Some pundits are claiming that Americans are accepting greater government control over their own lives in order to avoid “another meltdown.”
This is news to us. We weren’t aware
that the first meltdown had managed to cool and congeal.
The problem is that, unless ordinary people are put in the
position of regaining some power, the power of government over every aspect of
life will continue to increase. People
can complain all they want, but “Power naturally and necessarily follows
property,” so until there is an aggressive program of expanded capital
ownership, all the complaining in the world will amount to nothing more than “meaningless
noise.”
To counter this, and to raise people’s consciousness about
the need for Capital Homesteading or something similar, here’s what we’ve been
doing:
• Again, the big news is that a short time ago we released Freedom Under God for printing. CESJ
is now taking bulk/wholesale orders (please, no individual sales). Until December 31, 2013, the per unit price
for 10-99 copies is $16.00 (20% discount), for 100-499 copies is $14.00 (30%
discount), for 500-999 copies is $12.00 (40% discount), and for 1,000 or more
copies is $10.00 (50% discount).
Shipping is extra. Send an e-mail
to “publications [at] cesj [dot] org”
stating how many copies you want and the street address (no P. O. Boxes) where
you want them delivered. We will get
back to you with the total cost, how to pay, and estimated delivery time. All payments must be made in advance, and
orders are placed only after payment clears.
• CESJ’s monthly executive committee meeting was
yesterday. Most attendees were able to
participate via teleconferencing.
Afterwards a lunch featuring chicken paprikash was served.
• Marketing of Freedom
Under God is going very well. Bulk
orders have come in from Canada and Australia, as well as the United
States. Review copies have been sent to
places as far away as Argentina. We’re
planning on putting together a “teacher’s guide” to help people understand
concepts that are no longer within current patterns of thought.
• September 17 was the “feast” of St. Robert
Bellarmine. Bellarmine’s political
thought was critical in the development of Pius XI’s completed doctrine of
social virtue, which is the basis of the act of social justice. Bellarmine’s thought is also believed to have
had a strong influence on America’s Founding Fathers, both directly and
indirectly, through John Locke and Algernon Sidney.
• This past Saturday Norman Kurland met with Bill Still, the
noted commentator on money. While the
monetary theory of the Just Third Way is substantially different from that used
by Mr. Still (we are “banking school” and he is “currency school”), the
four-hour meeting revealed that there are many areas in which fruitful discussion
could occur. Dave Hamill was the motive
force in setting up the meeting, and gives us all an example of how persistence
pays off.
• This week we sent a letter about Capital Homesteading to
King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands.
Some might protest that such things are a waste of time, and why should
we, who promote the sovereignty of the individual, kowtow to a “royal” who’s
only a figurehead, anyway? It’s like the
man who used to run around his house wearing nothing but a top hat. “Why don’t you wear clothes at home?”
somebody asked him. “Nobody ever comes
to see me,” he replied. “Then what’s
with the top hat?” “Well, you never
know. . . .”
• As of this morning, we have had
visitors from 56 different countries and 49 states and provinces in the United
States and Canada to this blog over the past two months. Most visitors are from
the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and India. The most
popular postings this past week were “The Fulton Sheen ‘Guy’,” “News from the
Network, Vol. 6, No. 34,” “Avoiding
Monetary Meltdown, II: Salmon P. Chase and the Greenbacks,” “Thomas Hobbes on
Private Property,” and “‘Long Lost’ Book by Fulton Sheen Rediscovered.”
Those are the happenings for this week, at least that we
know about. If you have an
accomplishment that you think should be listed, send us a note about it at
mgreaney [at] cesj [dot] org, and we’ll see that it gets into the next
“issue.” If you have a short (250-400
word) comment on a specific posting, please enter your comments in the blog —
do not send them to us to post for you.
All comments are moderated anyway, so we’ll see it before it goes up.
#30#