Religion Without God

Following up on the previous posting on this subject (i.e., John Henry Newman), we need to look at the specific situation in which he found himself.  As was the case with all mainstream Christian churches in the early nineteenth century, the Church of England was in serious trouble.  Nor was this situation limited to religious society.  In the wake of the French Revolution, Church, State, and Family seemed to be dissolving in chaos everywhere in Europe.

Charles Kingsley and John Henry Newman, II

In the previous posting on this subject, we found that the Reverend Charles Kingsley, who had accused John Henry Newman in print of being a liar, actually admitted in the course of preparing his final blast at Newman that his original accusation was false.  Despite that, Kingsley informed a friend of his that he was going to continue making new accusations until he had taken revenge on Newman for some undisclosed transgression Newman had allegedly committed against Kingsley twenty years before.

Just Third Way Podcast No. 25

Yes, we know that we labeled last week’s podcast Number 25 . . . but there was a good reason for that: we made a mistake.  Or there was miscommunication.  Or something.  We ran President Reagan’s speech before the Presidential Task Force on Project Economic Justice from 1987 and labeled it “Podcast #25,” even though as a “rerun” (so to speak) it doesn’t really fit into the series.

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 28

With the summer about half over, it is encouraging that there are so many signs that people are starting to wake up to the potential of the Just Third Way.  There are only a few news items this week, but they are of “high quality.”  Of course, all of our news items are always of “high quality,” but these add a bit of significance to people outside the movement as well:

Charles Kingsley and John Henry Newman, I

As we saw in the previous posting on this subject, back in the middle of the nineteenth century a man named Charles Kingsley, a successful and well-known Anglican clergyman, seemingly out of the blue attacked a semi-retired Catholic clergyman by the name of John Henry Newman, a convert to Catholicism who was regarded even by himself as a failure.

John Henry Newman and Charles Kingsley

Everybody knows about John Henry Newman.  He tried to turn the Church of England into the Catholic Church, and when that didn’t work he became a real Catholic.  He then wrote a bunch of books about how to start a university and apologize for everything, and then had a big fight with Pope Pius IX because they didn’t allow him to dissent about papal infallibility, so he wrote a book about how to dissent without seeming to dissent, and he was right because Pope Leo XIII made him a cardinal . . . right?

A New, Anti-Human Role for the State

In the previous posting on this subject, we examined Woodrow Wilson’s philosophy of government.  We decided (we don’t know what you decided) that Wilson’s approach to government was not exactly respectful of the human person, dignity, and all that.

Just Third Way Podcast No. 24-1/2

This week on the Just Third Way Podcast we have a very special guest: President Ronald Reagan!  This is a live recording of the talk President Reagan gave when receiving the report of the Presidential Task Force on Project Economic Justice in 1987.  For those of you unfamiliar with the Task Force and who think that “government” has to do everything, Project Economic Justice was a private initiative using no government (i.e., taxpayer) money:

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 27

One of the interesting things about investigating the roots of the Just Third Way is the fact that we keep uncovering things that support what we’re saying, and that undermine claims made by those who either oppose the Just Third Way (very few, actually, if you limit it to those with valid critiques) or who just plain don’t understand the Just Third Way.  For example, this week we found an article from 1855 that describes the tactics of the socialists: if something doesn’t fly, or people become outraged, shift immediately to something emotional instead of rational, and hide whatever is offensive under another name.  But there is some good news as well:

Government of the Élite, by the Élite, and for the Élite

As we saw in the previous posting on this subject, Woodrow Wilson’s political philosophy boiled down to “might makes right.”  Something was right because he believed it was so, not because it met or measured up to any objective standard of good.  In that, Wilson simply echoed the totalitarian philosophy of Thomas Hobbes.

Happy Independence Day!

We suppose we really should post something to the effect that if you want true independence, you need a capital stake sufficient to generate an adequate and secure income.  Since we say that in virtually every other posting one way or another, and today is a holiday, we're letting those of you who actually visit this blog instead of spending time with friends and family off the hook — for today, anyway:

Woodrow Wilson’s Political Philosophy

We’ve been looking at Woodrow Wilson and his role in eliminating the vestiges of what was once known as “Lincoln Republicanism,” i.e., a political philosophy that viewed government as being of the people, by the people, and for the people.  The Progressive Party was pretty much the last gasp of the type of Republicanism that replaced the Whig Party and ran Abraham Lincoln for president back in the day.

Just Third Way Podcast No. 24

Wait!  Didn't we see JTW Podcast # 24 LAST week?  Yes, we did.  Frankly, it was so well received that we decided to give in to popular demand and run it again this week.  Since Wednesday is a holiday in the United States, this will give everyone a chance to catch up on all the podcasts they missed.  So, for your listening pleasure, we again have a panel discussion on the Capital Homesteading concept.  The CESJ core group gets together and fields some insightful questions and comments from your host, Dave Hamill —

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 26

The stock market, of course, is bouncing around like a rubber ball, President Trump is fretting because manufacturers are leaving the U.S. — which they wouldn’t if the U.S. had a Capital Homestead Act, a rational tax system, and an elastic, asset-backed currency that financed private sector growth instead of government spending — the immigrant “problem” is upsetting people (which it wouldn’t if the U.S. and other countries had a Capital Homestead Act, etc.), and so on.  In other words, business as usual.  What isn’t “business as usual” are the advances we continue to make in promoting the Just Third Way:

The Triumph of the Will

If history has shown us anything, it is that Woodrow Wilson was the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time.  At a time when the United States needed a new direction to restore and retain government “of the people, by the people, and for the people,” it got an elitist snob with a vision limited by his own ego.  When the world needed the U.S. to take the lead and douse the flames that led to World War I, Wilson retreated into isolationism until the situation he helped create got so bad it could no longer be ignored.

And What IS Money?

Back in 1912 people were demanding reform of the financial system as a result of the Panics of 1893 and 1907.  The problem was that few people demanding reform had a good grasp of what money actually is.  Having looked into why we think Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) does not give a good — or even coherent — definition of money, today we will look at a Just Third Way understanding of money.

The Presidential Campaign of 1912

As we saw in the last posting on this subject, the 1912 presidential campaign was hotly contested, with five different parties fielding candidates.  These were the usual Republican and Democrat Parties, but also the Progressive Party, the Prohibition Party, and two socialist parties, the Socialist Party of America and the Socialist Labor Party.

Just Third Way Podcast No. 24

This week on the Just Third Way Podcast we have a panel discussion on the Capital Homesteading concept.  The CESJ core group gets together and fields some insightful questions and comments from your host, Dave Hamill —

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 25

It might be something of a paradox, but it is something to consider.  If every country in the world had a “Capital Homesteading” program or the equivalent, it is possible that there would be more jobs created than there would be people to fill them.  Instead of discouraging immigration, countries would be encouraging it in order to get enough workers.  At the same time, countries would also encourage people to remain at home in order not to decrease the workforce and discourage emigration.  All of a sudden, countries would be competing to see which one could offer the best incentives to come and stay in their country.  It’s at least something to think about:

Democrats and Friends in the 1912 Campaign

In the previous posting on this subject, we discovered that the Republican Party had split into reactionary and progressive factions.  The reactionary faction, the “Old Guard” Republicans, were the social and economic élite who had come into the Grand Old Party following the Civil War when it was the only game in town, the Democratic Party having been discredited.

Is Government Money Real Money?

In the previous posting on this subject, we took a look at what is meant in Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) by “pure money.”  We discovered that “pure money” doesn’t mean what one might expect from the Just Third Way concept of “pure credit,” but is something similar in form to the Just Third Way idea, while being pretty much its exact opposite.

Meet the Republican Candidates . . . for 1912

As we saw in our previous discussion on this subject, the 1912 presidential campaign was blessed — or cursed — with an abundance of parties and candidates, including a few nobody remembers.  There was only one previous campaign of national importance in United States history that even came close to the variety of candidates and positions in the public eye.

The Just Third Way Podcast

This week on the Just Third Way Podcast, Host Dave Hamill interviews CESJ intern Sasha Miltreiger from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.  Sasha, a political science major, talks about how she became interested in the Just Third Way and selected CESJ for her internship, joining a number of other very well qualified interns that CESJ has had over the years:

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 24

Despite what is normally a slow period for news, some interesting things are happening around the world in the Just Third Way network and beyond.  These range from minor matters such as meetings, to important breakthroughs in historical research on the development of the concept of social justice.  There is also a bit or two on the need to work for a more equitable distribution of the world’s wealth, but without harming the rights of anyone:

Panics, Populism, and Progressivism

The United States presidential campaign of 1912 was, all things considered, unique in American history.

Pure Money

Last week we finished off our look at what was meant in Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) by the claim that money is a creature of law rather than a commodity.  We concluded that “creature of law” in MMT did not mean consistent with the natural law and the legal definition of money as anything that can be accepted in settlement of a debt.  Rather, it meant that money is a special creation by the government . . . which pretty much negates the real definition of money.

Freedom and Justice for All

In 1647 Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) and his son-in-law Henry Ireton (1611-1651) had a problem.  They had succeeded in their revolution but had no real idea what to do with their victory.  They wanted to impose Presbyterianism but had no program of political reform.  Having no plan, they did nothing.

The Just Third Way Podcast

This week on the Just Third Way, Host Dave Hamill again pushes the envelope a little by giving a brief rundown of “Things You May Not Know About the Just Third Way.”  As Dave is both entertaining and informative, you’re sure to enjoy this episode:

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 23

As the summer days get longer (depending on when your summer begins), so do some of the news items affecting the Just Third Way and the philosophy (so to speak) of economic personalism.  This would seem to be appropriate as the world situation becomes more critical:

Theodore Roosevelt and the Crisis

In our previous posting on this subject — the failure of the progressive movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to address the issue of widespread ownership of capital — we noted that because of a quarrel between Roosevelt and one of his “trust busters,” Judge Peter S. Grosscup, the ownership issue was sidelined during Roosevelt’s administration.  It never became a part of the progressive platform, despite ongoing efforts by Grosscup to focus people’s attention on the critical need to spread out ownership of America’s productive capacity.

Money as a Creature of Law

Last week we delved into Modern Monetary Theory, or “MMT” as it is known, based on Keynesian economics, which is in turn derived from the “chartalism” of Georg Friedrich Knapp, also known as “the State Theory of Money.”  As we noted, the essential principles of MMT are:

Why Not Ownership?

Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. described himself as a “Lincoln Republican.”  That term means pretty much anything someone wants today, but back in Roosevelt’s day it meant something specific: government of the people, by the people, and for the people.  When most people owned a small farm or business or were wage workers socially and economically not too different from owners and managers, society was more egalitarian.

The Just Third Way Hour Podcast

On this week's Just Third Way Hour, Host Dave Hamill interviews Gary Reber, who has been a supporter of the Just Third Way for a long time.  Gary is very active in the social media, and has a large number of articles and postings, most (if not all) of which relate to the Just Third Way:

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 22

With everyone obsessed with the effects of bad monetary and economic decisions, very few people (if any of them) are paying attention to what is causing the problem in the first place: lack of productive capacity on the part of ordinary people.  If that can be fixed, then a major obstacle to the establishment and maintenance of a just and sustainable economy has been removed.  Unfortunately, that is not what the powers-that-be have been busy doing:

Populism v. Progressivism

Looking back a century ago, and as we saw in Tuesday's posting, we often find that words and language were used in ways that seem a little alien to the people of today.  Things that once seemed not quite right are now deemed the height of virtue, while goods things have now become something pretty bad, or at least very different from what they were.

The First Problem Principle of MMT

Italy is once again making political and economic waves, with much of the trouble stemming from the Euro.  The currency question is now becoming one that decides the fate of nations.  Ironically, all of this was avoidable had the Euro been established and maintained in a manner consistent with sound monetary theory.

New Freedom? Or Old Slavery?

Back in 1913 during his first year in office as president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson published a book, The New Freedom.  Concerned about the growing power of corporations and trusts and the abuses of human rights that accompanied it, Wilson contended that the power of the giant organizations must be reined in.  After all, he needed something to convince the electorate that they hadn’t made too big of a mistake in electing him instead of Theodore Roosevelt. . . .

The Just Third Way Hour

In this week's Just Third Way Hour podcast, CESJ's intern Sasha Miltreiger of the University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada interviews Dr. Norman G. Kurland, president of the interfaith Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ) regarding the role of education and human work as technology advances and robots take over the burden of production of marketable goods and services.

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 21

Just when you think things might be slowing down for the summer, more than the weather starts heating up.  A number of events are going on throughout the world that should help focus attention on the need for implementing the Just Third Way as soon as possible:

18. The Expanded Ownership Revolution

As we saw in the previous posting in this series (we don’t actually begin every posting like that, but it saves us from trying to come up with a clever segue each time), the most effective counter to Keynesian economics and the New Deal came from Dr. Harold G. Moulton, president of the Brookings Institution from 1928 to 1952.  That is, the most effective theoretical counter came from Moulton.  He was never able to come up with a just and viable means of generating the mass purchasing power essential to a sound — and just — economy.

Reserve Currency, IV: A Stable and Uniform Currency

An objective and stable standard for a currency is absolutely essential to maintaining a just market economy.  All the arguments for allowing the government — or anyone else, for that matter — to manipulate the value of a currency or have a “floating standard” are ways to try and ensure the dependency of one group on another group, that is, to enslave some people for the advantage of other people through the money system.

17. The Formation of Capital

As we saw in the previous posting in this series, the personalism of John Paul I set the stage for that of John Paul II.  Nor is this surprising in light of the fact that Albino Luciani had Karol Józef Wojtyła as a friend and mentor at a critical time.  In contrast to the flawed personalism of Emmanuel Mounier, Wojtyła had developed a specifically Thomistic personalism that admits the validity of absolutes and the nature of the human person as a “political animal.”

Just Third Way Hour Podcast

Today we have a reprise of Podcast Number 11 on What is Money? and Capital Homesteading.  These are questions that are of interest to everyone, so it is useful to rerun one of the podcasts on them every now and then just to keep people up to date:

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 20

Our late-breaking news story is that CESJ's Director of Research, Michael D. Greaney, is being interviewed today at 4:20 pm EDST on "Kresta in the Afternoon," a daily radio show that can be accessed live by following this link.  The link to the archived version will be posted later.  The interview is about the Great Siege of Malta in 1565 that began May 18, and is related in Ten Battles Every Catholic Should Know. (Also available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.)

As the world continues to warm up (at least here in the northern half of the globe), things are also picking up in the Just Third Way movement.  At the top of the list of stories this week is the upcoming CESJ Planning Symposium next week, which will bring attendees from across the country.  There are also a number of what appear to be problems that would be greatly reduced or even disappear entirely if the Just Third Way were to be implemented:

16. The Slavery of Savings

As we saw in the previous posting in this series, Pope John Paul I came across one stumbling block in the way of implementing a personalist economic order — one that respects the dignity and sovereignty of the human person, but that takes into account the rights of all others as well as people’s “political nature.”  That is the realization (as Daniel Webster said) that, “Power naturally and necessarily follows property.”  True structural change in a society requires reforming institutions — “social habits” — through acts of social justice, and acts of social justice require freedom of association in order to organize effectively for change . . . and John Paul I did not appear to have any specific or legitimate means by which ordinary people could become owners of capital.

Reserve Currency, III: Money Manipulation

As we saw in the previous posting in this series, the invention of “currency” — “current money” of a recognized and standard value in an economy — was a great boon to progress.  The idea that money, defined as “all things transferred in commerce,” could have a standard unit of measure meant that people could make plans for the future more easily and with more confidence that a project would have the anticipated results.

15. A Completed Theory of Personalism

We were going to title this posting “The Problem with Personalism,” except that would imply that there is something wrong with personalism.  There is nothing wrong with personalism, although the same can’t be said of some of its interpreters.  The fact is that if we take the personalist movement as generally understood, it is incomplete.

The Just Third Way Hour Podcast

The Just Third Way Hour interview of CESJ stalwarts Guy S. and Jeanna C. who were Project Manager and Assistant Project Manager on the publication of the Just Third Way Edition of Fulton J. Sheen's Freedom Under God was so popular that we're running it again this week due to popular demand.  Despite a few sound glitches (which nobody would notice if your host Dave Hamill hadn't mentioned them himself) this has been one of the most widely listened-to podcasts to date, and is both entertaining and informative:

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 19

A great deal of work has been done in advancing the theoretical framework of the Just Third Way.  In particular recent investigations into “personalism” and the roots of social justice reveal just how deeply certain assumptions of socialism, modernism, and the New Age have infiltrated virtually all aspects of society, whether Family, Church, or State.  It has become evident that the failure of many in Academia and in Politics to understand the act of social justice and the debilitating slavery of past savings has destabilized the social order to an alarming degree:

14. The Task of Sisyphus

As we saw in the previous posting in this series, Pope John Paul I was presented with what seemed to be an insoluble dilemma his entire career as a priest, as a bishop, and even his all-too-brief tenure as pope.  He had the principles underlying social justice (Aristotelian-Thomism applied in the philosophy of personalism), he even had many of the “parts” of social justice, notably solidarity and subsidiarity.

Reserve Currency, II: What is Currency?

In the previous posting in this series, we looked at the definition of money.  We discovered that a sound legal, scientific, even financial definition of money is not all that hard to develop once we jettison all the baggage that people have loaded on the concept and demythologize the subject.

13. The Bottom Line

One of Pope John Paul I’s expressed concerns as Patriarch of Venice was the plight of the poor.  His first “letter” in Illustrissimi, in fact, is to Charles Dickens, and at first glance seems to be a standard semi- or full-socialist condemnation of the evils and greed of capitalism, the free market, the dictators of money, and so on, so forth.

The Just Third Way Hour Podcast

This week on the Just Third Way Hour your Host Dave Hamill interviews CESJ stalwarts Guy S. and Jeanna C. who were Project Manager and Assistant Project Manager on the publication of the Just Third Way Edition of Fulton J. Sheen's Freedom Under God:

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 18

It appears that Summer has come to Northern Virginia without the formality of Spring.  That’s fine, because other things have been springing up all over as the principles of the Just Third Way are starting to spread around the world:

12. A Growing Alienation

In this posting we will look at the situation of organized labor and how a movement intended to recognize and enhance the dignity of the worker ended up shackling owners of labor to an outdated wage-benefit-welfare paradigm that alienated both “labor” and “capital” from society and each other to a greater degree than ever before.

Reserve Currency, I: What is Money?

The other day we were deep in a discussion of bank reserves and the role of a reserve currency when someone asked why this was relevant to anything.  That was not in the sense of “Why are you wasting my time with this garbage?” but a genuine question, i.e., “Why is this subject worth discussing?”

11. A Primer on Wage Slavery

A fundamental assumption of both capitalism and socialism is that ownership of capital must be confined to an élite, whether private as in capitalism, or public as in socialism.  The necessary corollary to the concentration of capital ownership in the hands of the few is the shackling of the many to the wage and welfare system.

The Just Third Way Hour Podcast

This week on the Just Third Way Hour we have Part I of Norman Kurland's presentation at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Summit.  This is an edited audio version of the video, which makes it easier to listen to the points raised.  (This link should get you to "Episode #16, but if you click on the link and you get a later or the current episode, go to the "Episodes" tab and click on that, which gets you the listing of all the episodes of the show):

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 17

It appears that April Showers are bringing forth flowers of hope for the Just Third Way.  A number of initiatives appear to be getting a little traction around the world, from the state of Michigan to the country of Poland.  In addition, research into the roots of today’s problems is revealing some surprising things that bode well to shake up what “everybody knows” about the history of the nineteenth century, especially the development of socialism:

10. A Living Wage?

One thing that a number of Pope John Paul I’s biographers have struggled with is the puzzle of his working-class background and the fact that his father was a socialist, combined with his obvious distrust of socialism of any kind.  They see a contradiction in his open sympathy for workers versus his theological “conservatism” (actually orthodoxy).  As a result, chroniclers tend to gloss over or downplay his comments about socialism by asserting — without proof — that he was only opposed to certain kinds of socialism, notably Marxist communism.

9. Capitalism v. Socialism? Justice v. Charity?

As Popes Leo XIII and John Paul I well knew (and as Karl Marx summed up), socialist theory can be stated most succinctly as “the abolition of private property.”  As we saw in the previous posting in this series, that is why Leo XIII declared that widespread capital ownership is the sure specific for socialism, modernism, and the New Age.

8. Is Theft Ever Justified?

As we saw in the previous posting in this series, Leo XIII, in common with John Paul I a century later, faced the serious challenges socialism, modernism, and the New Age presented to traditional institutions of civil, religious, and domestic society.  Both popes were fully aware of the dangers the “new things” represented.

The Just Third Way Hour Podcast

This week on the Just Third Way Hour we have Russell Williams of The Challenge interviewing Dr. Norman Kurland, president of the Center for Economic and Social Justice.  Tune in for a lively and informative discussion:

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 16

This has been a busy week for a number of people involved in the Just Third Way, with a large number of meetings with some very interesting and intriguing people and institutions.  We also received a very encouraging report from CESJ’s overseas correspondent, who has been working very hard at introducing the Just Third Way with key people and institutions in politics, academia, and the Catholic Church:

7. The Social Doctrine of John Paul I

The turmoil surrounding the Second Vatican Council was in no wise different from that of the First.  Problems facing John Paul I as the first “post Vatican II pope” were similar, even in many cases the same as those facing Leo XIII.  This makes sense, for Vatican II was construed as a continuation of Vatican I, although so many interpretations have been forced on to Vatican II that many people forget what the whole thing was about.

6. The Social Doctrine of John Paul I

     What is interesting about the “legend” that has grown up around Pope John Paul I is the claim that he somehow favored or leaned toward a socialist interpretation of Catholic social teaching.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  His father was an ardent socialist, but his mother refused to marry his father until he promised he would not interfere in any way with their children’s religious upbringing — and he kept that promise, eventually renouncing socialism and becoming reconciled to the Catholic Church.  John Paul I had a great love for all people, but very carefully refused to give the socialists an inch, being advised by the future Pope John Paul II that they would take a mile.

5. The Social Doctrine of John Paul I

In the previous posting in this series we saw that, just like Pope John Paul I in the twentieth century, Pope Gregory XVI was confronted with the “democratic religion” as socialism was originally called, among other related things that eventually evolved into what would become known as modernism and the New Age.  Gregory therefore set to work to counter the unreason of a social theory that Pope Pius XI would later declare “utterly foreign to Christian truth” with logic and the natural law philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas.

Just Third Way Hour Podcast

Today we have podcast of Dr. Norman Kurland’s interview on The Challenge with your host, Russell Williams.  The Challenge is a long-running show out of Hartford, Connecticut, and we think you’re sure to enjoy it.

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 15

Most recent news on the national and international scene has little or nothing to do with the Just Third Way, except that implementing Just Third Way reforms would go a long way toward resolving them.  Still, there are one or two things happening that are directly of interest:

4. The Social Doctrine of John Paul I

In the previous posting in this series, we looked at the difference between legal justice and social justice and why, despite the fact that both “look” to the common good, they are not the same thing.  This is a key point because it goes straight to the heart of everything to which Pope John Paul I was opposed, viz., socialism, modernism, and the New Age, particularly the goal of establishing “the Kingdom of God on Earth” — a materialist paradise devoid of genuine spirituality to replace traditional religion.  As he explained in his homily on the Feast of the Assumption, August 15, 1976 while still Patriarch of Venice,

3. The Social Doctrine of John Paul I

Today, as we noted in yesterday’s posting, we will be looking at the “problem of legal justice” from the standpoint of CESJ co-founder Father William J. Ferree, S.M., Ph.D.  This is not as clear-cut a question as many today believe who take as a given that “social justice” is simply socialism with a religious whitewash.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

2. The Social Doctrine of John Paul I

In the previous posting in this series, we introduced our subject by noting that Pope John Paul I was head of the Catholic Church for a bare thirty-three days — one day for every year of the traditional age of Jesus’s life on Earth . . . which has no significance of any kind whatsoever (the coincidence, that is!).  Nevertheless, John Paul I still managed to say a few things about the Church’s social teachings, at least enough to see that he was in tune with every pope since Gregory XVI, which is when Catholic social teaching emerged as a discrete discipline within the larger body of Catholic thought.

The Just Third Way Podcast

This week on the podcast of "The Just Third Way Hour" we do a reprise of Dave Hamill interview with producer/director Joyce Hart, who is working on a documentary about Louis Kelso.  Joyce is the producer of the award-winning film, Sisters of Selma.  This episode has been among the most popular of the series, so you might want to tune in!

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 14

There are some interesting things happening around the Global Justice Movement network this week.  As usual, the worse things get economically and politically, the better things look for the Just Third Way . . . as a solution, that is:

1. The Social Doctrine of John Paul I

Pope John Paul I was head of the Catholic Church for only thirty-three days.  Even in that short period of time, however, he made it abundantly clear not only that he was a “Vatican II pope,” but a “Vatican I pope,” with all that implies — something we hope to make clear in this brief series.

“The Worst Law in America”?

In its “Review & Outlook” section on Monday of last week, March 26, 2018, the Wall Street Journal ran a piece entitled, “The Worst Law in America.”  Without getting into an argument as to whether the referenced “Martin Act” in New York state really is the worst law in the entire United States — a claim that could no doubt engender some very lively discussion — we do have to admit that the Martin Act is pretty bad.  As described by the editorial staff,

You Can’t “Take It Or Leave It Alone”

Aristotle

Today we come to the sixth characteristic of social justice, and the final installment in our series on the laws and characteristics of social justice.  Appropriately, this characteristic is that you cannot simply refuse to participate in social justice; you cannot take your ball and go home.  That might sound harsh, especially given what most people think of as “social justice” these days, but it’s a necessary aspect of what it means for human beings to be (as Aristotle called us) “political animals.”

The Just Third Way Podcast

This week on the podcast of "The Just Third Way Hour" your host Dave Hamill interviews Joyce Hart, who is working on a documentary about Louis Kelso.  Joyce is the producer of the award-winning film, Sisters of Selma, so you might want to tune in!

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 13

This past week has been somewhat quiet with respect to the Just Third Way, but a number of important initiatives are moving forward, notably the project in Wayne County, Michigan.  This “slowdown” always occurs around major holidays as people divert their attention (as they should) to friends and family:

Effectiveness

José Ferrer as Cyrano (1950)

In Edmond Rostand’s “heroic comedy” Cyrano de Bergerac, the Man with the Long Nose and Longer Sword responds to (if memory serves) his friend Le Bret’s question regarding why he, Cyrano, insists on doing things his own way when with a little tact and diplomacy he could easily have fame, friends, and fortune.  We may be misquoting, but Cyrano responds with something along the lines of, “But a man does not fight merely to win!  No, sometimes better to know one fights in vain!”

A More Just Tax, II: Tax Reform

As we saw in “A More Just Tax, I: Monetary and Credit Reform,” last week’s posting on the subject of a more just tax, there are four essential steps in achieving a more just tax.  The first of these is monetary and credit reform.  This is crucial, not simply because how much someone actually pays in taxes depends on having a stable means in terms of which taxes are measured, but for a host of other reasons as well.

Eternal Vigilance

J.P. Curran

As the famed Irish attorney John Philpot Curran declared in Dublin on July 10, 1790, “The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance.”  Yes, we are aware that this is usually rendered “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,” and attributed to Thomas Jefferson, but there is no evidence that Jefferson said it.

The Just Third Way Hour Podcast

This week on the podcast of "The Just Third Way Hour" your host Dave Hamill interviews . . . himself!  Dave (among a great many other things; his talent just goes on and on) is/has been a truck driver.  In today's show he lets himself go a little with a "truck driver rant."  Keep in mind that this is not some media type person pretending to act like his notion of what a truck driver "really" thinks.  No, it's a truck driver who happens also to be a media type person telling you what an actual truck driver thinks.  We understood him to say he even recorded it in the cab of his own truck to ensure authenticity. . . .

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 12

The fluctuations in the stock market have for some time been completely divorced from the real economy in which actual people produce through their labor and their capital marketable goods and services for themselves and to trade with others so they can consume what those others have produced.  Unfortunately, academics and politicians are obsessed with the idea that “the stock market” actually means something, and manage to ignore something like Capital Homesteading that would return prices on the secondary market to realistic levels, and start to implement counterproductive trade policies instead of essential tax and monetary reforms:

Nothing is Impossible in Social Justice

Back in 1966 Dr. Norman G. Kurland, now president of the all-volunteer, interfaith Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ) in Arlington, Virginia was in New York City.  He was meeting with Stokely Carmichael and Ivanhoe Donaldson and explaining to them the ideas of lawyer-economist Louis O. Kelso, best known as the inventor of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) regarding achieving broad-based capital ownership without redistributing existing wealth.

A More Just Tax, I: Monetary and Credit Reform

We’ve been having a sporadic series of postings addressing President Trump’s proposed tariffs, starting with “The Two-Part Tariff Question” and continuing with “Is There an Alternative to Tariffs?”  At the end of the latter we concluded, “[T]here is clearly an alternative to tariffs . . . but only if you agree that the sole purpose of taxation is to fund government.  If you’re worried about other goals, however, is there a way to achieve them in a less harmful (or even beneficial) way?” and promised to look into that in the next posting in the series.

Social Justice Takes Time

“I Want It Now” seems to be the modern mantra, whether for individuals or social reformers.  The problem is that instant gratification seldom satisfies on a fundamental level, and almost never gets at the root of the problem causing what ends up being an inordinate desire.  As a result, gratifying every whim leads only to increasing demands on the part of recipients, and a diminished ability to meet those demands on the part of those charged with bestowing them.

The Just Third Way Hour Podcast

It must be getting close to the opening of baseball season, for we have a triple header this week!  On deck first we have Dr. Norman G. Kurland's second appearance on Dr. Deal Hudson's "Church and Culture" show on the Ave Maria Radio Network (an affiliate of EWTN) that was just broadcast this past weekend.  Deal and Norm talk about tax reform this time around.

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 11

One of the most interesting developments in the Just Third Way in 2018 is the number of media outlets that seem to be opening up.  Paradoxically, some of these have resulted from the success of a new book, Ten Battles Every Catholic Should Know, in which the Just Third Way is only a minor “sub-theme” of the book.  People reading or hearing about the book, however, often get interested in the reason a Certified Public Accountant would write a history book, and start looking into the Just Third Way.  Plus, there are a number of initiatives going on throughout the world that might start some positive things happening:

Is There an Alternative to Tariffs?

In yesterday’s posting, “The Two-Part Tariff Question,” we took a look at the question of whether President Trump actually has the power to impose a tariff.  A tariff, after all, is a tax, and under the U.S. Constitution the taxing power is reserved to the people through their representatives in Congress.  Obviously, we are not experts in Constitutional law, but it seems to us the issue ought to be raised.

The Two-Part Tariff Question

In last week’s news items we looked at President Trump’s tariff proposals from a constitutional point of view.  Not that we’re experts in constitutional law, but we ran our understanding past someone who was a student of William Winslow Crosskey (1894-1968), and he (the student, not necessarily Crosskey) agreed with us.

The Right Way: Social

Last week we looked at the “wrong” way to go about “doing” social justice.  That is, you do not organize with other people and work with each other to fix the broken institutions of the common good.  Instead, you bull on through, trying to go it alone, and ending up accomplishing nothing because you tried to “attack a social evil with only individual means,” as CESJ co-founder Father William J. Ferree, S.M., Ph.D. put it.

The Just Third Way Hour Podcast

We have a "double header" this week.  On deck first we have Dr. Norman G. Kurland's appearance on Dr. Deal Hudson's "Church and Culture" show on the Ave Maria Radio Network (an affiliate of EWTN) that was just broadcast this past weekend.  Deal and Norm talk about the sort of reforms needed to our financial system to get the country — and the world — back on track.  And do we have to say how much more interesting it is to listen to people who actually know what they are talking about?

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 10

At the top of the Just Third Way news this week is Dr. Norman Kurland’s interview with Dr. Deal Hudson on the “Church and Culture” radio show on the Ave Maria Radio Network, an affiliate of EWTN.  Even if you’re not Catholic or other Christian you will find the interview both entertaining and instructive.  In other news, we take a “legal layman’s” view of President Trump’s tariff proposal:

“Only By Members of Groups”

In yesterday’s posting we might have given the impression of a vision of social justice not connected with actual people.  That is, we might have given that impression if the posting wasn’t read in context as part of a series on the “laws and characteristics of social justice” as analyzed by CESJ co-founder Father William J. Ferree, S.M., Ph.D.  In particular it is essential to keep in mind the fourth “law” of social justice, that every individual is directly responsible not only for his or her own personal welfare, but for the common good as a whole, i.e., to acquire the "virtue" or habit of being just in his or her interactions with other persons but also to acquire the social virtue of how to address injustices effectively in his or her institutions or "social habits or tools" when they fail to perform more justly for the benefit of every one of their members, i.e., the "common good".

The Characteristics of Social Justice

So far in our discussions on social justice in this brief series we’ve looked at the “laws” of social justice, at least those CESJ co-founder Father William J. Ferree, S.M., Ph.D. discerned in his work and described in his pamphlet, Introduction to Social Justice (1948).  Of course, the laws of social justice are not human statutes, like the speed limit or how to file your taxes.  Such things can be changed as expedient to fit human needs, and even abolished completely if enough people were to demand it.

All Vital Interests Should Be Organized

We come today to the seventh and final “law” of social justice: “All vital interests should be organized.”  This “law” is another application of the principle that seems first to have been articulated by Aristotle that man is by nature a “political animal,” that is, existing and subsisting within organized groups he called the pólis, hence, “political.”

The Just Third Way Hour Podcast

Host Dave Hamill comes to you this week from a new website for the podcast, a change that we believe will make these learning tools even more effective and enjoyable:

News from the Network, Vol. 11, No. 09

This has been a busy week for the Just Third Way.  A number of glitches popped up but were dealt with, but more important, we have made some significant contacts and engaged in some very effective outreach.  It shows what can be done with a modicum of effort if members of the network take the time to reach out to those in their own networks:

The Formation of Capital

As we saw yesterday, there is a virtually unlimited commercial and industrial frontier that can replace the land frontier and give every child, woman, and man the opportunity to become an owner of productive assets and achieve a level of capital self-sufficiency.  The only question is how to do it . . . and it wouldn’t be through government handouts or programs like the New Deal.