Not much has been happening in the Global Justice Movement this week . . .that we can report about! A great deal has been happening, but mostly setting the stage for what we’re working on, primarily getting the Economic Democracy Act adopted:
• CESJ Fortieth Anniversary! This past Saturday, CESJ celebrated its fortieth year as an organization. A number of original founders and charter members were present at the combined in-person and Zoom conference, notably Dr. Norman G. Kurland, president of CESJ. Following a brief business meeting, presentations were made about the project in St. Louis to advance the revolutionary legislation adopted in Missouri, and a possible project in Ukraine. A lunch buffet featuring mushroom pork, salmon, pasta fredda alla greca, and several side dishes and a dessert of special chocolate cake and pumpkin bread followed the meeting. The overall emphasis of the gathering, of course, is adoption of the the Economic Democracy Act.
• Homes are “Lousy Investments”. Warren Buffett has declared that buying a home is a lousy investment. We agree . . . but probably not for any reason Buffett would agree with. Buffett cites the additional costs, upkeep, taxes, etc., etc., etc. . . . but fails to mention that most people usually need a place to live, and it might as well be something that you can sell if times get bad and you need cash. If you rent, the money is gone. If you buy, you at least have a saleable asset. Now, if you are buying a house with the idea that you are investing in real estate, that’s a bad idea all around. It can lead you to spend far more than you can afford, leading to the prospect you will not be able to keep up payments or lose money when you come to sell. If you view a home purchase as merely buying shelter, however, you just write it off as the cost of, well, buying shelter, and pocket whatever money you get when or if you sell. Does the landlord pay you for having rented? We don’t think so. Of course, if you want to invest wisely, the best thing you can do is push for the adoption of the Economic Democracy Act.
Raphael Bostic
• Higher for Longer Interest Rates. According to Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic, we can expect to see interest rates remain high for longer periods of time as the central bank struggles against reality and attempts to lower the price level by raising prices. We’ve gone over why that doesn’t work so many times on this blog, we’ll just note that the quick and easy solution is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Professional Student Athletes? The NCAA is now allowing student athletes to be paid, which sort of defeats the whole idea, at least as we understand it. It seems evident all sports should be separated from academics, as Robert Maynard Hutchins advocated, and let schools own teams, but not pretend they are “students.” As for the real students struggling with the cost of education, the solution is not to pay them for going to school, but to pass the Economic Democracy Act.
• Federal Reserve Concerned About Inflation. The Federal Reserve is concerned about inflation, but not quite enough to take effective action. What to do? Pass 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 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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