Eric Brakey writes at The Mises Institute, “Our public statues should remember those who made contributions of universal value. That is why Levy commissioned statues to the Father of the Declaration of Independence. Not only did Jefferson author our country’s mission statement—‘Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness’—he devoted his life to advancing that mission through every institution of American life, including religious freedom, universal education, and the abolition of slavery.

We Need More Statues to Jefferson, Not Less | @Mises ⁦@SenatorBrakey⁩ https://t.co/6sNNjtAmdR

— WH Paul (@TastyBrew1776) December 9, 2021

Born into a wealthy slave-owning family, Jefferson was a slave owner. This much his critics have right. Focusing on this fact in isolation, however, is ‘ahistorical’ and ‘ripped out of context,’ says Kevin Gutzman, Professor of History at Western Connecticut State University and author of Thomas Jefferson: Revolutionary, in a recent conversation I had with him.

Gutzman notes that ‘slavery once was a universal institution,’ crediting leading founders for deciding, ‘at a given point in the history of the world, this needs to go—we need to get rid of it.’ They did not have the power to overturn the system all at once, but ‘having been born into a world in which [slavery] was a very important part of life, they left a world in which it was doomed and going to end.’

Among this generation, Jefferson stands out in his lifelong pursuit of abolition.”

Read the entire column.

The post We need more statues to Jefferson, not less appeared first on Liberty Tree.

FEE’s Eric Brakey writes, “Bhattacharya concludes that, without contributing to herd immunity, COVID vaccination is a matter of personal health, not public health. As the benefits rest primarily with the individual, not society, government officials have no greater moral authority to prescribe vaccination than they do to prescribe chemotherapy. These are decisions for the individual to decide in consultation with their own physician.

An abundance of scientific data undermine justifications for COVID vaccination mandates, which violate long-standing principles of bodily autonomy and individual rights. https://t.co/5fDIvJJ9K4

— FEE (@feeonline) October 8, 2021

Unlike pre-existing requirements in schools for traditional vaccinations, existing data undermines herd immunity justifications for universal COVID vaccination mandates. Further, these mandates push many with robust acquired immunity out of the workplace and society to the detriment of public health, increasing the likelihood of transmission to the vulnerable.

Mandatory COVID vaccination oversteps the bounds of public health, violating long-standing Western principles of bodily autonomy and individual rights. Lacking even the clear positive externalities often used to justify past vaccination requirements, these mandates should be opposed at all levels of policymaking.

Read the entire column.

The post Stanford epidemiologist says Covid vaccination is primarily a matter of personal health, not public health appeared first on Liberty Tree.

Young Americans for Liberty’s Eric Brakey writes at The Hill, “When Congress passed the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), they went far beyond initiating war in Afghanistan against Al Qaeda. Congress gave near limitless and indefinite authorization for the executive branch to wage war against anyone, anywhere in the world.

My latest op-ed at @TheHill.

“The botched withdrawal from Afghanistan plastered across cable news is emblematic of the entire slow-rolling quagmire: a disaster everyone could have predicted and no one prepared for.”https://t.co/XTzmyktdLv

— Eric Brakey (@SenatorBrakey) August 31, 2021

This broad grant of war-making power was counterproductive to the mission of justice for the 9/11 attacks, setting the stage for 20 years of mission creep in Afghanistan and multiple sequels.

To close the chapter on these failed forever wars, Congress must repeal the 2001 AUMF.”

Read the entire column here.

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