News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 14

On July 27, 1923, during the chaos at the height of the German hyperinflation, Germania, a large Berlin newspaper, editorialized, “It is a situation for a dictator.  The conditions call for a Mussolini in bullet-proof armor with a revolver in either hand.”  Unfortunately, that’s exactly what they got, only worse.  Not that we’re saying the rise of a new Hitler is inevitable . . . if people can organize and demand the adoption of the Economic Democracy Act as soon as possible.  Otherwise, we can expect more of this sort of thing:

Personalism and Justice

Recently we got an enquiry regarding a misunderstanding about our use of the term “Economic Personalism” and some potential confusion with the virtue of justice.  Someone (Person A) had expressed disagreement with our using the term Economic Personalism to describe a type of economic democracy and then asked if we were trying to change the name of the Center for Economic and Social Justice to the Center for Economic Personalism.  Quick answer: No.

JTW Podcast: Economic Justice in the Age of the Robot

Today’s podcast is an essay by Norman G. Kurland which explores the “Just Third Way’s” philosophical and practical foundations of economic justice in an era of technological advancement. It argues for systemic reforms to democratize ownership and empower individuals. The article frames widespread property ownership as essential for political democracy and lasting economic equity and urges institutional reforms to align with these principles.

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 13

Evidently the new word to describe the current economic policy climate is “chaotic.”  We think that this is due most immediately to President Trump’s policies, although in the greater scheme of things it’s due to Keynesian economics.  In general, the solution is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act, but a little common sense wouldn’t hurt:

With Eggroll, You Get Six

According to CNN, President Trump’s White House — or, as we are coming to know it, “the Business Administration” — is seeking corporate sponsorships for the annual Easter Egg Roll.  This is a tradition initiated by Dolley Madison in 1814 and reinstated in 1878, under the otherwise unpopular Republican President Rutherford B. Hayes.

JTW Podcast: Karl Marx, the Almost-Capitalist

Today’s podcast is an article by Louis O. Kelso, “Karl Marx: the Almost Capitalist.”  In the article Kelso identifies three critical flaws in Karl Marx’s theoretical framework, arguing that addressing these errors would necessitate rejecting collective ownership of production means in favor of widespread individual ownership. Louis Kelso’s critique identifies three fundamental errors in Karl Marx’s analysis that led him to reject capitalism and advocate socialism:

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 12

One thing about the economic and monetary policies of the current transactional administration in Washington is it constitutes the best argument ever for adopting the Economic Democracy Act as soon as possible.  Of course, that would mean we don’t have as much bad news to report and could finally get around to saying one or two good things, but that’s fine with us:

Persons, Things, and Personalism

A while back we put together a short video to explain the idea of economic democracy along personalist lines.  Titled “People and Things,” it took a sort of “Dr. Suessy” approach, putting some very complex ideas in hopefully simple rhyming language to try and present them in a coherent and comprehensible way.  It was (and is) pretty good, but because it is both brief and simplified, doesn’t get into deeper meanings and implications.

JTW Podcast: Louis Kelso’s Economic Vision

Today’s podcast is an article by Norman G. Kurland and Dawn K. Brohawn which outlines Louis Kelso’s vision for addressing 21st-century economic challenges through systemic reforms that democratize capital ownership. The original article was published in Owners at Work, the Ohio Employee Ownership Center newsletter, Winter 1999-2000. This audio-visual presentation was produced using Descript and features an AI-generated voice.

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

If anyone can make sense of what is happening in the economy . . . let us know.  Otherwise, work for the adoption of the Economic Democracy Act as soon as possible to bring a halt to this sort of thing:

A Discourse on Tariffs

 Although tariffs are in the news today, it’s astonishing how many people don’t know what they are or how they work.  Briefly, a tariff is a tax a government levies on imports.  It is not paid by the people of the country exporting goods, but by the people of the country importing the goods.  A tariff is intended to raise — “inflate” — the prices of foreign goods for the presumed advantage of producers in the country which imposes the tariff; it “protects” domestic industry by artificially making foreign goods more expensive.

JTW Podcast: Democratizing the Money System

Today’s podcast explains how the Economic Democracy Act (EDA) would reform today's money systems, particularly the Federal Reserve and other central banks, to finance sustainable private-sector growth while creating equal capital ownership opportunities for every citizen, from birth to death. The diagrams explain the mechanics of the Economic Democracy Act — how every citizen could obtain each year new asset-backed money and interest-free, insured, self-repaying capital credit through the commercial and central banking system, to purchase newly issued, dividend-paying, full voting shares of growing companies.

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 10

Yet again this we have a virtual tsunami of reasons to adopt the Economic Democracy Act as soon as possible . . . need we say more?

• Rina Sanchinelli.  The big news this week was a meeting this past Tuesday with Rina Sanchinelli who currently resides in Italy, not too far from Rome. Doña Rina has concluded some pressing personal business and is anxious to start advancing Solidarism and the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism.  As a co-founder of Unión Solidarista Guatemalteca, she may be able to reach out to Solidarność in Poland for their help for building acceptance of Solidarism and the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism as applied in the Economic Democracy Act in Europe, especially as a way of assisting Ukraine in their struggle against Russia.

Inflation and Job Creation

Under the hegemony of Keynesian economics, the global economy must be inflationary.  Why?  Because . . . well, because, that’s why.  Which, of course, is not an answer — but it makes more sense than the actual Keynesian answer.  It all lies in how you define inflation.  You see, the different schools define inflation differently, and not entirely consistently.

JTW Podcast: Intro to Modern Philosophy, Emergence of Rationalism

Finally, we get to “modern philosophy,” which to many people equates with something else . . . but let’s see what “Professor Dave” says: “With medieval philosophy covered, it's time to dive into modern philosophy, which started with the Renaissance, and lasted until the turn of the 20th century. The beginning of this era is market by the onset of rationalism and empiricism, two contrasting schools of thought, each with many influential adherents. Let's start out by discussing rationalism, through figures like Descartes, Spinoza, Pascal, and Leibniz.”

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 09

This week we have even more reasons for adopting the Economic Democracy Act as soon as possible, if only to keep the system itself running, to say nothing of protecting individual and social rights that seem to be in the process of being nullified or just completely ignored:

Going for the Gold

At first glance, it seems a trifle odd.  At second glance, it gets a bit surreal.  At third glance . . . well, judge for yourself.  The same people that came up with the idea of creating a strategic reserve of cryptocurrency (which makes you wonder if they know what a strategic reserve actually is) are now obsessed with the idea of auditing the gold in Fort Knox.

JTW Podcast: An Overview of Medieval Logic

We can get into this video quickly.  As “Professor Dave” says, “Having covered medieval philosophy, let’s also investigate the status of logic at this time. Some of the figures we discussed, like Abelard and Boethius, made contributions to logic that are worth discussing in some detail. Let’s get a closer look!”.

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 08

“May you live in interesting times” is allegedly an ancient Chinese curse.  It’s not really, but an expression in English used ironically, but that’s neither here nor there, given the events of the past week.  Clearly, we need the Economic Democracy Act as soon as possible.

Which Version of Democracy?

For years we have been talking about the need for the Economic Democracy Act (EDA) as what we believe has the best chance not merely to offer everyone in the world (at least potentially) a decent material life (and thus the foundation for becoming more fully human and fulfilling one’s potential), but to resolve some extremely pressing problems in the political, social, and domestic realms.  This, of course, raises the question as to what we mean by “Economic Democracy” . . . which in turn leads to the question as to what we mean by “democracy.”

JTW Podcast: Late Medieval Philosophy; The Scholastic Period

This week Professor Dave looks at “Late Medieval Philosophy,” which (as we might expect) follows up on last week’s short piece on “Early Medieval Philosophy.”  As Professor Dave explains, “We've covered early medieval philosophy, so let's move forward to the later part of this era, which is called the Scholastic period. This is marked by a strong Aristotelian influence, as well as the rise of universities as we know them today. Several of the more prominent figures of this time, like Avicenna, came from the Middle East, so let's hear what they had to say!”

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 07

Over the past couple of weeks, it has become obvious that few if anybody in power has any idea what is going on or what to do about it.  Might we suggest the Economic Democracy Act?

Fulton Sheen, Social Justice, Solidarism, and Economic Personalism

There has been a spate of memes in the social media recently ostensibly quoting the late Fulton Sheen to the effect that Judas is the patron saint of social justice.  This does not ring true for a couple of reasons. Most obviously, Sheen, “the American Chesterton,” was a master of language and witty repartee, skilled at making an otherwise subtle nuance plain, albeit in a clever manner.  The statement is just too crude and blunt; it is not Sheen’s style.

JTW Podcast: Early Medieval Philosophy

This week Professor Dave looks at “Early Medieval Philosophy.”  What?  We’re finally done with those old ancient fogies and going with the old Medieval fogies?  Yes.  As Professor Dave explains, “With ancient philosophy covered, it's time to move into medieval philosophy. This era is dominated by a strong link with theology, and all the most significant contributors to philosophy in this era were largely commenting on religious doctrine. But figures like Aristotle still had a strong influence on these thinkers, so let's see what sort of progress was made during these centuries.”