JTW Podcast: Aquinas v. Kant

This week’s podcast is still about “Natural Theology,” but don’t worry — this is just basic philosophical concepts underpinning the theory of natural law from which the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism is derived.  Why is this important if the Just Third Way is not a religion?  Because consistent with the philosophy of Aristotle, the Just Third Way assumes as a given that there are absolutes, which necessarily implies the existence of God.  Again, don’t worry: the only thing we can tell from natural reason about the existence of God and the natural law is that it exists . . . which segues into Emmanuel Kant and his Critique of Pure Reason (1781):

News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 43

There seems to be more of a focus on financial problems associated with retirement . . . something which (as we’ve commented previously) might need a little bit of rethinking.  There are other news items, of course, notably the notice about the Free Nations of Post-Russia Forum event in Ottawa, Canada, but still many problems might be resolved or reduced in magnitude by adopting the Economic Democracy Act:

Is the Proletarian Condition “Normal”?

Last week we looked at the question whether the rich, as F. Scott Fitzgerald claimed, are different.  We concluded that today the rich are, indeed, different . . . but not as human beings.  Rather, what makes the rich different these days is access to money and credit which enables them to buy advanced technology which can and usually does outproduce human labor at a quantum level.

JTW Podcast: Natural Theology, Part II

This continues last week’s podcast on “Natural Theology”, which is what can be discerned by reason about God, so is applicable across the board to people of all faiths and philosophies, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Pagan, or what have you.  Today Sproul covers what G.K. Chesterton called "the Double Mind of Man," the idea something can be both true and false at the same time.  Here is what R.C. Sproul had to say on the subject:

News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 42

The news items this week approach the surreal, with items contradicting each other, and others simply not making sense.  As usual, many of these problems could either be resolved or made much less worrisome by adopting the Economic Democracy Act:

The Rich are Different . . . Now

It is probably apocryphal, but Ernest Hemmingway allegedly replied to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s statement that “the rich are different” — “Yes, they have more money.”  Mmmmm . . . that was true at one time, but no longer.  Once upon a time, all the rich had was more and better of what everyone else had.  Nowadays what the rich have is not more money, but access to money and credit to become the owners of productive technology which is closed to those of us without similar access.

JTW Podcast: Natural Theology, Part I

No, today’s podcast is not going far afield from the Just Third Way.  All “Natural Theology” says is that knowledge of the existence of God and of the natural law can be derived from human reason by examining nature and using your head.  It doesn’t say anything other than “God” exists and that what we see in human nature and everywhere else tells us something, however dimly, about “God’s” nature which is the content of natural law . . . and the Just Third Way is based on natural law.  Here is what R.C. Sproul had to say on the subject:

News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 41

Again, there is not too much new this week, and, again, most of it could be resolved by adopting the Economic Democracy Act:

How Much Money?

One of the problems with the global monetary system is the so-called experts are never able to decide how much money to create so that there is low inflation, high employment, low prices, and high wages . . . and you get the idea.  The experts argue endlessly about everything except what they’re really concerned about: how to get the money they want and prevent everyone else from getting it.

JTW Podcast: Mystery

Do you love a mystery?  This week’s lecture on “Mystery” continues last week’s talk on “Contradiction and Paradox.”  Just to keep it exciting, Sproul starts off with antinomy.  Not, the metal, which is antimony, but the concept.  As usual, you can ignore the fact this lecture is part of a series on Christian apologetics, as the subject concerns thought and logic itself.  Apologetics is just the application . . . which is neither a contradiction nor a paradox.  Here’s what R.C. Sproul had to say on the subject:

News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 40

Not too much new this week, and most of it could be resolved by adopting the Economic Democracy Act:

The High Priest of Capitalism?

There is much more to Adam Smith (1723-1790), the purported high priest of laissez faire capitalism, than many today suppose.  Part of this is because few people in positions of authority, whether Church, State, or Family, understand the underlying principles of his philosophy.  Instead, they accept conventional wisdom based on the principles of a competing paradigm having little in common with Smith’s fundamental tenets.

JTW Podcast: Contradiction and Paradox

Continuing our series of R.C. Sproul’s lectures, this week we have a talk on “Contradiction and Paradox” which are not the same thing.  As usual, you can ignore the fact this lecture is part of a series on Christian apologetics, as the subject concerns thought and logic itself.  Apologetics is just the application . . . which is neither a contradiction nor a paradox.  Here’s what R.C. Sproul had to say on the subject:

News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 39

We have some very sad news this week, the loss of a CESJ founding member and one who made continuing input into supporting the Just Third Way and the Economic Democracy Act:

“Freedom is Not an Empty Sound”

In the previous posting on this subject, we looked at William Cobbett, to whom some have referred as “the Apostle of Distributism,” meaning a sort of proto advocate of small ownership.  Of course, in some cases, the people who attach such a label have little understanding of what ownership consists.  We can sum up what Cobbett was talking about by quoting American statesman Daniel Webster: “Power naturally and necessarily follows property.”

JTW Podcast: Analogical Language, Part II

 Last week’s podcast was Part I of R.C. Sproul’s lecture on “analogical language.”  This week podcast is Part II of the lecture.”  Again, you can ignore the fact this lecture is part of a series on Christian apologetics, as the subject concerns thought and logic itself.  Apologetics is just the application.  Here’s what R.C. Sproul had to say on the subject:

News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 38

Some interesting events this week, but also a lot of more of the same . . . much of which could be resolved or at least ameliorated by adopting the Economic Democracy Act:

“Power Tends to Corrupt”

From 1824 to 1826, William Cobbett (1763-1835), whom G.K. Chesterton and others consider “the Apostle of Distributism,” published segments of A History of the Protestant Reformation in England and Ireland.  In the book, portions of which were later adapted for The Poor Man’s Friend (1829), Cobbett’s goal was not to defend the Catholic faith.  As he clearly stated, he was a Protestant, and never had any intention of being anything else.

JTW Podcast: Analogical Language, Part I

And you thought big words were just for dictionaries, not for the instant gratification internet crowd.  This week’s podcast is another lecture from R.C. Sproul, this time on “analogical language.”  And what is “analogical language”?  That’s what you’ll find out today, at least the first part.  Interestingly, Fulton Sheen's doctoral thesis, God and Intelligence in Modern Philosophy (1925) is related to this lecture.  Again, you can ignore the fact this lecture is part of a series on Christian apologetics, as the subject concerns thought and logic itself.  Apologetics is just the application.  Here’s what R.C. Sproul had to say on the subject:

News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 37

More of the same, only more so?  In a sense, yes, this week’s news items bear a strong resemblance to those that have been listed week after week for some time.  Keep heart, though, we’re continuing to work on introducing the principles of the Just Third Way as applied in the Economic Democracy Act:

Central Banking, III: The Role of a Central Bank

Despite all the conspiracy theories floating around, central banking is essential in a modern technologically and economically advanced economy.  Allowing government to fill the role of a central bank is a serious mistake on so many levels that we won’t get into it.  We’ll focus instead on the mechanics.  So, what is a central bank all about?

JTW Podcast: Sense Perception

Does sense perception have a role in matters pertaining to faith or even to reason itself?  Again, you can ignore the fact that this lecture is part of a series on Christian apologetics, as the subject concerns thought and logic itself.  Apologetics is just the application.  Here’s what R.C. Sproul had to say on the subject:

News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 36

It seems the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee is worried about the interest rate and the unemployment rate.  It is a Keynesian dogma, constantly disproved, that there is a tradeoff between inflation and employment . . . except that Keynes said there is no such thing as real inflation until full employment is reached.  Is there a way to get out of this weird paradox?  Yes.  It is only necessary to adopt the Economic Democracy Act, and bring a halt to some of this surreal weirdness:

Central Banking, II: Commercial Bank Problems

In the previous posting on this subject, we noted that a single commercial bank is always riskier than several commercial banks acting together as part of a system.  There is also the problem that, however sound an individual bank may be and stable its issues with respect to their value over time, the banknotes of one bank will never have the same value as the banknotes of another bank which is independent of the first bank.