JTW Podcast: Lech Wałęsa of Solidarność

In 1983, Lech Wałęsa of  Solidarność was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for leading the non-violent revolution that eventually led to the downfall of the Soviet Union.  Since we expect within the next month or so to release a new book that examines the concepts of personalism and solidarity as integrated into the Just Third Way, it seemed like a good idea to remind people of the events of a generation ago:

News from the Network, Vol. 12, No. 39

With most of the news this week focused on people saying and doing things that are of little or no interest to the Just Third Way of economic personalism, this week’s news items may seem a trifle removed from reality . . . at least for those readers who think that what the media report has any resemblance to reality.  For a small dose of the real thing, then, we present this week’s news items:

How Commercial Banks Create Money

In the previous posting on this subject, we looked at the idea of money, notably the definition used by Louis O. Kelso.  Today we want to look at how people think the banking system operates as opposed to the way it actually does operate.

Is Liberty Diabolical?

A few days ago we commented on a pair of articles that appeared on the website of Catholic World Report.  The articles were “Thomism and Political Liberalism, Part I,” and “Thomism and Political Liberalism, Part II” by Dr. Joseph G. Trabbic, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Ave Maria University.  We thought the articles were okay, but could have been better, so we offered a comment:

Thoughts on Money

There is an old joke when someone says money is not the most important thing in the world.  Love is . . . it just so happens that the one telling the joke loves money. . . .

Solving Homelessness with Louis Kelso

Actually, this should be titled, "Solving Homelessness With Louis Kelso's Ideas In a Practical Way That Takes Into Account the Demands of Human Dignity and the Common Good," but it wouldn't all fit in the subject line.  That being the case, here is a video shot a while back, an episode of Paula Gloria's Farther Down the Rabbit Hole:

News from the Network, Vol. 12, No. 38

If you can tear yourself away from reading the latest news flashes about why Hollywood no longer casts Rocky Schwartz in films, how tuna instead of salmon is causing global warming, or why we need to bring wooly mammoths (or maybe it was Sheb Wooley) back to life, here are this week’s news items from the Just Third Way:

Church Versus State

As we saw in the previous posting on this subject, we discovered that Monsignor John A. Ryan of the Catholic University of America (1869-1945), based his interpretation of Catholic social thought on socialist theories developed in the 1830s and 1840s.  This is despite the fact that he claimed Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum as his inspiration.  The result was an interpretation of Catholic social teaching that rejected both faith and reason in favor of the tenets of “the Democratic Religion” of socialism.

An Economic Revolution

On April 14, 1865, an actor by the name of John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865) entered Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC during a performance of Our American Cousin featuring Laura Keene (1826-1873) in the role of “Florence Trenchard.”  Booth, a pro-slavery Confederate sympathizer, shot and mortally wounded President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) four days after the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert Edward Lee (1807-1870).

Dispelling Some Monetary Myths

One of the key elements of the Just Third Way is monetary reform, to which is added essential tax reforms.  The problem is that very few people understand money.  Today we take a look at three concepts about which many people have ideas that may not be entirely accurate, monetization, fractional reserve banking, and the Quantity Theory of Money.

Just Third Way Video on Say's Law

Here's a short video we found on Say's Law of Markets, which is pretty good.  Of course, we might be saying that only because it sounds as if the fellow in it has been reading this blog or other Just Third Way materials.  Be that as it may, overlook the somewhat terrible jokes and go for the substance:

News from the Network, Vol. 12, No. 37

We are not entirely sure of which of the minor deities governs when Friday the thirteenth pops up, but it’s our own fault that it occasionally coincides with the weekly Friday news roundup.  As events demonstrate, however, there is no connection between bad luck and what day of the week or even number it is, since there seems to be a number of good things happening:

“An Unbelievable Decision”

As we saw in the previous posting on this subject, the landmark case Scott v. Sandford (the notorious Dred Scott decision) resulted in a change in understanding the whole basis of the United States Constitution.  It was changed from a grant of rights from people to create the State, to a grant of rights from the State to create persons.

A Few Thoughts on Solidarity

While researching an upcoming book on economic personalism we delved a little more deeply into the subject of solidarity than we had previously.  This is natural, for solidarity and personalism are inextricably linked with the social doctrine of Pope Pius XI on which the Just Third Way is, in part, based.

“A Yoke Almost of Slavery”

As we saw in the previous posting on this subject, Alexis de Tocqueville predicted in Democracy in America that the failure to resolve the issue of slavery and the treatment of Native Americans could undermine the foundations of American liberal democracy.  Nor were the popes unaware of the dangers of a “democracy” that permitted some people to be treated like things.

Norman Kurland on Russell Williams's "The Challenge"

In this 29-minute interview from December 12, 2016, Norman Kurland explains the Just Third Way, a new economic paradigm that arose largely from the ideas of Louis Kelso. Kurland explains to host Russell Williams how this justice-based approach could support democracy and help us address many of the problems facing communities, nations and the world.

News from the Network, Vol. 12, No. 36

What with Hurricane Dorian tearing up the Islands and the East Coast, and Keynesian economics tearing up the world economy, not to mention the economic antics of China that is increasingly relying on expanding its bubble economy at everyone else’s expense, it’s easy to overlook what else is going on:

A CPA’s Perspective on Pope Francis

As a Certified Public Accountant, this writer has carried out audits on a number of organizations.  This is not a Bad Thing for the organization or institution being audited.  As we CPAs are aware, although people often express fear and even terror of an audit, our job is actually something similar to a medical checkup for an organization.  Yes, like physicians we can be called in when something is wrong, but it’s better to have regular checkups to see how you’re doing and see if there’s something you should be doing better or differently.

Democracy in America

As we saw in the previous posting on this subject, for centuries a constant theme of reformers and philosophers was the importance of owning capital to be able to participate fully in society as a “political animal,” i.e., an individual with rights and a social nature.  The problem was that methods of finance virtually dictated that ownership of capital would be concentrated, unless a source of “free” capital became available — which in Europe was all-but impossible.

The Modernist Monsignor

We closed the previous posting on this subject with the comment that “America’s Prince of Cranks” — Ignatius Loyola Donnelly (1831-1901) — had influenced the interpretation and understanding of Catholic social teaching, and thus the natural law “written in the hearts of all men.”  At first glance this seems rather odd, since Donnelly left the Catholic Church and took up spiritualism, was a socialist, influenced theosophy, and may have inspired certain features of Nazi racial ideology.

JTW Podcast: Message to the Hong Kong Dissidents

Purely by coincidence, CESJ recorded and scheduled a podcast addressed to the dissidents in Hong Kong the day before the latest phase of the crackdown by the authorities began.  Many people have been “detained” (a euphemism for arrested), and some may “disappear” as so many others have before.  There is, however, a solution that the powers-that-be might not be considering: