Although we start off today’s news items with something only marginally related to the Economic Democracy Act, once again we’ve discovered the centrality of widespread ownership through fundamental monetary and tax reform to be key to restoring a society that is not only just, but one in which people can actually live . . . and the Economic Democracy Act is essential for that:
• The Greater Reset Imprimatur. We have received notice that our book, The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Law, published by TAN Books, a Catholic publisher, has been granted the “imprimatur.” The imprimatur, which means “let it be printed,” is a declaration that a book has been examined and is free of doctrinal and moral error. It is NOT an endorsement, nor does it indicate that the bishop granting it even agrees with what is said . . . but when the Spanish Inquisition comes bursting in the door, we can prove that the book is not heretical in thought, word, or deed . . . of course that bit about “fanatical devotion to the pope” might cause a bit of concern for an interfaith group, but since the book isn’t about doctrine but natural law, we’ll sneak by. Cardinal Fang won’t have to put us in comfy chairs.
• Paying for Putin’s War. There is growing sentiment — or an increasingly outraged sense of justice — that Ukraine should not have to pay for Putin’s War. This is a legitimate demand . . . but with a few pitfalls. First, while every Russian who supports Putin or acquiesces in his dictatorship is in part responsible for the war, there are many who have protested and have suffered for it. Any indemnity or reparations paid by Russia, however, will fall upon all the Russian people, as the one man most responsible, Putin, doesn’t have enough wealth to pay for all the damage that has been done, even though he is reportedly the biggest thief and richest man in human history. The last attempt to make a country or group of countries pay the entire cost of a war, World War I, didn’t go quite as planned, and was viewed as patently unjust even by some receiving reparations. More than any other single thing, the perceived injustice of the reparations led to the rise of Hitler, to say nothing of kick-starting the hyperinflation of the 1920s. Two considerations, therefore, are of paramount importance in this regard. One, the reparations must not be regarded as inherently unjust, and two, they must be such that they can actually be paid without inflicting undue harm on Russia. That is why the Economic Democracy Act, which would give a way for Ukraine to finance rebuilding the country, is also a good, even essential idea for Russia. First, it would enable Russia to make reasonable reparation. It might take a century, given the scale of damage inflicted, but it could be done without harming the Russian economy. More important, it would spread out power, both economic and political, making it much more difficult for someone like Putin — or someone worse, if possible — to seize power.
• Will the U.S. Economy Collapse? Quick answer — yes . . . if the assumptions that govern the current ramshackle Keynesian mess remain unchanged. The fact is that if the current practices of the government and the capital markets are not reformed by adopting the Economic Democracy Act, the United States and the world are looking at an economic catastrophe of cosmic proportions. To be blunt, governments can’t keep on spending money they don’t have like drunken sailors on leave, producers can’t keep producing what consumers can no longer afford, and the accumulation of massive wealth just for the sake of the accumulation itself must stop.
• Keynes and Consumer Credit. As we hinted in the item immediately above, and contrary to the principles (such as they are) of Keynesian economics, governments can’t keep on spending without taxing, and consumers can’t keep on consuming without producing. Something is going to have to give . . . and it may be starting now with the anticipated rise in interest rates on consumer credit cards. The weakness of the Keynesian system is no more evident than in the fact that it not only fails to build productive capacity into most people, it actually discourages it by forcing them into the wage and welfare system, which makes it advantageous for owners of capital to decrease the number of workers and encourages what Jean-Baptiste Say called “barren consumptions,” i.e., consuming without producing. The simple fact is that government spending for World War II kept the Keynesian system functioning from the 1940s to the 1960s, the widespread use of consumer credit cards kept it going from the 1960s to the mid-1970s, massive spending for social welfare kept it going from the 1980s to the 2010s, while stock market speculation has kept things going until now . . . and all at an incredible cost in mountains of unrepayable government debt that amounts to tens of trillions of dollars in the U.S. alone. The only viable solution is the Economic Democracy Act which would turn every consumer into a producer and generate the tax revenues to liquidate otherwise unrepayable government debt in as little as a century, if not sooner.
• “Solution” to High Gas Prices? One of the more idiotic “solutions” to inflation is to bring down prices by means of an economic downturn . . . caused by the high prices! The solution to an economic downturn in Keynesian economics, of course, is to induce inflation! Think of it as job security for economists: induce inflation to spur economic growth signified by inflation (sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy), then bring down inflation by stifling economic growth . . . so you can turn around the economy by inducing inflation! Sheer brilliance! Or we just adopt the Economic Democracy Act, but why make sense?
• Not as It Was. According to the head of Russia’s central bank, the Russian economy won’t be as it was because of Putin’s War . . . which Russia insists isn’t a war, there was no invasion, and that Ukraine and NATO caused the non-war by engaging in criminal acts. Of course, Putin keeps insisting that the sanctions and the war aren’t having any effect on Russia, and at the same time is actually strengthening the Russian economy, so on, so forth, blah, blah. We agree that the Russian economy won’t ever be as it was before Putin’s “special military operation,” but whether it will be better or worse depends on whether they continue Putin’s psychotic system, or they get rid of Putin and his legacy and adopt the Economic Democracy Act. It’s up to them.
• Russia’s Annual Economic Conference. To the stunned amazement of Russian experts, Putin’s War in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed by countries condemning the Russian dictator’s effort at world conquest appear to be having some effect on the Russian economy, although not as much as they could if people weren’t buying Russian gas and oil. Still, Russia is making noises that everything might not be quite as rosy as they make out and are suggesting it might be time to rethink their export policy.
• Long-Awaited Russian Default May Soon Be Here. It’s not certain, but Russia is currently struggling to service its sovereign debt and is that much closer to default. What this means is up for grabs, but it does tend to cast some doubts on how well the Russian economy is doing trying to support its invasion of Ukraine and the threats that have been made against a number of other countries. Of course, adopting the Economic Democracy Act could easily make sovereign debt itself a moot point, but do9esn’t zseem to be occurring to the powers that be in Russia or elsewhere.
• Russian Economy Needs a Reset. In another indication that the Russian economy is in much worse shape than the powers-that-be are letting on, the head of the Russian central bank is calling for an “economic perestroika” to shift away from reliance on exports for keeping the economy running. Of course, if they don’t build both production and consumption power into every Russian, they might as well just stop where they are, because otherwise only esport will keep the economy afloat . . . and then only as long as other countries continue to exist. The problem with world conquest is that once you’ve done it, there are no other countries. Perhaps it’s time to consider adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
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| Frederick Jackson Turner |
• Is the U.S. Losing Its Constitutional Democracy? According to past U.S. president Bill Clinton, the United States is close to losing its constitutional democracy. Mr. Clinton may be a bit behind the curve on this one, although his conclusion may be correct. The fact is that Frederick Jackson Turner said the end of American democracy was near in the 1890s when he declared that the end of “free” land meant the end of American democracy. The fact is, that a politically free people requires an economically free people, so that if the goal is to restore and preserve American constitutional democracy, the first order of business should be to adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• The Greater Reset. CESJ’s new book by members of CESJ’s core group, The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Law is, of course, available from the publisher, TAN Books, an imprint of Saint Benedict Press, and has already gotten a top review on that website. It can also be obtained from Barnes and Noble, as well as Amazon, or by special order from your local “bricks and mortar” bookstore. The Greater Reset is the only book of which we’re aware on “the Great Reset” that presents an alternative instead of simply warning of the dangers inherent in a proposal that is contrary to natural law. It describes reality, rather than a Keynesian fantasy world. Please note that The Greater Reset is NOT a CESJ publication as such, and enquiries about quantity discounts and wholesale orders for resale must be sent to the publisher, Saint Benedict Press, NOT to CESJ.
• Help Joe Walk Again for Economic Justice. Just a reminder, if you haven’t already done so, to visit the GoFundMe campaign and consider making a contribution and spreading word out among your social media networks. It’s off to a good start, but it’s still just a start.
• Hortense and Her Whos. In case you’ve been wondering how you might advance the Just Third Way by introducing it to legislators at any and all levels of government, we’ve made it easy for you, with the “Hortense Hears Three Whos“ initiative. Visit the explanatory website, and consider downloading the postcard to send to people in government. Don’t worry if you think they won’t be open to it, as the postcard is intended to get them to open their eyes.
• Economic Personalism Landing Page. A landing page for CESJ’s latest publication, Economic Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person, has been created and can be accessed by clicking on this link. Everyone is encouraged to visit the page and send the link out to their networks.
• Economic Personalism. When you purchase a copy of Economic Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person, be sure you post a review after you’ve read it. It is available on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble at the cover price of $10 per copy. You can also download the free copy in .pdf available from the CESJ website. If you’d like to order in bulk (i.e., ten or more copies) at the wholesale price, send an email to publications@cesj.org for details. CESJ members get a $2 rebate per copy on submission of proof of purchase. Wholesale case lots of 52 copies are available at $350, plus shipping (whole case lots ONLY). Prices are in U.S. dollars.
• Sensus Fidelium Videos, Update. CESJ’s series of videos for Sensus Fidelium are doing very well, with over 155,000 total views. The latest Sensus Fidelium video is “The Five Levers of Change.” The video is part of the series on the book, Economic Personalism. The latest completed series on “the Great Reset” can be found on the “Playlist” for the series. The previous series of sixteen videos on socialism is available by clicking on the link: “Socialism, Modernism, and the New Age,” along with some book reviews and other selected topics. For “interfaith” presentations to a Catholic audience they’ve proved to be popular, edging up to 150,000 views to date. They aren’t really “Just Third Way videos,” but they do incorporate a Just Third Way perspective. You can access the playlist for the entire series. The point of the videos is to explain how socialism and socialist assumptions got such a stranglehold on the understanding of the role of the State and thus the interpretation of Catholic social teaching, and even the way non-Catholics and even non-Christians understand the roles of Church, State, and Family, and the human persons place in society.
• Shop online and support CESJ’s work! Did you know that by making your purchases through the Amazon Smile program, Amazon will make a contribution to CESJ? Here’s how: First, go to https://smile.amazon.com/. Next, sign in to your Amazon account. (If you don’t have an account with Amazon, you can create one by clicking on the tiny little link below the “Sign in using our secure server” button.) Once you have signed into your account, you need to select CESJ as your charity — and you have to be careful to do it exactly this way: in the space provided for “Or select your own charitable organization” type “Center for Economic and Social Justice Arlington.” If you type anything else, you will either get no results or more than you want to sift through. Once you’ve typed (or copied and pasted) “Center for Economic and Social Justice Arlington” into the space provided, hit “Select” — and you will be taken to the Amazon shopping site, all ready to go.
• Blog Readership. We have had visitors from 31 different countries and 28 states, provinces, and territories in the United States and Canada to this blog over the past week. Most visitors are from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, and Germany. The most popular postings this past week in descending order were “Did Cardinal Ratzinger Endorse Socialism?” “The Purpose of Production,” “And the Money? Good Question,” “News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 21,” and “G.K. Chesterton v. Modernism and Socialism.”
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 well see that it gets into the next “issue.” Due to imprudent language on the part of some commentators, we removed temptation and disabled comments.
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