Admittedly there is a depressing sameness about the news items these days, but with a little hard work and a lot of luck (or maybe the other way around) we might be able to change that in the coming weeks. In any event, a lot of the chaos which has been spreading throughout the global economy would be dramatically lessened and perhaps even completely eliminated by adopting the Economic Democracy Act:
• Art of the Non-Deal. Evidently insulting and threatening people is not an effective way to set them up for a deal they can’t refuse . . . even if you’re the president of the United States. Frankly, the best sort of deal is to set up a win-win situation so that all parties to the transaction are better off. Unfortunately for President Trump, his concept of win-lose deals has had the inevitable result of setting up the high probability of a lose-lose scenario. Trump always insists he wants to hold all the cards (or something like that), but problems crop up when it turns out he doesn’t hold all the cards, the other party has a strong hand, or he is playing in the wrong game. Politics, after all, isn’t transactional, it’s . . . political, working out not how one group or individual wins at everyone else’s expense, but how everyone can enjoy maximum benefits. This is completely antithetical to the philosophy behind the Economic Democracy Act, which is a proposal for everyone to enjoy the maximum benefit and nobody gets the short end of the stick.
• Heading for Disaster. According to Moneywise, President Trump’s policies (such as they are) are stampeding the American economy into disaster. This will allegedly hurt retirees more than other groups. The experts are recommending people increase saving (out of what?), and review your investment portfolio (assuming you have one). That’s nice if you actually have something to save and some investments, but what about the rest of us? Well, Congress might want to consider adopting the Economic Democracy Act so that everyone has the ability to invest and (since savings equal investment) save more.
• Possible Delays in Social Security Benefits. Evidently, one of the results of the DoGE’s efforts is to make government much more inefficient than before the Department of Government Efficiency took action. As reported in USA Today, “If you need to update Social Security about a move or bank account change, get in line. It could take longer than usual, employees say, as they prioritize processing about 900,000 complicated cases by hand.” With so many people dependent on Social Security, having almost a million “complicated cases” is potentially devastating. This is more than 1% of all people receiving benefits. This might not sound like too many . . . unless you’re one of those with the “complicated cases.” What’s the solution? Make fewer people utterly dependent on Social Security and simplify the system. Adopting the Economic Democracy Act would very likely solve the problem not through efficiency, but through justice.
• The Bromance is Over. It appears the honeymoon is over. Elon Musk and Donald Trump are going at each other hammer and tongs, and the value of Tesla stock is plunging because Trump is threatening to cut off all of Musk’s government contracts. In return, Musk is making allegations about Trump’s behavior and legality of his actions, past and present. Ironically, with both sides attempting to set up a win-lose situation, there is a high probability that they could very well end up by destroying each other if either side does half of what they threaten. Who stands to win? No one, least of all the American people. Of course, if Congress adopted the Economic Democracy Act, none of this would really matter, and people could sit back and enjoy the show.
• Reading the Fine Print. It turns out there are a few things buried in the “fine print” of the BBBB — the Big Beautiful Budget Bill in its 1,037 pages even its supporters didn’t realize are there. Quite a few legislators are saying they would never have voted for it had they known it was in there: 1) Making it easier for Trump to defy the judiciary, 2) Prohibiting states from regulating AI, 3) Making single parents work harder than married parents for food benefits, 4) Cutting Medicaid for U.S. citizens as well as immigrants, and 5) Adding trillions to the deficit. In other words, ways to transform the presidency from an executive carrying out the orders of the Congress into a sole ruler of the country. Of course, if ordinary people had power, there is a high likelihood this sort of thing would not happen. To empower ordinary people, then, the best way is to adopt 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., 52 or more copies) at the wholesale price, send an email to info@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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