The increasingly surreal world situation makes it ever more
clear that, of all the various proposals that have been made, and (especially)
those that have been implemented, only Capital Homesteading has the potential
to deliver economic justice for all.
Everything else focuses exclusively on direct action to ameliorate the
effects of problems, rather than dealing with the underlying causes of the
problems — an individualistic or collectivist approach, rather than a truly
political or systemic approach.
This is because only the Just Third Way as applied in
Capital Homesteading integrates both the act of social justice and the three
principles of economic justice. The act
of social justice is the means to reconcile individual ethics and social
ethics, answering the question of whether it is possible to be both a good
person and a good citizen with a resounding “Yes!”
How? By organizing
and, as members of a social unit, a group, acting directly on the institutional
environment of the pólis, the
political unit: the common good. In this
way our institutions can be brought into closer conformity with basic human
nature and carry out their proper task of helping each person to become more
fully human.
If that’s a little too deep for you, perhaps you might find
a specific project that appeals to you and for which you might want to
volunteer your time and talent to help bring about a Capital Homestead Act at
the earliest possible date:
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| The Integrity of the Family |
• CESJ’s president,
Norman Kurland, gave a presentation in Louisville, Kentucky, this past Saturday. The significance of the event for the Just
Third Way is that the organization, “Descendants of American Slaves” (DAS), has
informally committed itself to advancing the Just Third Way, particularly the
enactment of a Capital Homestead Act at the earliest possible date. The DAS may have the “people power” that can
advance the cause of economic justice for all, possibly by rallying numbers of
people at the Federal Reserve on (or about) April 15, 2015, to push for the
monetary and tax reforms essential to the implementation of a Capital Homestead
Act. They appear to have an inherent
understanding of the fact that you are either an owner, or are effectively
owned by others: “Own or Be Owned.”
The DAS may also wish to join in the effort to present the Just Third
Way at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in
September 2015 (below), where, if successful, key individuals and organizations
will be introduced to the potential of the Just Third Way as applied in Capital
Homesteading to solve the systemic problems that have undermined the integrity
of all families throughout the world.
• Guy Stevenson, “the
Fulton Sheen Guy,” will be a guest on the November 27, 2015 edition of Fiat
TV’s “Hungry for More” show, hosted by Allan J. Smith. Full details can be found by following the
link. Al says, “Looking forward
to sharing a few stories with the Sheen ‘Guy’.”
• Sales of CESJ’s
latest “Paradigm Paper,” The Political
Animal: Economic Justice and the Sovereignty of the Human Person, are still
doing well, with a small burst of sales this month. The
Political Animal, like all CESJ publications, is available in bulk at
substantial savings. With the 20%
discount applicable to bulk sales (i.e.,
ten or more copies of a single title), a full case of 50 is $400, plus
shipping. Enquire at “publications [at]
cesj [dot] org” for details and cost of shipping bulk/wholesale orders. Individual copies are available now on Amazon, and on Barnes and Noble. Please
note: CESJ does not sell retail.
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| Philosopher of the Year? |
• We believe we may
soon have a video to launch the Campaign for Distributive Justice. Deacon Joseph Gorini has produced a number of
short videos (here's a sample of his work), and has expressed willingness to help us out. If successful, the first year of the Campaign
will fund a series of events leading up to the World Meeting of Families, a
booth at the event, and possibly an “extracurricular activity” to introduce
basic concepts of the Just Third Way to key individuals and organizations. Also in the budget for the first year are
educational materials to “teach the teachers” about the Just Third Way as a
foundation for Capital Homesteading, and an in-depth study about how the great
shift occurred that took economic and political matters out of the realm of
reason illuminated and guided by faith, and put them in to the realm of faith
alone. This resulted in what Mortimer
Adler claimed is one of the ten worst philosophical mistakes of the modern age:
the confusion of knowledge and opinion, and basing things on the will rather
than the intellect — a sure recipe for totalitarianism and chaos, as the
solidarist political scientist and jurist Heinrich Rommen pointed out.
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| Scenic Guatemala |
• CESJ Board Member Joseph Recinos is visiting
CESJ this week, but will be returning to Guatemala on Sunday, where he hopes to
meet with key people involved in economic development. Guatemala would be a perfect test case for
Capital Homesteading — as would, of course, any other country or region
concerned with fostering economic development in which all can participate.
• As of this morning, we have had
visitors from 49 different countries and 47 states and provinces in the United
States and Canada to this blog over the past two months. Most visitors are from
the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, India, and Australia. The most
popular postings this past week were “Aristotle on Private Property,” “Thomas
Hobbes on Private Property,” “Halloween Horror Special: The Faith that Ate
Reason,” “Poverty and Freedom,” and “In Your Face.”
Those are the happenings for this week, at least those 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, so we’ll see it before it goes up.
#30#