All the signs are good regarding the need for an economic reform package along the lines of the Economic Democracy Act. The only problem is that the powers-that-be and wannabe continue to insist on doing things that have never worked and can never work:
"I'm not greedy. I just love money."
• War for Fun and Profit. Despite the sanctions and the rising prices and shortages through Russia, at least Putin and his cronies are making piles of money off of the war. No one, of course, would think of accusing Putin of invading another country and racking up tens of thousands of dead and wounded on both sides, not to mention destroying another country’s economy, leveling its cities to the ground, inciting torture, rape, looting, and murder just to line his own pockets . . . not if they want to stay alive themselves, anyway. Nor, despite promises, is he sharing the goodies with those who are fighting and dying for him. Of course, at some point even the Russian people might get tired of Putin’s “Let ’em eat nothing” attitude and rebel, but what would they replace him with? We suggest the Economic Democracy Act.
• To Russia with Fries? When McDonald’s went into Russia, the country was on the skids, but the Golden Arches were willing to take a chance that things would get better. The recent departure of Micky D’s and its replacement with “Tasty . . . or Else” was accompanied by thousands of other foreign companies, but also many Russians themselves. As described in “To Russia with Malice,” “Russia is in trouble economically, demographically, financially, and militarily. Punitive Western sanctions, as well as brain and capital drains, shred its future. Its kleptocrats and corrupt oligarchs left a long time ago with their assets, and hide in luxurious boltholes like Dubai. But since the war, others have followed suit. Hundreds of thousands of young educated Russians, and an estimated 15,000 Russian millionaires, have been moving themselves and their assets offshore this year. All of this adds up to an estimated capital outflow of $150 billion, equivalent to 10 percent of Russia’s 2021 GDP.” Given that Putin and his cronies are making big bucks off the war (above), it seems unlikely that they will voluntarily reverse this state of affairs, but if the Russian people ever get their act together, they might consider adopting the Economic Democracy Act just for sheer survival . . . which they won’t do as long as Putin is in power.
 |
| "It doesn't work, but who cares?" |
• Ukrainian Central Bank Lowers Hryvnia. Although it will hurt the average Ukrainian, the Ukrainian central bank has lowered the value of its reserve currency, the Hryvnia to stabilize its international trading position. This makes sense in today’s predominantly Keynesian paradigm, but not in the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism. Changing the value of a currency or maintaining an artificial value for it is one of the primary “tools” of Keynesian economics by means of which governments retain control over economies. Setting a fixed standard for a currency, backing it with private sector hard assets instead of government debt, and implementing a program of expanded capital ownership financed with future savings would do more to achieve a just market economy than all the Keynesian prescriptions. Sucha program can be found in the Economic Democracy Act.
 |
| That just makes a world of difference. |
• More Than Dream. India’s first president from a marginalized tribal group says that India’s poor can do more than dream now. What she means is that the fact that she was elected proves that any Indian can grow up to be president. Of course, there are millions of poor in India and only one president, so it’s rather a far-fetched dream. Plus, the role of president of India is mostly ceremonial and symbolic, rather like the British king or queen is replaced. That shouldn’t stop the new president from advocating something that will really help the poor, as there is no political risk involved. We, of course, recommend the Economic Democracy Act.
More believable than "the New Chronology"
• Everything You Know Is Wrong. What many of Putin’s supporters outside Russia might not know is the extent to which his version of alternate history guides his actions. Alternate history, which is a staple in science fiction and fantasy, is a sick reality in Putin’s Russia. According to what passes for history in Russia, a mystical force has swept through the world, wiping out traces of Russia’s true contributions to world civilization. But don’t worry . . . it gets worse: “This world view is largely based on volumes of something called "The New Chronology," which is the brainchild mainly of two Russian authors, an academic and a mathematician respectively — Anatoly Fomenko and Gleb Nosovsky. One of the key premises is that dark forces tampered with all the history books in libraries across the globe at a certain point in time, wiping out or changing real versions of events and resetting dates.” As Anna Russell used to say, we’re not making this up, you know. Truth has no meaning in Russia, which does not bode well for the ever adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• Ukraine and Inflation. Putin’s War in Ukraine has had a devastating effect on economic growth, and not just in Russia. With inflation hitting most countries hard, the central banks of the world are looking to standard Keynesian remedies that have never worked in their anxiety to bring down inflation, which most experts now agree is exactly what should not be done. Their prescription, however — end the war in Ukraine — might bring a halt to the immediate cause, but would leave the underlying problem intact. The real problem is the Keynesian monetary system by means of which governments attempt to control economic growth. In reality, the only viable solution is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Russia Faces Economic Oblivion? According to some experts, Russia faces a catastrophic decline in GDP of 40%, with only oil and gas revenues keeping the economy afloat . . . most of which are ending up in Putin’s pocket (above). This situation can last only as long as Putin has the power to force people to act in ways he wants, which depends in turn on how much the Russian people are willing to put up with to increase Putin’s dreams of glory. Once that’s gone, the whole house of cards that is the Russian economy will crumble (and may already be there), leaving the Economic Democracy Act as the only hope for the future.
• Criminal Banks? In a somewhat dubious and shortsighted move, Ukraine announced it will pursue war crimes charges against western banks that indirectly financed Russia’s war machine. Assuming the charges are true, it is still not a good thing to do. It would be far better to use creative guilt to shame them to go along with the Economic Democracy Act once Putin and his goons have been driven out of Ukraine and the country (and the world) can start getting back to normal.
• China Has Been Targeting Federal Reserve. It would hardly be surprising if true, but China is being accused of manipulating the central bank of the United States . . . which would not be possible if it were run in accordance with the principles on which it was established. This is yet one more reason to adopt the Economic Democracy Act and the monetary and tax reforms essential to its operation.
• Russian Central Bank and Risk. Given the disruption in Russia’s economy and the belief that control of the central bank is essential if government is to control the economy, it comes as no surprise that Russia’s central bank is seeking to minimize risk for Russian companies whose survival depends on Putin’s yea or nay. None of this would be a problem— or even possible — if Russia had xxx and the central bank was run in accordance with central banking principles instead of government whim, but while Putin is dictator, don’t look for it.
• 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 22 different countries and 25 states, provinces, and territories in the United States and Canada to this blog over the past week. Most visitors are from the United States, India, Canada, the United Kingdom, and France. The most popular postings this past week in descending order were “Social Justice IV: The Characteristics of Social Justice,” “Breakthrough for Democracy in St. Louis,” “How to Become President,” “News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 27,” and “Did Cardinal Ratzinger Endorse 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 and intemperate language on the part of some commentators, we removed temptation and disabled comments.
#30#
