Dear John,

The COVID-19 crisis requires vigilant action in the short-term from health-care providers, from caregivers, and from all of us as members of communities that are stressed in unprecedented ways.

At the same time that we recognize the need for clear and effective governmental responses to this public health crisis, we must be wary of attempts to turn emergency exercises of government power into a permanent expansion of authority.

In 1794 James Madison, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson, warned of “the old trick of turning every contingency into a resource for accumulating force in the Government.” This old trick reared its head in E. J. Dionne’s column on March 15 in The Washington Post, “A pandemic makes all of us a little bit more socialist.” Let us be clear: Socialism is the wrong response to a contagious disease. Emergency powers must not be the new normal after the emergency has passed. The cause of limited government and free markets has never been more important than now.

In times of crisis, governments expand their powers, and after the crisis has passed, they almost never return to their prior levels. Ronald Reagan famously quipped in 1964, “A government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.” The economic historian Robert Higgs warned us of the “Ratchet Effect” of crises: “Throughout U.S. history, national emergencies have served as outstanding occasions for the (ratcheting) loss of liberties.” It is true in the United States. It is true everywhere.

With the goal of saving lives, Atlas Network and our 506 partner organizations promote responses to COVID-19’s challenges based on evidence, proper public health measures, and sound economic principles. That includes defending free enterprise and wealth creation, without which we are helpless in the face of this and future crises. We are focused on doing what needs to be done, which includes restraining governments from exercising powers unrelated to the crisis.

Supporting the cause of individual liberty, free markets, and limited government is not less important today. Indeed, our cause is needed more now than ever before. We thank you for joining with us in thoughtfully meeting the challenges of this moment, while defending for the duration the sacred cause of liberty.

Best,


Brad Lips
CEO
Atlas Network

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