As the year draws to a close, we see increasing numbers of reasons for somebody somewhere to adopt the Economic Democracy Act and lead the way for the rest of the world:
• Anxiety in the Air. According to people in the media, the world is in a very bad place right now (no!) and it’s only going to get worse. As Jessa Lingel, a digital culture professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said, “It really does feel like we’re on the brink of multiple crises around climate change but also growing global unrest and a fractured political landscape here in the United States, but also elsewhere.” This drift (or leap) into pessimism “appears to be the overarching sentiment going into a new year.” The forecasting agency WGSN says “one color effectively captures this mood. It’s called future dusk.” Talk about looking at the world through morose-colored glasses (we’ve been waiting to use that one). If they want to have a brighter future, they should adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Wrong Way to Restore a Currency. Trump is threatening to impose 100% tariff on any nation that refuses to use the U.S. Dollar as its international reserve currency. This is not the way to ensure the U.S. Dollar remains the principal global reserve currency, but to undermine the stability of the global economy. The way to go is to restore the soundness of the dollar by implementing the monetary reforms of the Economic Democracy Act, and making it advantageous for people and countries to use the U.S. Dollar, not to try to impose it coercively.
• Looking Backwards. President-elect Trump is focusing on the “third rail” of the Social Security system. Unfortunately, he is looking at it in traditional ways, and the problem is that traditional solutions are proven not to work. Trump wants to eliminate federal taxes on Social Security benefits (good idea) but fund the system by tapping into fossil fuel reserves (bad idea). The basic problem is that Trump, in common with pretty much everyone else, is thinking in “win-lose” terms, or more accurately, “lose-lose” as there is no way under current assumptions the Social Security system can continue without pillaging something else, and probably not even then. What is needed is genuinely new thinking, not more of the same, and that means adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• Dead, Disabled, or Drunk. More than 2% of Russian men in a key demographic are dead or disabled due to the war against Ukraine, and a much higher percentage is drunk. Alcoholism was on the decline after the fall of the Soviet Union, but Putin, along with his vision of restoring the Soviet Union, has given Russians a reason to try and escape reality by drowning themselves in booze. Russia’s fertility rate has fallen to one of the lowest in the world, if not the lowest, families are falling apart, and the entire fabric of society is unraveling, all due to Putin’s dreams of glory and greed on a cosmic scale. Putin’s gilt-edged fantasies have turned into a blood-soaked and alcohol-drenched nightmare for the average Russian. Too bad he doesn’t realize he could have achieved everything he claims to want for Russia by stepping down from office and adopting the Economic Democracy Act. Oh, that’s right. It wasn’t for Russia. It’s all for Putin and his dreams of world conquest. He is willing to do anything to achieve his goals, regardless of the cost . . . to others.
• College Closings. A sign of the times not recognized by the (academic and political) powers-that-be is the growing number of college closings with many more to come. There is a multiple whammy here. First, colleges and universities have been transformed from institutions of higher learning into job training and political indoctrination centers. Unfortunately, jobs — even those for which a college degree is “required” — are disappearing quickly. Advancing technology is simply growing at too fast a rate for people to compete with it. A John Henry scenario in which human beings compete against technology and beat it is completely ludicrous. A better answer is, of course, for people to own the machines that replace them, not kill themselves trying to outdo the machine or accept inferior or inadequate goods and services simply because they are manmade and not machine made . . . as if human beings produce without using any technology at all. As for political indoctrination, although many students describe themselves as either liberal or conservative, or words to that effect, not one in a thousand really understands what theses terms mean or the moral philosophy (or lack thereof) behind them. Shall we mention student debt? The list could go on, but many of these problems could be solved, or at least the foundation to solve them laid, by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• Doesn’t Import Recessions. According to the usual suspects (a.k.a., “the experts”), the United States is poised for “solid growth” in 2025. Why? “Because the United States doesn’t import recessions.” Oh, really? It certainly imports a lot of foreign goods which would either be unavailable or only available at a much higher price if recession hits the source countries. Then there are the U.S. goods that would not be exported because a recession has hit the former markets. It’s not a question of “America First” in the sense of “America Alone and to Heck with the Rest of the World.” The U.S. is not an isolated economy that has no connection with the rest of the world. What is needed is not another isolationist vision, but a win-win proposal in which everyone could participate, such as the Economic Democracy Act.
• More Crypto Craziness. More and more people are looking to crypto currencies such as Bitcoin to . . . something miraculous in the economy . . . except that they aren’t asking what, exactly is a crypto currency. The usual currencies denominated in the local official reserve currency are at least backed by government debt. Crypto currencies are (at least those we’ve heard) not redeemable by the issuer. They are construed as virtual commodities that stand for . . . what? Nothing. What is needed are the monetary reforms of the Economic Democracy Act.
• Putin and the Pit . . . er, Bitcoin. Putin thinks the Bitcoin, which has no stable value and stands for nothing of value, has the potential to shore up the Russian ruble. This is good . . . for Ukraine and the rest of the world, as it will hasten the downfall of the Russian economy. If Putin really wants what’s best for Russia, he will step down and propose the Economic Democracy Act.
• Powell’s Pontifications. Jerome Powell thinks that the U.S. should change from its unsustainable fiscal course to . . . more of the same. Frankly, what Powell is talking about is less of the same, only more so. What is needed is a shift to an entirely different paradigm, one outlined in 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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