If Russian president Putin is wondering how to extricate himself and Russia from Ukraine without ending up slightly less than alive, he might consider the Economic Democracy Act. It probably wouldn’t get him off the hook for what he’s done, but it might mitigate the punishment, and keep him from being written off as the absolute worst ruler in the history of the world. It is, after all, one thing to be a bloodthirsty tyrant, but quite another to be an incompetent bloodthirsty tyrant:
• New Just Third Way Article. Catholic World Report has published another article, “The Road to Rerum Novarum,” by CESJ’s Director of Research investigating the roots of the Just Third Way. Although written from a “Catholic” perspective for a “Catholic” journal, the information is presented in universal language and should be useful for anyone curious about where all this came from.
• Change in IRS Filing Coming? The Internal Revenue Service is working on expanding its free electronic filing program to make it easier for far more people to use the system. There is a free electronic filing program already in place that the IRS claims could be used by up to 70% of filers, but it has generally been viewed as inferior to the commercial versions people purchase. Of course, if simplying filing requirements is a real goal, the best way to achieve it would be to implement a simplification of the tax system itself, as proposed in the Economic Democracy Act, and stop using the tax system for “social engineering” or financing economic growth, and restrict it to raising funds to defray the legitimate costs of government.
• Come Home to Russia? It may be the perfect solution to Putin’s War. Having failed to conquer Ukraine and bludgeon its people into becoming Russian, Mother Rus is beginning a campaign aimed at people who just love Putin and Russia to pieces and want to move there. Perhaps they should start with all the separatists in Eastern Ukraine, whom Ukraine might even be willing to give a little bounty or traveling money if they will go to Russia and leave Ukraine in peace. It beats the blood-drenched fiasco taking place now, anyway.
• Is the IRS in a Conspiracy Against the Country? Probably not, but the announcement that the Internal Revenue Service is going to hire 87,000 new agents and expand audits has people up in arms claiming a not-so-secret conspiracy to dominate freedom-loving people who support Trump. Of course, if people were really worried about government controlling them instead of them being in control of government, they would do better to push for adopting the Economic Democracy Act instead of worrying about conspiracies, but admittedly it is easier to blame others when you aren’t doing very well.
• Russian Economic Meltdown Averted . . . for Now. . . . and depending on who you are. The average Russian seems to be undergoing quite a bit of economic hardship, while the ones with money are having a little difficulty getting the usual luxury goods, but they’re keeping a stiff upper lip . . . especially if Putin is watching . . . and until they can get the hell out of Dodge before Putin decides to ask for more gifts. Of course, if they had the Economic Democracy Act in which everyone participated, there wouldn’t be a “special military operation” in the first place, and the country wouldn’t be experiencing the current drain of its best and brightest before Putin decides to eliminate any possible competition . . . such as car bombs gone wrong pinned on convenient suspects.
• Ignore the Man Behind the Kremlin. In the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz viewers are treated to the exposure of the Wizard as a bit of a con man . . . okay, a total con man. The dénouement comes amid shouted commands by the Wizard’s avatar to ignore the man behind the curtain who is really running things. Everything is normal. Just ignore the signs that things aren’t as they should be . . .just as in Russia today, when despite growing shortages, spreading poverty, mysterious disappearances of critics of Putin and his war, or anything else (such as enormous casualties in a war that allegedly isn’t really happening), the country is being assured that everything is A-OK. Of course, if they really wanted to make things “normal,” they would do far better to adopt the Economic Democracy Act, but maybe we shouldn’t expect too much of anyone who would follow Putin the first place.
• The Falling Euro. Although the Euro and the U.S. Dollar were originally supposed to pass at par, Keynesian economics took care of that. Keynesian economics accepts as a given that “monetary policy” is a euphemism for government control and manipulation of the currency for political ends. This requires that there be no monetary standard and that the government have the power to declare what the money is worth from day to day, thereby robbing anyone stupid enough to save. As a result, the Euro, due to the ongoing war Russia is waging in Ukraine, the Euro is worth less than the Dollar for the first time in a long time. Of course, adopting the monetary reforms of the Economic Democracy Act would go a long way toward resolving this problem, but it’s not something anyone seems to be considering.
• Experts Agree Russia Has Failed. Despite its ruinous undeclared and unprovoked war against a peaceful neighbor that had the temerity to protest earlier seizure of its sovereign territory and funding an insurgency movement, Russia has not made any substantive gains, and the whole thing has taken on aspects of a blood-drenched fiasco undertaken at the behest of an insane megalomaniac. It was evident in less than a week that the operation had failed, but Putin ground on, probably realizing he was a goner no matter what happens. Still, it’s possible that even Putin could save himself — and Russia, if he really cared about the country — by ending the war, surrendering his ill-gotten gains, and implementing the Economic Democracy Act. . . but we’re not holding our breath.
• Zelenskyy Calls for “Summit of the Future”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling for the United Nations to live up to its founding principles and help bring an end to Putin’s War against Ukraine. Still, even if the UN does something, it still leaves in place the problem of what to do about the incredible cost of the lost lies and property that can be laid at Russia’s door. We suggest the Economic Democracy Act and have been working to get word of it to Zelenskyy.
• Powell in Jackson Hole. We’ll forgo the temptation to indulge in puns about the location of the Federal Reserve’s annual retreat (and the word retreat as well), but there’s no getting away from the fact that Chairman Powell is completely clueless about the role and proper operation of a central bank. Money and credit is not a commodity, and the interest rate is not the price of it. Money is a tool by means of which you measure value and carry out transactions. This is the point of the monetary reforms in the Economic Democracy Act . . . which is probably why Powell and others refuse to look at it.
• Powell Got Some ’Splainin’ to Do. Being completely clueless (above) about how to do your job or even what the job is, is not a good thing, as Federal Reserve Chairman Powell is finding out. The “star studded cast” meeting in Jackson Hole this week is expecting Powell to give some explanation of his activities . . . and they are likely to be disappointed. (which is probably why as of this writing the Dow is dropping like a stone). Naturally, all this could have been avoided if the U.S. had adopted the Economic Democracy Act instead of continuing to make the same mistakes over and over, but what do you expect from career bureaucrats?
• What a Coincidence! In one of the most amazing coincidences in history, right after the Inflation Reduction Act announced a $7,500 tax credit for purchasing an electric automobile, electric automobile manufacturers announced an $8,000 price increase in their product! In other news, right after President Biden announced a $10,000 debt forgiveness for student debt, universities announced tuition increases of $10,000!
• Greater Reset “Book Trailers”. We have produced two ninety-second “Book Trailers” for distribution (by whoever wants to distribute them), essentially a minute and a half commercials for The Greater Reset. There are two versions of the videos, one for “general audiences” and the other for “Catholic audiences”. Take your pick.
• 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 27 different countries and 26 states, provinces, and territories in the United States and Canada to this blog over the past week. Most visitors are from the United States, Australia, Canada, Brazil and India. The most popular postings this past week in descending order were “News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 31,” “JTW Podcast: Robert Maynard Hutchins and John Dewy, Part II,” “The American Chesterton, III: The Esoteric Twenties,” “Social Justice, IV: The Characteristics of Social Justice,” and “The Time for New Wine.”
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.
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