JTW Podcast: The Joe and Joe Show

This week we have a special podcast, one specifically about the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism, the Joe and Joe Show with special guests Dawn K. Brohawn, CESJ’s Director of Communications, and Michael D. Greaney, CESJ’s Director of Research, authors of The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Law:

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 36

As usual, people are in a panic this week over economics and finance when the solution, the Economic Democracy Act, is staring them right in the face.  We know we’ve been saying this for years, but you never know when someone might start paying attention:

A Modest Meditation on Money

The other day we came across an article in Catholic World Report all about how we shouldn’t make a false god out of money, etc., so on, so forth.  Nothing to see here, move one, yaddah, yaddah.  No, this isn’t a lecture on Catholic or even religious views of money, other than to agree with St. Paul when he reminded Timothy that love of money is the root of all evil.  You can probably find the same thing expressed by most other faiths and philosophies in the world, so it’s not particularly Christian; it’s human.

JTW Podcast: The Politics of Aristotle

No, this is not a video about Aristotle’s political activities or opinions . . . at least, not in the modern sense.  Instead, this is a look at one professor’s opinion about a book Aristotle wrote called the Politics, meaning how human beings live together as “political animals”:

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 35

 

This week we again leave it to other media to cover the death of Queen Elizabeth II and specifics regarding the counteroffensive in Ukraine.  We, of course, aren’t ignoring Ukraine, but we are pointing out things that the major media have a habit of overlooking:

Culture Wars

From the 1930s on, Robert Maynard Hutchins of the University of Chicago and Mortimer J. Adler, the “Great Books” philosopher, expressed great concern about the state of American education.  As they saw it, what passed for education had degenerated into vocational training for jobs that either didn’t exist or were completely different than those for which people had been trained.

JTW Podcast: Aristotle on Virtue

Okay, in today’s blog video, forget about the big words and the politically correct lingo and attitudes.  It’s a good overview of Aristotle and his theory that “virtue” is the habit of doing good.  This is the heart of western concepts of what it means to be fully human.  Was Aristotle completely correct?  Of course not, but he was on the right track.  (There was another video that was better for content, but the sound quality was very bad.)

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 34

A few things have crowded out Just Third Way-type news this week, such as the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the new offensives in Ukraine that are making astonishing gains.  Still, there are a few items of interest:

A University for Justice?

We’ve been doing a bit of reading in the works of Robert Maynard Hutchins and Mortimer Jerome Adler regarding the state of education today and thought it might be a good segue into a short presentation on “Justice University.”  JU has been around for a while, since 2008 in fact, but it never hurts to have a refresher course, especially since as Hutchins and Adler both noted, education is a lifelong process.

JTW Podcast: The Robert Maynard Hutchins Animated Cartoon

And now for something completely different.  Today we bring you Zuckerkandl! — the “!” is part of the title, by the way — starring the voice and image (more or less) of Dr. Robert Maynard Hutchins, president and then chancellor of the University of Chicago, with Mortimer Adler one of the prime movers behind the Great Books program, educational reformer, and cartoon character . . .

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 33

Once again, many of the news items this week make it obvious that the Economic Democracy Act is pretty much the only game in town if you want something that will actually work.  Otherwise, you’re stuck with:

What Does Democracy Mean?

Recently we came across a website purporting to be advocating “integralism,” which is a much-misused term for integrating one’s religious beliefs or philosophy into one’s daily life, the opposite of compartmentalization or schizophrenia.  This was a “Catholic” website and was rather blatant about demanding that the civil power be subordinated to the religious power (meaning the Catholic Church) in all things . . . suggesting they didn't have a clue about real integralism; they could have stepped right out of a Thomas Nast cartoon.

JTW Podcast: Robert Hutchins and John Dewey, Part III

Perhaps no two individuals have had a greater impact on American education than Robert Maynard Hutchins and John Dewey.  One person’s view of them is the subject of today’s podcast and the previous two (which are included for your convenience).  Even if you don’t agree with everything that is said (or how it is said), it might cause you to think and start wondering where we went wrong . . .

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 32

If Russian president Putin is wondering how to extricate himself and Russia from Ukraine without ending up slightly less than alive, he might consider the Economic Democracy Act.  It probably wouldn’t get him off the hook for what he’s done, but it might mitigate the punishment, and keep him from being written off as the absolute worst ruler in the history of the world. It is, after all, one thing to be a bloodthirsty tyrant, but quite another to be an incompetent bloodthirsty tyrant:

The State of American Education

We’ve been doing a little research into the writing of Robert Maynard Hutchins, president and later chancellor of the University of Chicago.  Much to our surprise, most of his books are fairly short and even entertaining — if you like his sort of sense of humor (we’ve seen people read or view his ludicrous satire, Zukerkandle! and not crack a smile while others were practically rolling on the floor laughing).

JTW Podcast: Robert Hutchins and John Dewey, Part II

Perhaps no two individuals have had a greater impact on American education than Robert Maynard Hutchins and John Dewey.  One person’s view of them is the subject of last week's and today’s podcast and to conclude in the next one.  Even if you don’t agree with everything that is said (or how it is said), it might cause you to think and start wondering where we went wrong . . .

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 31

 

Just provoking Putin's fans and felons

As usual, we have a number of news items that wouldn’t even be news if world leaders would get busy and adopt the Economic Democracy Act, but then we’d have to think of something else to write about:

Economic Independence

On Monday, August 15, 2022, to mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of the end of British rule of (most of) India and set the goal for the full century mark coming up in twenty-five years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “pledged to raise millions out of poverty and turn India into a developed country.”  (“Economic Vow Made on Independence Day,” Wall Street Journal, 08/16/22, A-16.)  He underscored his promise by declaring that “the world was looking toward India to help resolve global issues.”

JTW Podcast: Robert Hutchins and John Dewey, Part I

Perhaps no two individuals have had a greater impact on American education than Robert Maynard Hutchins and John Dewey.  One person’s view of them is the subject of today’s podcast and the next two.  Even if you don’t agree with everything that is said (or how it is said), it might cause you to think and start wondering where we went wrong . . .

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 30

A number of interesting developments this week that would probably be moot if some country adopted the Economic Democracy Act, but then there probably wouldn’t be anything to write about.  That not being the case:

What to Do About Taiwan

The Biden Administration’s apparent missteps with respect to China have been a source of great consolation to Trump supporters, with neither side considering whether any of it makes sense.  Of course, it must be admitted that Trump’s comments about Ukraine and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s “genius” in invading Ukraine, along with his various other troubles need something to divert attention.

JTW Podcast: Louis Kelso on Harold Channer Show

Today we have an interview with Louis O. Kelso on the Harold Channer Show from 1987.  In this show, Kelso is billed as the (co) author of Democracy and Economic Power, although he is better known as the co-author of The Capitalist Manifesto (1958) and The New Capitalists (1961).  The subtitle of the latter is significant: “

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 29

On the bright side, if we had the Economic Democracy Act, there wouldn’t be anything to write about.  That not being the case:

Does Vladimir Putin REALLY Believe This?

 

Analyses of Putin’s annexation of Crimea, funding insurgency in the Donbas, and the current “special military operation” in Ukraine have been hampered by the fact that no one, including Putin, seems to know why it was started and what it is supposed to achieve, at least on a permanent or consistent basis.  Was it to liberate ethnic Russians?  Respond to NATO aggression?  Acquire territory?  De-nazify and de-militarize Ukraine?  Make Russia great again?  Or some other excuse?

JTW Podcast: The New Chronology

Putin is obsessed with something called “The New Chronology” . . . and that is . . ? “This world view is largely based on volumes of something called "The New Chronology," which is the brainchild mainly of two Russian authors, an academic and a mathematician respectively — Anatoly Fomenko and Gleb Nosovsky. One of the key premises is that dark forces tampered with all the history books in libraries across the globe at a certain point in time, wiping out or changing real versions of events and resetting dates.”  Get out your tinfoil hats and be ready for a surreal ride . . .

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 28

All the signs are good regarding the need for an economic reform package along the lines of the Economic Democracy Act.  The only problem is that the powers-that-be and wannabe continue to insist on doing things that have never worked and can never work:

How to Become President

On Monday, July 25, 2022 (halfway to Christmas), Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts published an article on page A-17 of the Wall Street Journal, “Jerome Powell’s Fed Pursues a Painful and Ineffective Inflation Cure.”  We can agree with the title, and even several things Senator Warren says, but end up disagreeing with the article taken as a whole.  Warren identifies a part of the problem, but then analyzes it using a very flawed paradigm, and offers exactly the wrong solution, or (more accurately) non solution.

JTW Podcast: Robert Hutchins

Today we have a short but interesting presentation on Robert Maynard Hutchins.  Admittedly the presentation could be a little more polished and slick, but in this case at least it’s the thought that counts:

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 27

 

Although the news each week seems depressingly the same, there are hopeful signs.  One is the increasingly desperate nature of Russian propaganda (Ukraine using mutant soldiers and green energy is gay? Seriously?), and the utter stupidity of wasting munitions on civilian targets when their supply lines are getting plastered by HIMARS after the Russians claim to have destroyed them (see “desperate Russian propaganda,” above).  The other very positive sign is that it is becoming increasingly obvious that the Economic Democracy Act is rapidly becoming the only game in town:

A Question of Jurisprudence

Today we look at abortion from a natural law perspective.  In our opinion, looking at it an any other way is at best a misdirection, and at worst a serious strategic and tactical error.  In particular, making it a religious issue does little good in the long run, although in the short run it makes it easier to get emotional support and raise funds.

JTW Podcast: Unnecessary Jobs

Today’s podcast is an interesting take on how many jobs are simply there because people want or need a job to make what they call a living.  While very good up to a point, it goes off track by not questioning the whole wage system mentality that leads to what they label BS jobs in the first place and the need for the Economic Democracy Act.

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 26

You would think that as world leaders (and world followers) become increasingly desperate to find “new solutions” to increasingly overwhelming problems, they might actually start looking at something new, not just a rehash of failed (usually Keynesian) programs and theories that never could work.  Why not consider something that has already been proven to work, although it might upset a few apple carts and certainly damage some extremely large egos.  We refer, of course, to the Economic Democracy Act.  It certainly couldn’t be worse than what we’ve got now:

Breakthrough for Democracy in St. Louis!

Breakthrough for Democracy in the Heart of America, St. Louis, Missouri

Special Correspondent Rick Osbourne

On Friday, July 1^st, 2022, Republican Governor of Missouri Mike Parson signed a bill that’s designed to dramatically reduce poverty (and a myriad of related problems) in an area encompassing some of the roughest neighborhoods in St. Louis, without costing the government a dime! Moreover, as this project (known as the Heart of America Project) unfolds, it’s expected to create tens of thousands of citizens who are suddenly ECONOMICALLY PRODUCTIVE members of the local community in ways they’ve never been before.

JTW Podcast: Aristotle, The Politics

 

This is a good, short overview of Aristotle’s Politics, one of the seminal works of the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism.  The main point that we want to highlight in this presentation is Aristotle’s fundamental assumption that human beings associate in a consciously structured institutional environment — the community or pólis — by nature, that is, political, not by accident or mere convenience or expedience as many later philosophers (and the Sophists of Aristotle’s day) would have it.  “Man,” as Aristotle said, “is by nature a political animal.”

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 25

As the news comes in about the world situation, especially Putin’s War in Ukraine, the global debt crisis, the threat of famine, COVID-19, mass murders in Denmark, political assassination in Japan — just how many Horsemen of the Apocalypse are there, again? — it becomes increasingly obvious that there are serious underlying problems that are not being addressed . . . and that won’t be until we have the proper framework within which ordinary people are empowered to act with intelligence and justice instead of lashing out in desperation.  We think that the Economic Democracy Act will provide the proper environment within which people can become more fully human.  That’s why it’s fortunate that a book applying the concepts is on sale this weekend:

Postcard from Mariupol

 

 

Mostly on this blog we try to address applications of the Just Third Way, with an emphasis on Economic Personalism and the Economic Democracy Act.  Since February 24 of this year, we’ve been looking at how the Just Third Way program might be applied in Ukraine for the direct benefit of everyone once the Russian invasion has been repelled.

JTW Podcast: Originalism and the Constitution

Today we have something very unusual: a talk that actually mentions constitutional scholar William Winslow Crosskey (about half an hour in), and doesn’t really go into his importance in depth, but still it’s there:

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 24

Yet again, this weeks’ news items illustrate in the most graphic manner possible that the Economic Democracy Act is the only game in town when it comes to establishing and maintaining a just economic order:

Once Sanity Has Been Restored

 

 

After the recent terror bombing of the shopping mall in Kremenchuk, Ukraine — and the usual Russian lies (“We thought it was empty, we were aiming at something else, and it’s all fake news, anyway”) — even President Macron of France has stopped talking about appeasing Putin and trying to negotiate a settlement . . . at least for now.

JTW Podcast: “A Short History of American Education”

Today’s podcast is a bit rough around the edges and you may not agree with everything she says, but it does highlight the importance of Robert Maynard Hutchins and Mortimer Jerome Adler to American education . . . or what’s left of it . . .:

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 23

This week’s news items illustrate to a greater than ever before need for the Economic Democracy Act.  It’s becoming increasingly evident that the people who have seized control of the global economy have no real idea what they’re doing or how to fix it.  Still, we continue to let you know what’s going on:

Ukraine and the Types of Banks

 

We may have remarked once or twice that we like to get questions, as answering them sometimes writes our next blog posting.  It’s particularly nice when the question actually has something to do with what we’ve been discussing . . . although we don’t (usually) give in to the temptation to dismiss a question on the grounds that we find it of no interest, e.g., like the professor who asks for questions, then says impatiently when he or she is asked one, “No, I meant, ‘Are there any intelligent questions?’.”

JTW Podcast: Running Against the Wind

Today’s podcast may not be the most exciting you’ve ever listened to, but it’s still important — particularly in light of the modern decay of Academia in many cases into job training, political indoctrination, and partying:

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 22

Although we start off today’s news items with something only marginally related to the Economic Democracy Act, once again we’ve discovered the centrality of widespread ownership through fundamental monetary and tax reform to be key to restoring a society that is not only just, but one in which people can actually live . . . and the Economic Democracy Act is essential for that:

And the Money? Good Question

 

As we’ve said a number of times on this blog, we like to get questions, as answering them tends to make our lives a little easier.  For one thing, it means we don’t have to stop and think about what to write that will interest readers, as the readers have already told us what they’re interested in.

JTW Podcast: CESJ on LA Catholic Morning

Today’s podcast is the rebroadcast of an interview with one of the authors of, The Greater Reset that is not about the book.  Instead, it’s about CESJ, that is, the interfaith Center for Economic and Social Justice, founded in 1984 and located in Arlington, Virginia . . . which provided the paradigm for the book, The Greater Reset.  Even though it's "Catholic radio," CESJ deals in the natural law, and is thus "catholic-with-a-small-c."

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 21

 

Do you want to give us something more positive to report than the same sort of thing we go with week after week?  Then adopt the Economic Democracy Act.  You’ll be amazed at how good things can be when people have access to the opportunity and means to do as they should instead of being forced to go along with things like this:

Is Putin an Anomaly?

 

How did Russian president Vladimir Putin gain so much wealth and power that he was able to start a war to carry out a personal vendetta?  Is there something unique and special about him that gives him the ability to manipulate world events on such a vast scale, endangering not only the lives and property of the people of Ukraine, but the very existence of the world itself?  Is his power so great because he is more — or less — than human?  Or is there something else that accounts for his rise and incredible influence on the rest of humanity?

JTW Podcast: The Catholic Conversation on The Greater Reset

. . . of course, that all depends on what you mean by “Catholic Conversation.”  In this case, it’s the title of the show in which we once again are talking with Catholic hosts about our book, The Greater Reset.  Yes, the book is put out by a Catholic publisher, and this is a recording of a Catholic podcast, but it’s not really about religion, at least in the narrow sense.  It’s about catholic-with-a-small-c principles that should guide economic, political, and even personal life.

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 20

 

Not surprisingly, we would have few news items to report if a country adopted the Economic Democracy Act and other followed suit.  So, why doesn’t anyone implement the EDA?  Well, until they do, here are a few of the situations that would benefit from an application of the Just Third Way:

Sticking to Your Guns: Rights and Wrongs

 

The recent horrifying upswing in mass shootings in the United States has again focused on the question of gun control — and rightfully so.  At least in today’s posting, however, we are not going to take a position on the question of gun control, but to examine the underlying assumptions and principles of a very broad spectrum of opinions on the subject.

JTW Podcast: Archangel Radio on The Greater Reset

Or should that be The Greater Reset on Archangel Radio Podcast?  For today’s podcast, we again let somebody else do all the work of producing it while we just talk . . . mostly about our new book, The Greater Reset, but also about fundamental principles that should guide economic, political, and even personal life.  That’s why, despite the fact that The Greater Reset is from a “Catholic publisher,” it’s really for everyone because it’s based on universal principles of natural law that apply across the board to everyone:

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 19

 

Again, this week we have a significant number of situations that could be settled and problems that could solved if countries adopted the Economic Democracy Act.  So, why doesn’t anyone implement the EDA?  Is it stubbornness, ignorance . . . or something else?  Without discounting stubbornness or ignorance, recent research suggests that another factor should also be considered: that the current paradigm isn’t held by reason, but by faith.

Vladimir Putin and the New Christianity

 

In the previous posting on this subject, we noted that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s worldview is not entirely connected with reality, i.e., does not constitute “truth.”   Truth, of course, means conformity with reality.  Anytime you hear someone prating of a higher truth that goes beyond reality, he (or she) is lying, is mistaken, or is simply ignorant.

JTW Podcast: Patriarch Kirill, Putin’s New Age Guru

Despite Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s accusations of “Nazi” against anyone who has become the target of his ire, many people have commented on the resemblance of Adolf Hitler’s ideology and that of Putin, as well as other things, such as Hitler’s concept of Greater Germany as an alliance of all Aryan peoples, and Putin’s “Rusky Mir,” or “Russian World,” a Pan Slavic union of all Russian-speaking peoples under the leadership of Moscow . . . whether they want it or not.

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 18

 

Perhaps not unexpectedly, the news items have a depressing sameness, which will continue to be the case as long as we delay adopting the Economic Democracy Act.  At that point, we can have an invigorating sameness, right?  In any event, here are this week’s news items:

Vladimir Putin’s Weird Worldview

 

This past Sunday, May 15, 2022, an article appeared in the Washington Post that cast some light on the beliefs and antics of Russian Dictator Vladimir Putin, “The Far-Right Mystical Writer Who Helped Shape Putin’s View of Russia” (p. B-4).  It was written by Tara Isabella Burton, author of Strange Rites (2020), a book which examines the odd turns that religion has taken in the United States, especially under the influence of what Pope Gregory XVI in 1834 called rerum novarum, “New Things,” today better known as socialism, modernism, and the New Age.

JTW Podcast: Warren Treadgold

In today’s podcast we have an interview with the Byzantine historian Dr. Warren Treadgold, talking about the decay of modern Academia:

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 17

 

 

As has become usual, this week Putin’s War on Ukraine is the focus of the Just Third Way.  Frankly, not only is the Just Third Way pretty much the only game left in town when it comes to what’s going to happen after the war, it is becoming increasingly obvious that had it been in place before the war, there would not even have been a “before” to talk about, as the war very likely would not have happened in the first place.  In any event, here are this week’s news items:

The Five Levers of Reform, Change and Rebuilding

 

As the war in Ukraine drags on, even after Putin’s rousing Victory Day speech (described by one news source as “treading water” and by another as a tacit admission of defeat), President Zelenskyy still has the three goals he has had almost from the beginning of the first, greatest, and most unnecessary European war of this century:

JTW Podcast: The Regular Catholic Guy Show, Part II

Today we have Part II of II of Jeff “the Regular Catholic Guy” Garrett’s interview on The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Law from TAN Books, featuring co-authors Michael D. Greaney and Dawn K. Brohawn.  Ironically, given that today is Putin's Victory Day celebration, while the book was not written with Putin’s War in mind, the solution given in it to counter the “Great Reset” of Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum applies just as well — if not better — to the problems Putin has created:

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 16

 

Unfortunately, we have very little in the way of good news this week, and we begin with some very sad news, but here are this week’s news items:

Some Economic Specifics for Ukraine

 

 

. . . in a general way, of course.  To paraphrase the military aphorism, no business plan survives contact with reality.  A business plan, like a book outline or a military campaign, must be flexible and readily adaptable to new conditions as they change.  If, on the other hand, a plan, outline, or operation is followed rigidly regardless of reality, only by chance will disaster be averted.

JTW Podcast: The Regular Catholic Guy Show, Part I

Today we have Part I of II of Jeff “the Regular Catholic Guy” Garrett’s interview on The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Law from TAN Books, featuring co-authors Michael D. Greaney and Dawn K. Brohawn.  Again, while the book was not written with Putin’s War in mind, the solution given in it to counter the “Great Reset” of Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum applies just as well — if not better — to the problems created by Putin’s insane lust for power:

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

 

 

Not unexpectedly, the news items this week have mostly to do with the war in Ukraine:

Can Distributism Rebuild Ukraine?

 

The quick and easy answer to the question as to whether distributism can be used to rebuild Ukraine is yes — if the current keepers of the flame can either be convinced that their understanding of distributism might be a little off (or others can see it for themselves), some of the flaws in distributism as it has often been presented are corrected, and the authentic vision of G.K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc is implemented.  To do that, of course, we need to know what distributism really is, not what it was transformed into even before Chesterton’s death.

JTW Podcast: The Focusing Way, Part III

Today we present Part III of III of David Battistella’s interview on The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Law from TAN Books, featuring co-authors Michael D. Greaney and Dawn K. Brohawn.  While the book was not written with Putin’s War in mind, the solution given in it to counter the “Great Reset” of Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum applies just as well — if not better — to the problems created by Putin’s insane lust for power:

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 14

 

We think it might have something to do with the fact that we consistently give a Just Third Way perspective on the current situation in Ukraine — and advocate a proposal that would help resolve things in the immediate, short, mid, and long-term, viz., the Economic Democracy Act — but this blog has experienced an extreme rise in readership this past week, with the number of “visits” by separate individuals increasing by roughly 4,250% (yes, 4,250%) above our weekly average, and the number of different countries represented rising by roughly 250%, with Russia and Ukraine (more from Ukraine) being a significant chunk of that.

The Definition of Insanity

 

One rule-of-thumb definition of insanity people use is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.  In light of that, one has to question the sanity of what appears to be a new Russian offensive in Ukraine.  The Russian armed forces appear to be making the same mistakes they did in their drive for Kiev in the first offensive.  Now, with demoralized troops and an increasingly stiff resistance from Ukraine, they seem to be attempting the same thing all over again.

JTW Podcast: The Focusing Way, Part II

As David Battistella states in the subtitle of his podcast, The Focusing Way, “The Way is Love.”  Is love just a feel-good emotion, or is there something more involved?  Is there a way to turn economics from “the dismal science” into something that can deliver hope and a better life for all consistent with the demands of justice and charity?  Is this question answered in The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Law from TAN Books.  Tune in and see the second part of the interview with Dawn K. Brohawn and Michael D. Greaney:

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 13

To give you an idea of the sort of news we’ve been getting since Putin’s War started, the latest weirdity (to coin a term) is that Putin is threatening Finland and Sweden to deploy nuclear weapons in the region . . . which has already been done.  In other news:

“Why Are You Here?”

 

Watching the news reports and videos coming out of Ukraine, one thing that strikes the observer is the utterly baffled response of the people of Ukraine: “Why are you here?” they say to the Russians.  “What have we done to you?”  Our personal contacts in that country say the same thing: Why did the Russians invade?  What do they really want?  Why are they killing people indiscriminately?

JTW Podcast: The Focusing Way, Part I

 

As David Battistella states in the subtitle of his podcast, The Focusing Way, “The Way is Love.”  Is love just a feel-good emotion, or is there something more involved?  Is there a way to turn economics from “the dismal science” into something that can deliver hope and a better life for all consistent with the demands of justice and charity?  Is this question answered in The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Law from TAN Books.  Tune in and see:

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 12

 

It’s still too early to talk about financing the rebuilding of Ukraine (although plenty of other places in the world need it as well, albeit to a somewhat lesser degree . . . such as all of it), but it’s probably a good idea to get a place at the table before the usual thing starts to get discussed and then implemented.  With that in mind, here are this week’s news items:

Focusing on Ukraine

 

Just as individual sovereignty requires that someone have control over what he or she and his or her dependents needs to live in a manner befitting the demands of human dignity, each country needs to secure the means to secure national sovereignty.  In crude terms, as Henry C. Adams pointed out in 1898, that means not getting into debt to other countries, just as at the individual level indebtedness destroys personal sovereignty.

JTW Podcast: Reagan and Economic Justice

It seems that President Zelenskyy of Ukraine admires U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paull II . . . both of whom spoke very favorably of the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism.  This is interesting, as the program is probably the very best proposal for how to rebuild Ukraine ·or anywhere else, including Russia) once Putin’s War has been brought to an end.  Today we feature President Reagan’s speech to the Presidential Task Force on Project Economic Justice:

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

 

At the top of this week’s news, of course, is Putin’s War, and how Just Third Way principles might have prevented it, and offer a better way of rebuilding Ukraine (and even Russia) once this “special military operation” is brought to a close:

A Suggestion for Zelenskyy

On Sunday, March 27, 2022, President Zelenskyy of Ukraine gave an interview to Russian journalists . . . which the Kremlin has banned from viewing in Russia.  From the Just Third Way point of view, the most interesting part of the interview was when Zelenskyy invited Russians to bring themselves (and their money) to Ukraine to help them rebuild.

JTW Podcast: The Terry and Jesse Show

This week we have an interview by Jesse Romero — the Jesse half of the Terry and Jesse Show — of the authors of The Greater Reset, the new book by Dawn K. Brohawn, Director of Communications of the interfaith Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ), and Michael D. Greaney, CESJ’s Director of Research.  If you’re not Catholic (or even if you are) you might find the first quarter hour a little outside your area of interest, but either hang in there or fast forward, whatever suits your mood at the moment:

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 10

Depending on who you’re talking to, President Biden and other world leaders are either doing ’way too much or nowhere near enough about Ukraine and one or two . . . million other problems.  Of course, from our perspective, world leaders don’t lack the goodwill and the resources so much as the right framework of analysis, an obvious reference to the fact that few if any world leaders seem to be aware of the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism.  President Zelensky would, we believe, be enthusiastic about it if we could get it to him, while Putin would (in our opinion) view it as an even greater threat to his wealth and power than NATO, as you can see from the first of today’s news items:

Rebirth of a Nation

It will soon (we hope) become a pastime of armchair generals and amateur historians to discuss endlessly whether there has ever been a more vicious, psychotic, or incompetent military operation — special or otherwise — in the history of the world than Putin’s War.  If the current president of Russia wanted to ensure that his name would always be remembered as a byword for pure evil, he has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.

JTW Podcast: Zelenskyy’s Speech to Congress (Graphic)

This week we present Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s speech to the United States Congress:

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 09

In Fiddler on the Roof, someone asks the village Rabbi if there is a proper blessing for the Tzar.  He replies, “Of course . . . ‘May God bless and keep the Tzar . . . far away from us!’”  Many people, and not just Russians, are no doubt invoking a similar blessing for Putin.  An old prayer goes, “Savior of the world, save Russia!” to which we might add, “and everyone else from Russia.”

Russian Moral and Financial Default

What happens when a country cannot or will not pay its sovereign debt (government bonds and other obligations of the State) or even the interest on it?  Similarly, what happens if a government pays off its debts with its own worthless currency, despite the fact that the debt is denominated in that of another country?

The Greater Reset Published Today

 Today is the official launching of The Greater Reset which, unlike all other books on the subject that we've been able to find, offers a solution to the problems instead of just criticizing.  Get yours today:

JTW Podcast: The Chinese Bubble

Remember the Florida Land Boom of the 1920s?  If you do, you’re one of the oldest people on Earth.  You may, however, have seen the Marx Brothers film based on it, The Cocoanuts (1929), which may actually not be quite as insane as the boom itself.  Why bring this up?  It turns out that the alarming Chinese economic dragon may be as hollow as the fearsome Russian military bear — able to do a lot of damage, even on an apocalyptic scale, but something that will ultimately collapse in on itself . . . after causing massive damage on a global scale.

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 08

Obviously, Putin’s War in Ukraine is at the top of the list of what’s in the news this week, but there are one or two other items of interest:

Before and After

As we saw in “Putin’s Problems,” the previous posting on this subject, the Ukrainian “Special Military Operation” (a.k.a. “Putin’s War,” “Invasion,” “Assault,” “Genocide,” etc.), Vladimir Putin, the Autocrat of All the Russias (and anywhere else that won’t stand up to him), consists largely of what can only be called “applied knavish imbecility.”

The Truth About the “Great Reset”

The TAN Roundtable

Click on the link to register for this free event

Thursday, March 10, 2022

2:00 pm EST (U.S.)

 

“You’ll own nothing, and you’ll be happy”

JTW Podcast: What's Driving Putin

 

Here is an interesting take from German television, Deutche Welle News (in English), on why Russian president Vladimir Putin decided to wage an undeclared war on Ukraine for transparently specious reasons.

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 07

Given Vladimir Putin’s unilateral declaration of war against the human race, our lead stories this week are focused on the situation in Ukraine and Russia. As one of our correspondents in Ukraine near Kyiv has expressed complete disbelief even now that it is happening, that because of one deranged lunatic, cities are being bombed and women and children murdered.  Still, there is some good news . . . after we give you the bad news.

Putin’s Problems

 

No, we’re not departing from the general theme of the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism on this blog.  Today, however, we’re going to look objectively as possible at the situation in Ukraine, and what has gone wrong with Putin’s grand strategy.

JTW Podcast: Robert Maynard Hutchins on Education

 

It is interesting to note that Robert Maynard Hutchins believed that federal funding would not turn American academia into a brainwashing factory . . . but at the same time he wanted federal funding of all education, including religious schools.  Federal funding is not a danger as long as there is competition, at least according to Hutchins:

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 06

Obviously the Ukraine situation is at the top of the news this week.  Instead of trying to justify what cannot be justified, however, we prefer to suggest what may be a peaceful way to resolve the situation:

Ukraine’s Opportunity

In yesterday’s posting, we looked at a few things Putin might have overlooked in his ongoing — since 2014 — invasion of Ukraine.  Of course, there are things that a number of pundits in Europe and the United States are overlooking as they (with great sorrow, of course) declare that if Putin wants to take over Ukraine, or even a little bit here, a trifle there, until he has the whole thing in his new empire, what concern is it of anyone else?

Russia’s Difficulty

There is an Irish saying that Russian president Vladimir Putin might want to heed: England’s difficulty is Ireland’s opportunity.  At last count, there are more than twenty major separatist movements in Russia alone, not to mention the significant number of dissatisfied, even outraged people in the former Soviet republics, such as Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Boom and Bust Bologna

Virtually the whole of economics today assumes that you can only forestall the otherwise inevitable cycle of economic boom or bust by following the prescription of whatever school of economics they happen to belong to.  The fact that none of the prescriptions touted today has ever really worked doesn’t seem to matter.  As is usual, if something isn’t working these days, it’s because of a hidden conspiracy, people aren’t trying hard enough, not enough (or too much) money is being spent, the dog ate it, or anything else that comes to hand.

JTW Podcast: Fulton Sheen on Quo Vadis, America?

This week we have another lecture by Fulton Sheen, author of Freedom Under God,  this time on where America is going . . . and in color!  Again, this isn’t really a religious episode, although it does mention the G-word and religion a lot.  That’s okay; if you’re allergic, just filter it out.

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 05

If you can take time from the weekly FPF — Friday Phone Frenzy (that more and more consists of spam calls instead of people making last minute calls before the week ends) — or making a four-day weekend out of a three-day one, you might find this week’s news items of particular interest:

Can You Imagine?

Back in the Stone Age, i.e., 1971 . . . or maybe it was “the Stoned Age” . . . anyway, John Lennon released the bestselling song of his entire career, “Imagine.”  Although the song technically gives Lennon (or Yoko Ono, whom Lennon later claimed gave him most of the lyrics and content) a somewhat equivocal “out” by inserting a strategically place “if,” the point of the piece is to get people thinking how peaceful the world would be if there was no materialism, no borders, and no religion.  Ho, hum, stop us if you’ve heard this.

A New Philosophy of Money

In the previous posting on this subject, we noted that the Industrial Revolution made it possible for a few people to produce far more than they could ever consume, while the discovery by politicians that they could finance government operations using newly created money backed only with their own debt made it possible to consume massive amounts of goods and services without producing anything at all.

A Few Thoughts on Money

Today we’d like to look at money.  Well, not just look at it, but offer a few random thoughts.

When the subject of money comes up, some people tend to look exclusively at how (other) people who have money use it.  Apparently explaining widespread enthusiasm for the Great Reset, inclusive capitalism, and so on, such individuals often believe the wealthy use their money properly when they provide employment for workers or give it directly to the poor.

JTW Podcast: Fireside Chat (NOT FDR!)

 

This week’s podcast is a little heavy on religious stuff (as you might expect from a show done by a couple of priests for their parish), but don’t let that stop you.  It started out as being addressed to the Great Reset, but covered a lot of other stuff, too.  In any event, consider it a special Valentine for St. Valentine’s Day since we’re not sending out any cards:

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 04

Maybe it’s just us, but we can’t understand how people keep complaining about debt, and at the same time insist on going with Keynesian economics that has never worked as promised but which requires massive debt that not only won’t, but in the Keynesian framework should not be repaid!  At the same time, simply by going with the Economic Democracy Act, many of the problems people are currently complaining about would become moot:

The Land That Never Was

In the previous posting on this subject, we looked at what happened in the global financial markets as the result of the transformation of government debt from something people were forced into accepting, to a blue chip investment.  Not only did this give government control over money and credit, it gave it as much other power as it could get citizens to accept by freeing governments from the necessity of having to ask the citizens for taxes.

Inflation v. Employment, or, Cotton is King

Regular Readers of this blog may have gotten the idea that we’re not exactly enamored of Keynesian economics.  If so, they have the right idea: we’re not.  And there are a lot of very good reasons for it.  For today, however, we’ll confine ourselves to the alleged tradeoff between inflation and employment.

Financing the Future with Government Debt

In the previous posting on this subject, we saw that with the way the British financed the war against Napoléon, combined with the Financial and Industrial Revolutions, set up a surreal situation.  People who owned capital were able to produce far more than they could consume, while the government, which produces nothing, could consume by manipulating money.

JTW Podcast: Fulton Sheen on Building Character

This week’s podcast offers yet another lecture by Fulton Sheen, author of Freedom Under God,  this time on building character.  As you watch, you can understand how “America’s first televangelist” wasn’t really a televangelist at all, at least as that term is usually meant.  He was a guy who happened to be a Catholic prelate giving lectures on subjects of interest to a great many people, not just Christians.

News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 04

Is it just us, or is the world becoming an ever-more surreal place?  Russia parks 140,000 troops on the eastern Ukraine border and claims it is being provoked.  The U.S. government creates over $30 trillion in counterfeit money and Keynesian experts confirm that this is funny money by maintaining that the government doesn’t have to make good on any of it because — in common with all counterfeit money — the issuer isn’t really on the hook for it!  We could continue, but why go on?  This week’s news notes are depressing enough (except for the Fireside Chat notice, of course):