophy.
Holocaust Survivor Viktor Frankl on Collective Guilt Original
Only in movies and books is the line between good and evil people always clear. In The Gulag Archipelago (Vol. 2), Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn immortalized these words: “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart—and through all human hearts.” Solzhenitsyn wrote those words in the 1960s. Viktor Frankl made similar observations in Man’s Search for Meaning, published in 1946.
Making Meaning Is the Antidote to Troubled Feelings Original
A contemporary writer on Stoicism, Ryan Holiday, recently observed: Professional writers quickly learn one reality of the job: you have more bad days than good days. It’s the rare day that the writer finds that the words come out exactly the way they were in their head. More often, one is disappointed, distracted, struggling, committed but unproductive. Of course, this is true for many occupations. Some days, despite our best efforts, things don’t go well. On those days, what then should we do?
To Remain Free, Make the Ordinary Meaningful
In these increasingly illiberal times, many wonder how to preserve freedom. The prospects for liberty seem bleak. Most people will never read the great classical liberal thinkers. They know little about the conditions that enable humans to flourish. Schools and colleges don’t promote classical liberal principles. And many people eagerly adopt secondhand opinions from the media and other sources. Yet, there is cause for optimism.
Why Solzhenitsyn’s Line Between Good and Evil Matters Original
We want to think that the line between good and evil is clear and that individuals fall into one camp or another. In The Gulag Archipelago, Volume 1, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote, “If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them.” Because the line between good/evil is not as straightforward as we wish, an essential principle for organizing society is, in F. A.
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