Egocentrism, Tariffs, and the Single Tax, Part IV

Concluding our discussion of tariffs, as we noted previously there are three badly flawed economic principles which many people hold as absolute, unquestioned dogmas.  Two of these flawed principles are general, but applied specifically in the third, regarding tariffs, which we looked at last week.  The principles are:

Was Henry George a Socialist?

In a recent email, someone stated, “Henry George was definitely NOT a Socialist.  Quite the contrary.  He wanted to untax labour and capital, treat land rents as the source of public revenue and restore the mediaeval system of financing the Crown through land rents.”

Some Thoughts on Credit

. . . social credit, that is, the brainchild of Major C.H. Douglas.  Recently we received a question asking whether we were familiar with “the Douglas Scheme,” as the Anglican Christian apologist C.S. Lewis rather pejoratively termed it.  Yes, we are familiar with Major Douglas and his social credit plan, which has nothing to do with what the Chinese have termed “social credit,’ although both rely on intrusive government control.

Ryan, Coughlin, and the New Deal

As we saw in the previous posting on this subject, we saw that the New Deal really had nothing to do with any natural law-based approach to social thought, or even “supernatural law” approach, either, if we accept Dorothy Day’s strictures about the dangers of giving “Holy Mother, the State” such overwhelming power.

The Role of the State

Recently we saw a tweet or twit or whatever-you-call-’em stating that the terms “student debt” and “medical debt” should be eliminated, as no one should have to go into debt in order to get an education or be healthy.  We couldn’t figure out, however, whether the poster meant that people should pay only what they can for schooling and healthcare, or it should all be free, i.e., paid for by somebody else, usually the State meaning everybody else.

The War on Private Property

As we saw in the previous posting on this subject, the dominance of Msgr. John A. Ryan over the interpretation of social teaching — achieved by shifting from reason to faith (meaning personal opinion heavily influenced by socialism) — meant that any who opposed socialism were ipso facto heretics instead of simply mistaken or even right when Ryan was wrong.  Ryan’s influence even extended to having his students hint that Fulton Sheen was a “traitor to Christ” for saying things that Ryan didn’t want to hear.

A New Age Economic Program

As we saw in the previous posting on this subject, one of the biggest shifts in thinking that has caused massive amounts of trouble over the past couple of centuries is the shift from reason, to faith in matters pertaining to the natural order.  This sounds bad to atheists and agnostics, and good to (some) theists, but the simple fact is that it’s bad for everyone.

What Happened to Distributive Justice?

 

In the previous posting on this subject, we related that Msgr. John A. Ryan changed the basis and understanding of the natural law from reason to faith.  The problem there, of course, is that if the natural law is based on reason, it applies to every human being.  If it is based on faith, it only applies to those who adhere to the faith that determines the natural law.

You Ain’t Heard NOTHIN’ Yet!

If you’ve seen Monday’s podcast and yesterday’s blog posting, you may be starting to wonder if this is serious or if we made it all up.  We can assure you that we’re completely serious and absolutely none of this stuff is made up.  As the great biologist J.B.S. Haldane almost sort of said after the editors and science fiction writers got through with it, “The universe is not only stranger than we imagine; it is stranger than we can imagine.”

We’re NOT Making This Up, You Know!

Whenever the late, great Anna Russell related something so incredibly illogical or totally bizarre in the plot line of some opera or other, she would utter her tag line, which almost always brought down the house: “I’m not making this up, you know!”  Well, neither are we . . . and what we’re saying would absolutely floor anyone who accepts opera plots without batting an eye.

Hijacking Financial Reform

 In the previous posting on this subject, we noted that as the “free land” of the 1862 Homestead Act ran out, the concentration of wealth accelerated.  This, however, is pretty much built in to the assumption that new capital formation can only be financed by cutting consumption below what is produced.

Those Whacky Socialists

      In the previous posting on this subject, we looked at the subject of usury, or (in Aristotelian philosophy) taking a profit where no profit is due.  Considering all profit or interest as “usury” is called “a hasty generalization” in logic, as doing so would violate private property.

“Do We Agree?”

To answer that question briefly — and accurately — no, “we” don’t . . . if by “we” is meant G.K. Chesterton and G.B. Shaw.  The reference is to their final, er, “debate (for want of a better word) in November of 1927.

G.K. Chesterton v. “Some American Crank”

In the previous posting on this subject, we reviewed the influence of Henry George on the Fabian Society, and the influence of the Fabian Society.  Nor was the Fabian Society the only group influenced by George, and that influenced others, including groups and individuals in the Catholic Church.  More immediate in its effect on understanding of social justice — or, rather, misunderstanding — was the power wielded by Monsignor John A. Ryan of the Catholic University of America.

Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

They say that the easiest way to hide something is in open sight; with a hat tip to Samuel Rosenberg’s 1974 Sherlockian showcase (okay, you find a better one), “naked is the best disguise.”  In other words, be so obvious about what you’re doing that nobody will believe you really mean it . . like the Fabian Society adopting the “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” as their emblem, telling people they were going to make everybody socialist, but just call it something else. . . .

The Socialist Counterattack

In the previous posting on this subject we saw that Pope Lei XIII’s 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum knocked both capitalists and socialists for a loop.  It was not long, however, before both groups had figured out ways to keep on doing what they were already doing and claim papal endorsement.  Of the two, however, the socialists took the initiative, as they were the ones most obviously targeted.

The Secret History of Rerum Novarum

As we saw in the previous posting on this subject, the agrarian socialist Henry George managed to make his brand of “the Democratic Religion” headline news throughout the English-speaking world in 1886 and 1887 by running for mayor of New York City . . . although people wonder to this day just what it was he expected to be able to do once he was in charge of the Big Apple.  New York may be the center of the universe (especially if you’re a New Yorker), but even the center of the universe isn’t the entire universe or even the whole state of New York.

The Struggle for Sanity

As we saw in the previous posting on this subject — not that we’re particularly pushing Catholicism — but the Catholic Church has from the beginning been the only consistent opponent of socialism and moral relativism in the modern world.  As G.K. Chesterton noted in the introduction he wrote to the published version of Fulton Sheen’s doctoral thesis, God and Intelligence in Modern Philosophy (1925), the Catholic Church is pretty much the “last man standing” when it comes to defending common sense in the world today.

The Past Savings Paradox

In the previous posting on this subject, we looked at some of the discrepancies and contradictions in Keynesian economics.  Today we take a look at what may be the single biggest problem with the economics of the architect of the New Deal.

Joseph Pearce Again Disappoints

This past Tuesday (January 26, 2021), Mr.* Joseph Pearce presented the second half of a talk on G.K. Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man (1925).  The talk, given under the aegis of the Institute of Catholic Culture, was sponsored by Christendom College.