With the upcoming Inauguration of U.S. President-elect Trump, most news items related to the Just Third Way are in the “what if” category. Still, there are a few things of note that should turn our minds in the direction of the Economic Democracy Act:
• And the Money? According to the word coming off “the Hill,” higher Social Security payments are coming. This sounds great . . . until people start asking where the money is supposed to come from. We keep hearing how Social Security is solvent because there is so much in the trust fund . . . but the only thing in the trust fund is government debt . . . and to pay out a single dollar from the trust fund, the trustees have to cash in some of that debt . . . and that means the government either has to tax people again or float more debt. In other words, for every dollar paid into the trust fund, the government has to come up with two dollars and change. How is that? One dollar came from the original FICA tax which the government took and spent. Then it needs to come up with another dollar to repay the debt it sold to the trust fund. Then it has to pay the operating expenses of the system. Do the math. That’s $2 and more to be able to pay out one dollar. Is there an alternative that makes money instead of running up debt? Yes: the Economic Democracy Act.
• Stockpiling Nothing. There is now a bill before Congress that proposes the United States government “invest” in cryptocurrencies as a strategic stockpile. Uh, huh. First, the government shouldn’t be investing in anything. Second, a strategic stockpile should — obviously — be an accumulation of something that is critical for national security and is used directly to, well, secure it. Stockpiling money is a very good strategy for individuals who need to have cash available for emergencies, education, whatever. When a government stockpiles money, it’s a sign that taxes are too high. Of course, when you’re talking about a country that is burdened with a colossal debt in the trillions and the powers-that-be want to “stockpile” money of any kind instead of using it for expenditures or to reduce debt, then you have to question the motives of those same powers-that-be. To put the cherry on top, cryptocurrencies do not represent actual assets. They are themselves “virtual commodities,” and have no intrinsic or any other kind of value, other than what someone is willing to pay for them — what ignorant people such as this writer used to call “the Greater Fool Theory” of valuation. All this is based on the grossly mistaken assumption that money as money is somehow valuable in and of itself, not because it stands for something. Instead of proposing stockpiling fantasy currencies, the government should propose the Economic Democracy Act, and Make the Dollar Great Again by backing it with actual private sector hard assets.
• Los Angeles Fires. It’s very easy to get a trifle sarcastic how the rich and famous are being so adversely affected by the horrifying fires in Los Angeles, how people who seem to have everything are losing a little bit of it . . . if you consider your home, regardless of the objective cost, as “little.” Of course, a lot of that is due to media hype, making it sound as if only the rich and famous are being affected, instead of tens of thousands of ordinary people. There is also the possibility that people who have it all often really don’t or are so unused to genuine adversity that it can hit them much harder than those of us who are used to a daily [bleep] storm. In any event, it’s not too early to think about rebuilding, and the task as well as the cost is going to be huge. Naturally, we propose something based on the Economic Democracy Act . . . once people’s immediate needs have been met.
• Gambling and Retirement. The gamblers evidently aren’t making enough money by playing with their own or the government’s money. Now they want to grab all that lovely money ordinary hardworking people have saved for their retirement in their 401(k)s. Evidently, the Enron debacle didn’t teach anyone much of anything. Assets for retirement should be solid and ‘blue chip,” not speculative to benefit gamblers. This is yet another good argument for adopting the Economic Democracy Act, which would be used exclusively for properly vetted, non-speculative assets intended to generate first their own repayment and then for consumption — not profits for the gamblers.
• Does Denmark Have a Say? The Kremlin (which you might think has enough to do with losing the war it started in Ukraine), has declared Greenland is in its “sphere of influence.” President-elect Trump has made similar noises, even to the extent of saying coercion is not off the books to seize the territory. Since Greenland is an autonomous region of Denmark, one would assume that Denmark might actually have some rights in the matter. In any event, neither the U.S. nor Russia seems to be minding its own business, which would be more than enough to keep everyone busy if they adopted 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 (now with an imprimatur), 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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