Barry Brownstein
Contributor
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.
To receive Barry’s essays in your inbox, visit mindsetshifts.com
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Opposing Totalitarians Who Are “Dizzy with Success”
“Totalitarians become ‘dizzy with success’ only when the masses enable them. If moral courage is in short supply when the costs of opposition are relatively low, the worst becomes inevitable.” ~ Barry Brownstein
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All for Nothing
“Kempowski helps us realize that progress will go retrograde when people adopt illiberal beliefs. Will blinding fear and false faith set the course for the next era of American history? Has the suffering during the pandemic been all for nothing?” ~ Barry Brownstein
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Don’t Be a Politician. Focus on Process, not Goals
“The higher our time preference, the more likely we are to believe a politician’s false promises. The more we believe their goal-oriented lies and fail to question their processes, the more freedom, and prosperity we lose.” ~ Barry Brownstein
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State Power Doesn’t Settle Science
“The courageous voice that Drs. Kheriaty, Prasad, Makary, Høeg, and many others express exists in every human being. That voice lies dormant until we value the voice.” ~ Barry Brownstein
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Tribalism’s Big Lie
“Over the past 200 years, explosive economic growth and advances in material well-being came as we transcended tribal thinking. Embrace the reality of a common humanity shared with all. We descend into primitive tribal thinking at our peril.” ~ Barry Brownstein
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Freedom Stands Above Everything
“Can the transformation of America to a ‘State without freedom’ be stopped? Is it possible to learn of the dangers to freedom and human progress without first living through our own bitter experiences?” ~ Barry Brownstein
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Hatred Will Destroy You: What the Holodomor Teaches Us Today
“When any person harbors hatred, their own humanity is destroyed. In Grossman’s words, ‘looking at his victim as other than human, he ceases to be human himself. He executes the human being inside his own self; he is his own executioner.’” ~ Barry Brownstein
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The Threat to Liberty is Coming from Inside the House
“Awakened to the erosion of liberty, there is more grist for the mill to facilitate our learning than at any time in recent memory. We have more opportunities to become advanced students of liberty.” ~ Barry Brownstein
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Taming the Dictator Within, Part 2
“Your experience of reality is directly related to the mindset of true or false individualism that you embrace. When you release your tight grip on your thinking, you allow your life to reveal what your Dictator Within has fabricated.” ~ Barry Brownstein
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Taming the Dictator Within, Part 1
“Beware of treating human beings, in an economy or organization or your personal life, as problems to be solved. We are imperfect material; our errors are corrected in the course of a social process.” ~ Barry Brownstein
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•
Opposing Totalitarians Who Are “Dizzy with Success”
“Totalitarians become ‘dizzy with success’ only when the masses enable them. If moral courage is in short supply when the costs of opposition are relatively low, the worst becomes inevitable.” ~ Barry Brownstein
-
•
All for Nothing
“Kempowski helps us realize that progress will go retrograde when people adopt illiberal beliefs. Will blinding fear and false faith set the course for the next era of American history? Has the suffering during the pandemic been all for nothing?” ~ Barry Brownstein
-
•
Don’t Be a Politician. Focus on Process, not Goals
“The higher our time preference, the more likely we are to believe a politician’s false promises. The more we believe their goal-oriented lies and fail to question their processes, the more freedom, and prosperity we lose.” ~ Barry Brownstein
-
•
State Power Doesn’t Settle Science
“The courageous voice that Drs. Kheriaty, Prasad, Makary, Høeg, and many others express exists in every human being. That voice lies dormant until we value the voice.” ~ Barry Brownstein
-
•
Tribalism’s Big Lie
“Over the past 200 years, explosive economic growth and advances in material well-being came as we transcended tribal thinking. Embrace the reality of a common humanity shared with all. We descend into primitive tribal thinking at our peril.” ~ Barry Brownstein
-
•
Freedom Stands Above Everything
“Can the transformation of America to a ‘State without freedom’ be stopped? Is it possible to learn of the dangers to freedom and human progress without first living through our own bitter experiences?” ~ Barry Brownstein
-
•
Hatred Will Destroy You: What the Holodomor Teaches Us Today
“When any person harbors hatred, their own humanity is destroyed. In Grossman’s words, ‘looking at his victim as other than human, he ceases to be human himself. He executes the human being inside his own self; he is his own executioner.’” ~ Barry Brownstein
-
•
The Threat to Liberty is Coming from Inside the House
“Awakened to the erosion of liberty, there is more grist for the mill to facilitate our learning than at any time in recent memory. We have more opportunities to become advanced students of liberty.” ~ Barry Brownstein
-
•
Taming the Dictator Within, Part 2
“Your experience of reality is directly related to the mindset of true or false individualism that you embrace. When you release your tight grip on your thinking, you allow your life to reveal what your Dictator Within has fabricated.” ~ Barry Brownstein
-
•
Taming the Dictator Within, Part 1
“Beware of treating human beings, in an economy or organization or your personal life, as problems to be solved. We are imperfect material; our errors are corrected in the course of a social process.” ~ Barry Brownstein