Despite appearances, things are looking up. Some of this is due to circumstances (non-political), but others are due solely to politics. In any event, the situation is making it clearer than ever before that the only realistic solution is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act:
• The Money Question. There is a new social disease (sort of) — it’s called “money dysmorphia.” And what, you ask, is “money dysmorphia”? It’s defined by those who evidently made up the term as “a distorted or unhealthy perception of [someone’s] financial situation that doesn’t match reality.” The article goes on to say that “money dysmorphia can cause stress and anxiety around spending money, even though you earn plenty to cover all of your costs. Or it may drive you to overspend and have a distorted view of what you can truly afford.” Key indicators include: Avoiding checking bank account balances, or constantly checking account balances, maxing out credit cards, constantly worrying about not saving enough money, avoiding spending any amount of money or making financial decisions because it causes anxiety, feeling guilty or ashamed after spending money, feeling one doesn’t have enough money (uh oh, we’re ALL in trouble!), constantly comparing one’s financial situation to others. What do you do about it? The “experts” suggest that people determine their financial triggers, have regular money “check-ins,” reframe the way one thinks about money, and speak with a financial advisor. Probably not by coincidence, much of this is included in or addressed by the Economic Democracy Act.
• The Eggsact Problem. During Gold Rush days, both California and Pike’s Peak (and possibly Alaska), the price of eggs sometimes reach $1 each. Now we’re being warned that may again soon be the case, but without getting any gold to cover the increased cost, and the condition may be “forever.” This suggests the people writing these articles might not understand how the laws of supply and demand work, or the difference between the different kinds of inflation. Let’s talk about supply and demand first. If the price of something goes up, this is supposed to lure new producers into the market who hope to cash in on the higher price. Ironically, if the market is allowed to function properly, more producers entering the market means the price goes down, sometimes below the cost of production. When that happens, producers who are losing money instead of making it leave the market, letting the price rise again. The end result — assuming a genuinely free market — is the “real” price of the good or product, in this case eggs. Since egg production is almost phenomenally easy to get into, we expect that, contrary to the predictions of the experts, egg prices will start coming down within 20 weeks, as a chicken, on the average, is 18 weeks old before it starts laying eggs . . . and we’re willing to bet there are a lot of people getting into chickens right now. It’s a pretty safe investment, because if the egg market goes down too much, you can always eat the chicken or just use all the eggs yourself. This is because of the different kinds of inflation. The rise in egg prices is not because the government is printing and spending money like a drunken sailor on leave, but because the supply has decreased dramatically. This is “cost-push” inflation, not “demand-pull.” Government can control demand-pull inflation to a certain extent, but can do nothing about cost-push, at least directly. Adopting the Economic Democracy Act, would eventually stop demand-pull inflation, and address the causes of cost-push inflation.
• EDA Network. Dave Hamill and his team are moving the EDA Network forward with the printing of 11,000 6x9 postcards, going to addresses in designated mail routes in Seattle, Austin and Miami. They are also advertising to 10,000 addresses in Woodstock, Georgia as part of a mail co-op, that is being finalized in the next week. After the initial mailings, they will start some paid social media advertising. The purpose is to tell new people about the Economic Democracy Act and ask them to support the advertising campaign for a minimum of $3.00 per month. A private donor is paying for this first campaign, but they would like to plan regular ones going forward. The team asks that people go to EDANetwork.Org for more information. There is also a free 10-session course at justiceuniversity.org where people can earn a certification.
• Justice University. As noted in the item above, there is a Justice University course on the Just Third Way, with an emphasis on the Economic Democracy Act. This is only one of the “products” which Justice University plans to offer. The team meets every Friday to discuss progress and make plans. Dave Hamill’s team is making significant progress, as reported, but there is also work on general curriculum development, with a current focus on a course based on Economic Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person, which is available as a free download in .pdf. Various members of the “EP Team” are working on having Catholic educational institutions around the world adopt the book as a text, and then non-religious institutions; the book is based on universally applicable natural law principles although written from a “Catholic perspective”; it is, however, “catholic — universal — with a small ‘c’.”
• Economic Personalism Project. Although a “sub-project” of the overall effort to get the Economic Democracy Act adopted, great progress has been made in translating and making contacts in several countries to distribute Economic Personalism and get it adopted as a text. So far, we have people in both North and South America, Africa, and Europe working on it. Asia and Oceania are still wide open, however. Particular countries include Argentina, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Ireland, Italy (in the past day), Nigeria, and Poland. Very soon we expect to hear about our outreach efforts in Germany and Ukraine. The English version of the book has been granted an imprimatur (not an endorsement, but a certification there is nothing contrary to faith or morals), and a question has been submitted to the proper authorities as to whether a new imprimatur is required for translations — the book has been translated into Spanish and is currently being reviewed for accuracy.
• 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.
#30#
