How to Read a Social Encyclical

Contrary to popular opinion, Rerum Novarum was not the first social encyclical, nor did Catholic social teaching as such begin with Pope Leo XIII.  The social doctrine of the Catholic Church, of course, is as old as the Church itself.  It was not until the early nineteenth century, however, that social teachings were treated as a specialized area of study.

JTW Podcast: Our Global Justice Movement

 

This week host Dave Hamill has a conversation with Dan Parker of the Global Justice Movement . . . you know, the “Global Justice Movement” we mention once or twice on this blog.  Dan hails from Whitecourt in Alberta, Canada, where he comes out of the social credit movement.

News from the Network, Vol. 13, No. 26

Are you ready yet for a sane economy and social order?  Or do you think you can stick it out with the status quo a little longer?  If your mind still isn’t made up, maybe this will help bring you to a more reasonable frame of mind:

Distributism and Economic Personalism, Part II

In our last episode (i.e., the previous posting on this subject) we mentioned that when we got around to addressing this subject again that we’d try and get to the point.  So, let’s ask again, “Are distributism and the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism compatible?”  Our starting point for today’s discussion is G.K. Chesterton’s description of distributism as a policy of widely distributed private ownership of capital, with a preference for small, family-owned farms and artisan businesses.

A Commons Question

A few weeks ago we had a question about “the Commons” that, prior to the Industrial Revolution and the enclosure movement, were a (if you’ll excuse the term) common feature of everyday life for many people.  We get different forms of this question periodically, so we figured it would be a good time to answer it in a blog posting.  The question?  Were the Commons an example of agrarian socialism, i.e., land owned in common by every member of a town or village?

Distributism and Economic Personalism, Part I

Every once in a while those of us who promote what we call the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism are asked whether what we’re talking about is compatible with “distributism.”  The quick and easy answer is, “That depends on what you mean by distributism.”  Frankly, quite a few people see no difference between distributism and Fabian, democratic, or Christian socialism.

Just Third Way Podcast: Economic Democracy

One of the problems associated with the continued lockdown of life (we mean, aside from all the other problems too numerous to mention. . . .) is the difficulty of trying to come up with something new and interesting for the weekly Just Third Way podcast . . . or reasonable facsimile thereof.  Obviously, we'd prefer all new material each week, but that ain't gonna happen with the resources at our disposal.  Fortunately, however, we do have a good supply of interesting material that, if not spot-on the Just Third Way, is related to it.

News from the Network, Vol. 13, No. 25

It is extremely difficult, but we will try to confine our weekly news items to “Just Third Way-specific” matter.  We realize it’s becoming increasingly popular to speak in despairing terms of “the New Normal” and moan about how bad things are going to be from now on, but that’s because people keep insisting on addressing the same old problems in the same old ways, instead of implementing the Just Third Way:

How Not to End Racism or Be Socially Just

As regular readers of this blog are aware, we have examined the thought and works of noted social justice advocate Msgr. John A. Ryan (1869-1945) of the Catholic University of America.  We wanted to measure the consistency of Msgr. Ryan’s social justice doctrine with the Just Third Way understanding of social justice.  We also looked at Msgr. Ryan’s activities in regard to Ven. Fulton J. Sheen, who seems to have been a special object of attention by Msgr. Ryan.

Eternal Vigilance Committees?

Although it’s still being hashed out, the whole “Defund the Police” movement demands some kind of response.  At first glance, it sounds like a typical hysterical overreaction to an injustice or some kind of immoral behavior, i.e., “throwing the baby out with the bath.”  In response to the abuses of private ownership in capitalism, socialism calls for the abolition of private property.  Because some people abused alcohol, the 18^th Amendment and the Volstead Act banned alcohol after nearly a century of effort.

The Dignity of Ownership

As we saw in the previous posting on this subject, we began this discussion a month ago after seeing an article in a webzine about the dignity of work, phrased in such a way as to suggest that it was work itself, rather than the human person doing the work, that takes priority.

JTW Podcast: The Challenge with Russell Williams

For today's Just Third Way podcast we have a special treat in store for you.  Today we have an episode of The Challenge with your host Russell Williams from December 27, 2012 featuring Dr. Norman Kurland, president of the Center for Economic and Social Justice as his guest.  Enjoy!

News from the Network, Vol. 13, No. 24

We are tempted to form a “Capital Homesteading Pool” to gamble on which leader(s) in which country(ies) will wise up first and implement Capital Homesteading or some other form of economic empowerment legislation instead of figuring out ways to spend more money that doesn’t exist.  We’re not against gambling — as recreation — but the idea of linking proposals for genuinely productive activity in any way to gambling is more than a little off-putting.  After all, we already have Wall Street and Congress, so why have another way to gamble?  Instead, here’s what this week has brought in the way of the Just Third Way:

The War Against Fulton Sheen (Continued)

As we saw in the previous posting on this subject, Msgr. John A. Ryan was the instigator behind the sabotage of the academic career of Fulton J. Sheen at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, in the late 1920s and early 1930s.  Nor (as we shall see) did Msgr. Ryan confine his campaign against Sheen to Academia.  As time went on, he was active in extracurricular activities intended to blacken Sheen’s name.

Getting Down to Solutions

A while ago on June 3 there was an interesting piece on the causes of the “civil unrest” following the death of George Floyd.  An article titled “The Solution” by Dale Ahlquist of “The Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton” appeared in Catholic World Report.

The War Against Fulton Sheen

As we saw in the previous posting on this subject, there were two important stages in the development of social justice as understood in Aristotelian-Thomist philosophy.  The first was in the 1830s when, in response to the “new things” of socialism, modernism, and esotericism, Msgr. Aloysius Taparelli developed a principle of social justice.

Podcast: Getting (Meta) Physical, Part II

For today's podcast (or videocast), we present the second part of Mortimer Adler's talk on Aristotle's Metaphysics.  It's not very long and you might learn something:

News from the Network, Vol. 13, No. 23

Can anyone explain to us why, when the economy has been shut down, unemployment is at an all-time high, cities are being torn apart by rioting, looting, and burning, that the stock market is rocketing skyward?  We just checked: as of a moment ago as of this writing, the Dow was up 750 points.  No, you read that right, it’s not a typo.  And yet:

Interlude: A Short History of Social Justice

As described in the Wikipedia — which, despite its reputation, has its moments . . . this not being one of them — Msgr. John A. Ryan (1869-1945) of the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC “was a leading Catholic priest who was a noted moral theologian, professor, author and advocate of social justice.”

A Baffled Response

While the most frequent justification given for the explosion of violence accompanying the protests over the murder of George Floyd is a concern for racial justice, it is difficult for some of us to understand what looting and destroying black- (and white- and yellow- and green- and purple- and . . . ) owned businesses, burning churches, desecrating memorials, etc., etc., etc., has to do with racial justice, or anything else except rage.

“A Time of Great Trial”

As we saw in the previous posting on this subject, the rise of Fulton Sheen at the Catholic University of America in the 1920s could only be called meteoric.  Not surprisingly, the advent of someone so obviously intellectually gifted not only shook up the faculty, it seems to have been taken as an actual threat, especially by those of a less orthodox and more modernist bent, such as Msgr. John A. Ryan.

JTW Podcast: Let's Get (Meta) Physical

In today's Just Third Way pod/videocast, we get metaphysical with Mortimer J. Adler, part one of two in which he discusses Aristotle's Metaphysics.  If all goes well, we will have part two of two next week.