This week’s news items are again a brief chronicle of dumb government tricks seemingly validated by failed Keynesian economics. Again, as usual, we believe most if not all of these issues could be solved by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• The Crazy Tipping Tradition. Every so often there’s a news story about someone leaving a huge tip, with varying results. This are usually heartwarming, etc., but there’s a dark side that is never mentioned. That is, it builds an unconscious expectation in the minds of servers and others that an outrageous reward is somehow due, plus it reinforces a system in which many people rely on inadequate wages supplemented with welfare benefits and surprise gifts to survive instead of being productive in ways that other people value. Adopting the Economic Democracy Act would go a long way toward solving the problem.
• Fund Public Pensions by Abolishing Private Pensions. In another genius move, some lawmakers are suggesting abolishing tax benefits for 401(k)s, IRAs, and so on, to be able to channel more money into Social Security . . . which was instituted due to the inadequacy of private sector efforts. This is not merely robbing Peter to pay Paul, as the article suggests, but sabotaging individual lives to provide more money for feckless politicians to spend on their pet projects. It assumes that the State is the first recourse in running people’s lives instead of a last resort; all people are to be made “mere creatures of the state.” To counter this, it is essential to adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Is the Federal Reserve a “Criminal Organization”? According to Robert Kiyosaki “‘Sick and tired of hearing “experts” ask, “What is the Fed doing?” The Fed is the problem. The Fed is a criminal organization. The Fed has destroyed the economy, made the poor and middle class poorer and bailed out their rich banking friends’.” He doesn’t stop there, however. “According to Kiyosaki, since the dollar’s decoupling from the gold standard, it has become ‘fake money’ — a government IOU that can be produced in unlimited quantities, thus eroding its value over time.” Kiyosaki is right . . . mostly, and about the problem, not the solution. He is, stuck in the badly flawed “Currency Principle” and thinks a return to the gold standard is the key. It’s a positive move up to a point but is not the solution. Only the Economic Democracy Act and a return to the Banking Principle has the potential to solve the problem.
• Japan Downgrades Economic Projections. In common with every other economy in the world based on the Currency Principle and Keynesian economics, Japan is facing a bleak economic future. Saddled with a bad money and credit system and an orientation toward production for export, the domestic economy has been left to fend for itself when it should be the top priority — which is the goal of the Economic Democracy Act.
• Greater Reset “Book Trailers”. We have produced two ninety-second “Book Trailers” for distribution (by whoever wants to distribute them), essentially 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.
• 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.
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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