News from the Network, Vol. 12, No. 13

This past week seems to have been a “Justice University” week.  A number of projects relating to that endeavor have been advanced materially, and relationships are being built.  We’re also seeing increasing evidence that the world needs the Just Third Way, and for many reasons:

Why Modern Monetary Theory is Illogical

“Modern Monetary Theory” or “MMT” is the theoretical framework for virtually all monetary policy in the world today.  Even those who reject MMT do so within the context of the very system they reject.

Freedom Under God

It is probably safe to say that at no time in living memory has there been less true human freedom. Even the idea of freedom has decayed to the point where it is effectively meaningless for most people.

The Four Pillars of a Just Market Economy

In the previous posting on this subject, we looked at the principles of economic justice, 1) Participation, 2) Distribution, and 3) Social Justice.  These, we believe, are the essential building blocks of an economically just society.

Just Third Way Special Video Broadcasts

For this week’s “Electronic Outreach,” we thought we’d try something different.  Last week we launched a new video, “People and Things,” a two-minute production that “baits the hook” so to speak and gets people interested in learning more about the Just Third Way.  We realized we had a number of short videos, none of them longer than a few minutes, that people weren’t seeing only because they didn't know about them.    So, staring off with the new video, here’s a convenient “play list” for those of you who like your edutainment in small pieces:

News from the Network, Vol. 12, No. 12

There has been a great deal of progress made this past week in advancing our understanding of how the Just Third Way can help get the world out of the situation it is in and that offers a viable alternative to bankrupt (and bankrupting) Keynesian theories that have resulted in mountains of unserviceable debt in virtually every country in the world.  One message of the Just Third Way that today’s politicians need to take to heart is that it doesn’t have to be this way:

The Three Principles of Economic Justice

In the previous posting on this subject we noted that, having defined the State’s role in the economy in rather broad terms, we still needed to come up with the principles that should guide all  participants in the market if we want to have a justly structured economic order.  One thing to keep in mind, of course, is that (as Daniel Webster said) “Power naturally and necessarily follows property.”  If we want common human dignity respected, we cannot vest controlling power — property — in the State or anywhere other than every child, woman, and man.

“A New Conception of Society and of the State”

In 1825 a small book was published that was to have enormous consequences.  The book was Le Nouveau Christianisme, “The New Christianity,” the posthumous work of Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon (1760-1825).

What Does “Democracy” Mean?

In the previous posting on this subject we looked at the necessity for any type of organized human activity to have clear and understandable rules in order to be just or even functional.  There must, in fact, be a recognition and implementation of the democratic ideal.

Just Third Way Podcast No. 50

Recently Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said “We should be excited about automation, because what it could potentially mean is more time educating ourselves, more time creating art, more time investing in and investigating the sciences, more time focused on invention, more time going to space, more time enjoying the world that we live in, because not all creativity needs to be bonded by wage.”

News from the Network, Vol. 12, No. 11

Somehow, today shaped up to be “Fabian Friday.”  It wasn’t planned, it just turned out that way.  It is astonishing, though, how often we find news articles from Days Gone By that contradict “what everybody knows,” e.g., the claim that Father Edward McGlynn, who advocated socialism and was excommunicated for disobedience in 1887, “never recanted” his socialist views, proving that the Catholic Church either never condemned socialism or changed its teachings on private property.   According to the New York Times and a large number of other newspapers, however, Fr. McGlynn recanted on January 19, 1894.  And on to other Media Mythbusters:

The Social Justice of . . . Adam Smith???

As we saw in the previous posting on this subject, human beings are by nature what Aristotle called “political animals.”  That is, each human being is an individual who by nature associates with other individuals within a structured social context or environment, and it is within that environment that people ordinarily acquire and develop virtue.

A New Vision for Ireland?

On April 24, 2016 Economic Justice Media, an imprint of the interfaith think tank, the Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ), published Easter Witness: From Broken Dream to a New Vision for Ireland.  There were many good books published about the Easter Rising during the centenary year, all of them well worth reading, so this volume from a small publisher got overlooked.

The Three Hands of Law

Every once in a while a Faithful Reader gives us an idea for a blog posting or two, which tends to make our life a little easier as it saves us from having to think up something on our own.  This posting on “the Three Hands of the Law” is one such, so we have to “hand” someone else the credit . . . get it?  (We’re assuming the Faithful Reader will . . . and not throw anything too heavy. . . .)

Just Third Way Podcast No. 49

This week we have the second half of an interview with renowned binary economist and author Dr. Robert H.A. Ashford.  Dr. Ashford teaches law and binary economics at the University of Syracuse law school, and is the co-author of Binary Economics: The New Paradigm (Lanham, Maryland: The University Press of America, 1999):

News from the Network, Vol. 12, No. 10

Be prepared for a large leap in the Dow today, probably ’way up, but it could also plunge.  No, that’s not satire, unfortunately.  It’s just the way the Wall Street gambling casino operates.  “Recession signs are increasing” say the pundits, so gamblers might start bidding up prices in order to sell short (most likely) in a later adjustment, or may lock in profits now from having gone long earlier.  The latter is less likely, because the recent decline would decrease profits and a sell-off would drive prices down even more.  If you want to outguess the market, however, just flip a coin . . . or start working on implementing the Just Third Way:

Bringing McGlynn to Heel

As we saw in the previous posting on this subject, the agrarian socialist Henry George and the renegade priest Father Edward McGlynn took the opportunity offered by the issuance of Rerum Novarum in 1891 as the perfect chance to get back into the public eye.  Simply by claiming that they were again being persecuted by the Catholic Church, the pair was able to tap into the anti-Catholicism always bubbling under the surface of American life.

A Just Third Way to Finance Green Infrastructure

As we saw in the previous posting on this subject, there is a problem with having government pay for infrastructure . . . especially when we expect government to pay for everything else!  Of course, what is really at issue is that “the government” doesn’t actually pay for anything.  Either it collects taxes or borrows money . . . which it is supposed to repay by collecting taxes.

Further Adventures of George and McGlynn

As we saw in the previous posting on this subject, with the sudden eclipse of the agrarian socialist Henry George and the renegade priest Father Edward McGlynn, there was no longer any need for Pope Leo XIII to issue an encyclical exclusively on “the Land Question,” i.e., whether private ownership of land is legitimate according to natural law and Catholic teaching.  It was, moreover, obvious that previous attempts by Leo XIII and previous popes to counter the dangers of socialism, modernism, and the New Age had been ineffective.

Just Third Way Podcast

This week we have a special treat in store on the Just Third Way podcast: the first part of an interview with renowned binary economist and author Dr. Robert H.A. Ashford.  Dr. Ashford teaches law and binary economics at the University of Syracuse law school, and is the co-author of Binary Economics: The New Paradigm (Lanham, Maryland: The University Press of America, 1999):

News from the Network, Vol. 12, No. 09

Things are still moving forward on the communications front, with a number of projects coming nearer to fruition.  The video short is almost ready, and some “book trailers” are being test marketed — and we’ve even gotten one prospective volunteer as a result of viewing one of the pilot videos already!  In other news: