Review of COVID-19 and the Global Predators: We Are the Prey by Peter R. Breggin, MD and Ginger Ross Breggin

 

(Ithaca, NY: Lake Edge Press, 2021). ISBN: 978-0-9824560-6-4

Deep divisions concerning the myriad facets of COVID-19 and its many unforeseen ramifications beyond medicine and health have marked the past two years. There are questions concerning the lockdown: Was it necessary? What harm did it do psychologically, economically, and socially? There are far-ranging concerns about the science: the origins of COVID-19, if wearing masks is efficacious, the suppression of possibly effective early treatments, and the content, effectiveness, and methods of delivery to the public of the Moderna, Pfizer, et al. initial shots and boosters.

With such a world-altering event as COVID-19, disagreement is expected. According to recently published figures, America has now surpassed 1 million deaths attributed in some measure to COVID-19 (the measures themselves are highly defended and disputed, depending on who is sitting where on the spectrum). I know people who have died, who had procedures delayed because of the lockdowns and quarantines, who could not attend the funeral of a loved one. I know students who did not get to participate in their senior year plays, sporting events, or have a prom or graduation. As an editor of academic journals, I have seen the special issues and the sheer amount of word count per issue devoted to the ramifications of the past two years on educational equality, the fields of social work and mental health, government policies, Internet access, and racism, sexism, and ageism.

People are angry, confused, scared, divided, and just plain exhausted. Dealing with a highly contagious, deadly, and perhaps scientifically manipulated virus is difficult enough without all of the aforementioned ramifications beyond public health. The spectrum of tech-viruses that are fake news, media manipulation, cancel culture, and the suppression of dissenting voices through banning and shadow banning on social media platforms have infected people at a higher rate than COVID-19. Constantly changing and at times contradictory messaging and optics from organizations like the WHO, CDC, FDA, and university medical centers and individuals like Fauci, Gates, Birx, and the heads of Big Pharma and a variety of billionaires deeply entrenched in global politics and economics have been far from a cure. On the contrary, they have conspired—consciously and subconsciously—to create the morass in which the world currently finds itself.

I’m not going to provide you with any definitive answers about the veracity of the claims in this book. To do so would be counterproductive and even limit the review’s potential reach. What I am going to do is express why I believe this book has value in the complicated discussion around COVID-19, including origins and theories behind nefarious plans by global organizations and partnerships.

Let’s begin with the authors. Peter R. Breggin, MD, is a highly respected physician, author, and acknowledged medical expert in important legal cases in psychiatry and neurosurgery. He has authored more than 70 articles and 20 books, including Talking Back to Prozac. He and his wife Ginger (coauthor on many of his projects and his editor, among other roles) have been outspoken advocates for the public in the face of pharmaceutical companies seeking to take advantage of and even harm the people they are paid (very well) to help.

Three MDs at the center of COVID-19 treatment controversies provide separate introductions to the book. Peter McCullough is also a MPH and the senior author of the largest COVID-19 treatment review at the time the book was published (and perhaps still). He has over 600 publication credits. Vladimir Zelenko wrote the first systematic treatment protocol for COVID-19. Elizabeth Lee Vliet is an award-winning medical freedom advocate, including for home-based COVID-19 treatments.

The book itself took me weeks to read. At 651 pages of fairly small print, it is a time-consuming commitment, as it should be. As I have stated more than once, this is incredibly complex subject matter. The Breggins and their colleagues have had their videos and platforms taken down and been otherwise censored. The book contains many instances of this censorship, including of a Chinese scientist who fled to America with inside knowledge of the origins of COVID-19.

In reading dozens of one to three star reviews of this book—not something I normally do, but with such a controversial subject it seemed prudent—it appears that the Breggins’ support of former president Trump is an issue with many readers. However, the Breggins are not unwavering in that support. On the contrary—at the end of the book, they take Donald Trump to task for some decisions with which they do not agree. Another issue is that low-star reviewers claim the book is too repetitive. The Breggins are looking at complex, controversial topics from two angles—science and global politics. They explore each on its own, before looking at how they are intermingled in the events of the past six or so years. They provide extensive text and quotations, bullet lists, timelines, and more than 1,100 URLs and other reference citations to back their claims. They also deliver information in myriad formats, exploring the data through different lenses. A third criticism is that all of this is just right-wing conspiracy theory. In response, I say that—as I read the book over the course of weeks—there were at least eight news events in line with the content. Whether it be new data on possible side effects of mRNA and DNA shots, new emphasis on alternatives, certain phrases or agendas used and created by the elite (which the Breggins term “global predators”) appearing in mainstream news, or other actions taken by or remarks made by the “global predators” in recent weeks, it became hard to dismiss the book’s overall theses. 

I didn’t looked up all 1,107 URLs, but I did spot check the two dozen or so that I felt were most relevant to the overall theses, including the scientific papers from 2016 and 2017 regarding gain of function research. The individuals and institutions involved certainly gave me ample food for thought. As an academic editor with three decades of experience, I’m very familiar with Acknowledgments and Funding sections of papers, as well as the importance of the order in which the authors’ names appear.

It may be hard for people to hear names like Fauci, Gates, and Bloomberg associated with nefarious plans, or to see the extensive dealings US universities, private businesses, and health organizations have with China (America’s supposed enemy). The mainstream media has brought to light some of those extensive dealings in recent weeks, including in the highest halls of political power. The tendency to term anything uncomfortable a conspiracy theory concocted by “right-wing nutjobs” is understandable given the state of America and the world. People can only bear so much stress. In my forty years of studying and writing about geopolitics, however, I have learned that those we entrust with our best interests rarely have them in mind. Consider recent revelations at the National Institutes of Health.

In Esquire magazine many years ago, I read an article by a professor who said he never reads anything with which he agrees. Although an extreme position, I understand what he was saying. If you consider this admittedly controversial book as a crucial data source—a series of facets that help to add broader shape and dimension to your consideration of the complexities of the era of COVID-19—then an open mind is little price to pay for a fuller picture of these world-changing events. As you read, do your research, based on both the links and data the Breggins provide, as well as the breadcrumb trail that will develop from that research, and keep asking yourself: Cui bono? Who benefits?