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:
Heart of America
• Missouri Establishes "Citizen's Land Development Cooperative Commission". This afternoon, Governor Parson of Missouri signed HB 2400,
which includes SB 772, into law in a private signing. A bill signing ceremony is
planned to which the public will be invited.
The new law will take effect on August 28, 2022. Why is this important? The act establishes
the “Citizen’s Land Development Cooperative Act,” which creates the Citizen’s
Land Development Cooperative Commission within the Missouri Department of
Revenue. The Commission shall
gather information and make annual reports to the Governor and the General
Assembly regarding the establishment and operation of citizen’s land
development cooperatives. The act defines a citizen’s land development
cooperative as a for-profit, citizen-owned, professionally managed real estate
planning and development corporation or land cooperative that may receive title
to land, natural resources, physical infrastructure, or facilities donated by a
not-for-profit organization or government entity; borrow money on behalf of its
shareholders for the purposes of carrying out the mission of the corporation,
and enable each citizen whose principal residence is situated in an area for
which future development will be controlled by a citizen’s land development
cooperative to acquire, free as a right of citizenship, an equal, lifetime,
non-transferable, private property ownership stake in the development of the
area, as described in the act.
Giving it away to Russia really Sachs
• Sachs and the City, or, How to Screw an Entire Country. According to the noted quasi-Keynesian economist Jeffrey Sachs, who engineered the post-Soviet economic reforms that eventually brought Putin to power and allowed him to become the greatest thief and richest man in human history, “the neocons” (a rather vague term that, like “the Jews,” seems to mean pretty much what you want it to mean) have been working for the past thirty years to bring about the war in Ukraine. Sachs, whom Pope Francis appointed a member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and thus in some degree a papal advisor (perhaps accounting for some of the more interesting actions by His Holiness), has declared that Putin’s War should never have happened (no argument there), and should be ended as soon as possible (ditto) . . . by peace talks. As Sachs said in an interview in Tikkun magazine, “The real solution is to end the neocon fantasies of the past 30 years and for Ukraine and Russia to return to the negotiating table, with NATO committing to end its commitment to the eastward enlargement to Ukraine and Georgia in return for a viable peace that respects and protects Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” In other words, The U.S. neocons and NATO caused the war by forcing Putin to attack. If everybody would just stop fighting and give Putin what he wants, he will immediately leave Ukraine and hand back Crimea and the Donbas, securing to Ukraine what Russia promised absolutely to respect when the country became independent in the first place. Sachs also believes that abortion is a basic right and a cost-effective alternative to letting unwanted children be born and use up scarce resources, and that population control will bring economic prosperity. He has also attacked widespread capital ownership and would probably oppose the Economic Democracy Act.
• Ukraine, Russia, and Wheat. It appears (and we hope that appearances are not deceiving) that the Russian effort to disrupt the global food supply and blame it on everybody but themselves may have been somewhat ameliorated. The price of wheat has dropped somewhat over the past several weeks. It reached a record high of $12.94 per bushel but fell to $9.39 on June 28. With the recapture of Snake Island this past week, it may soon be feasible for Ukraine to start shipping wheat by its usual sea route, taking further pressure off wheat and sunflower oil. Of course, what would really help (apart from getting Russia out of Ukraine) is the Economic Democracy Act, but that will come in due time.
• Russia Could Shoot Itself in Its Other Foot. Putin’s trump card in his war against Ukraine is European dependency on Russian fossil fuels . . . which may not be as strong as Putin could wish. The Russian military has already demonstrated that it is completely inept, and only able to make gains by using incredible amounts of munitions and complete barbarity to destroy everything in its path, and even then can’t make much progress. Now (as months ago we suggested they should) world leaders are starting to look seriously at alternative fuels, which would nullify Russia’s advantage there. In common with other major oil-producing countries, Russia’s economy relies on exports of fossil fuels, and without that they will be up the3 proverbial creek . . . unless they adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Russian Confiscations. No doubt alarmed by the withdrawal of McDonald’s and its replacement with the “Tasty . . . Or Else” brand (and the various complaints about it), Russia is now warning “the West” that its assets in Russia aren’t “safe”. This is news? Russia’s rulebook for some time has been that what other countries own, even themselves, isn’t “safe” if Russia decides otherwise. Of course, what that boils down to is that if the man who views Russia as his personal possession wants something, he gets it, regardless what it costs other people. The only remedy to someone like Putin is the Economic Democracy Act, as is becoming increasingly obvious.
• Winner Take All. Facing a coming bankruptcy of the system, Congress is thinking of increasing Social Security benefits so that those already getting the goodies (such as they are) get more, while those who haven’t yet qualified for benefits may be left with less . . . or nothing. Of course, adopting the Economic Democracy Act, might solve the problem, but apparently solving problems here is not the goal. Rather, the aim seems to be to stick somebody else with it.
• Russia’s Economy May Crumble. Many people aren’t aware of the fact that under Hitler, the average German lived better during an all-out war than before Der Führer took power. It was a major factor in letting many people turn a blind eye to what was happening to Jews, Gypsies, and anyone else who had “caused” the economic and social problems that Hitler’s Third Reich eliminated with its Final Solution. Putin, however, is forced to talk out of both sides of his mouth, and cracks may be appearing in his logic as well as in the Russian economy. On the one hand, the non-war has brought prosperity or at least is not harming the economy. Everything is fine, and Russia doesn’t need the West or anyone else. On the other hand, Western sanctions are an aggressive act of war and will be dealt with in the harshest manner possible with dire consequences for anyone who gets in the way. Putin may last only as long as it takes the average Russian to wise up, get rid of the dictator, and adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
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| A little deceptive, even with a shirt on. |
• Russia’s Strong Ruble Problem. A strong currency is great for national prestige and for the benefit of the currency speculators, but Russia is discovering why a weak currency actually benefits an exporting country under the Keynesian system: it allows importing countries to purchase things cheaper from exporting countries with weak currencies than make those products themselves or buy them elsewhere. Of course, under the monetary reforms of the Economic Democracy Act, things could be sold at their real value . . . but that would mean the government or somebody like Putin couldn’t control the economy for its own benefit.
• Rebuilding Under Fire. Ukrainians aren’t waiting for Russia to come to its senses, get rid of Putin, and pull out of their country before starting to rebuild. The main problem right now is finding the money — and that could easily be solved with the Economic Democracy Act.
• The Coming Market Crash? According to some experts, share values on Wall Street could drop by as much as half, as soon as people realize that money is being created at a rate far outstripping the ability of the country to produce marketable goods and services. Of course, if money was only created as proposed in with the Economic Democracy Act, then this would not be a problem . . . although then share values would probably fall to reflect their real value instead of their speculative value.
• Financing Ukraine’s Recovery. A meeting is taking place in Switzerland to discuss financing Ukraine’s recovery, although we have a hunch what won’t be discussed is the Economic Democracy Act.
• The Greater Reset. CESJ’s new book by members of CESJ’s core group, The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Law is, of course, available from the publisher, TAN Books, an imprint of Saint Benedict Press, and has already gotten a top review on that website. It can also be obtained from Barnes and Noble, as well as Amazon, or by special order from your local “bricks and mortar” bookstore. The Greater Reset is the only book of which we’re aware on “the Great Reset” that presents an alternative instead of simply warning of the dangers inherent in a proposal that is contrary to natural law. It describes reality, rather than a Keynesian fantasy world. Please note that The Greater Reset is NOT a CESJ publication as such, and enquiries about quantity discounts and wholesale orders for resale must be sent to the publisher, Saint Benedict Press, NOT to CESJ.
• Help Joe Walk Again for Economic Justice. Just a reminder, if you haven’t already done so, to visit the GoFundMe campaign and consider making a contribution and spreading word out among your social media networks. It’s off to a good start, but it’s still just a start.
• Hortense and Her Whos. In case you’ve been wondering how you might advance the Just Third Way by introducing it to legislators at any and all levels of government, we’ve made it easy for you, with the “Hortense Hears Three Whos“ initiative. Visit the explanatory website, and consider downloading the postcard to send to people in government. Don’t worry if you think they won’t be open to it, as the postcard is intended to get them to open their eyes.
• Economic Personalism Landing Page. A landing page for CESJ’s latest publication, Economic Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person, has been created and can be accessed by clicking on this link. Everyone is encouraged to visit the page and send the link out to their networks.
• Economic Personalism. When you purchase a copy of Economic Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person, be sure you post a review after you’ve read it. It is available on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble at the cover price of $10 per copy. You can also download the free copy in .pdf available from the CESJ website. If you’d like to order in bulk (i.e., ten or more copies) at the wholesale price, send an email to publications@cesj.org for details. CESJ members get a $2 rebate per copy on submission of proof of purchase. Wholesale case lots of 52 copies are available at $350, plus shipping (whole case lots ONLY). Prices are in U.S. dollars.
• Sensus Fidelium Videos, Update. CESJ’s series of videos for Sensus Fidelium are doing very well, with over 155,000 total views. The latest Sensus Fidelium video is “The Five Levers of Change.” The video is part of the series on the book, Economic Personalism. The latest completed series on “the Great Reset” can be found on the “Playlist” for the series. The previous series of sixteen videos on socialism is available by clicking on the link: “Socialism, Modernism, and the New Age,” along with some book reviews and other selected topics. For “interfaith” presentations to a Catholic audience they’ve proved to be popular, edging up to 150,000 views to date. They aren’t really “Just Third Way videos,” but they do incorporate a Just Third Way perspective. You can access the playlist for the entire series. The point of the videos is to explain how socialism and socialist assumptions got such a stranglehold on the understanding of the role of the State and thus the interpretation of Catholic social teaching, and even the way non-Catholics and even non-Christians understand the roles of Church, State, and Family, and the human persons place in society.
• Shop online and support CESJ’s work! Did you know that by making your purchases through the Amazon Smile program, Amazon will make a contribution to CESJ? Here’s how: First, go to https://smile.amazon.com/. Next, sign in to your Amazon account. (If you don’t have an account with Amazon, you can create one by clicking on the tiny little link below the “Sign in using our secure server” button.) Once you have signed into your account, you need to select CESJ as your charity — and you have to be careful to do it exactly this way: in the space provided for “Or select your own charitable organization” type “Center for Economic and Social Justice Arlington.” If you type anything else, you will either get no results or more than you want to sift through. Once you’ve typed (or copied and pasted) “Center for Economic and Social Justice Arlington” into the space provided, hit “Select” — and you will be taken to the Amazon shopping site, all ready to go.
• Blog Readership. We have had visitors from 18 different countries and 27 states, provinces, and territories in the United States and Canada to this blog over the past week. Most visitors are from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Argentina, and India. The most popular postings this past week in descending order were “Once Sanity Has Been Restored,” “News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 23,” “Did C.S. Lewis Approve of Socialism?” “JTW Podcast: ‘A Short History of American Education’,” and “Ukraine and the Types of Banks.”
Those are the happenings for this week, at least those that we know about. If you have an accomplishment that you think should be listed, send us a note about it at mgreaney [at] cesj [dot] org, and well see that it gets into the next “issue.” Due to imprudent and intemperate language on the part of some commentators, we removed temptation and disabled comments.
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