News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 05

Despite appearances, things are looking up.  Some of this is due to circumstances (non-political), but others are due solely to politics.  In any event, the situation is making it clearer than ever before that the only realistic solution is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act:

Trump’s Rising Tide

Time and the tide wait for no man.  Neither are they subject to the command of a man.

Before it became politically incorrect to suggest a ruler might not be all-powerful or the State might not be a “Mortall God” à la Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan, every schoolchild knew the story of King Chanute and the ocean.  Or maybe it was King Canute.  Or it could have been Cnut.  Or Knut.  Or Knute.  No need to come to wreck on this Rockne.

JTW Podcast: Logic in Late Ancient Philosophy

This week Professor Dave looks at “Logic in Late Ancient Philosophy” which continues from last week’s “Hellenistic and Roman Philosophy.”  As Professor Dave explains, “Previously we outlined Aristotle's enormous contributions in establishing logic as a formal field of inquiry. So what happened after that? How did the minds that followed, many directly in his lineage, develop this field further? What is meant my modus ponens and modus tollens, or the master argument, or Agrippa's trilemma, or the five indemonstrables? Let's take a look now!”

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 04

A lot of events this week underscore the need for, and the importance of adopting the Economic Democracy Act as soon as possible:

Klingon Economics

If you thought the economics of John Maynard Keynes was crazy, wait until you hear about the study of the production, distribution, and consumption of marketable goods and services in the Klingon Empire.  What brought this up?  We are looking into turning our recently re-released book, Economic Personalism (now with 100% more imprimatur!) into an audiobook.  We’ve also been looking into using AI to translate the book into different languages to broaden the potential market.

JTW Podcast: Hellenistic and Roman Philosophy

This week Professor Dave looks at “Hellenistic and Roman Philosophy” . . . which means . . . what?  As Professor Dave himself says, “Having made our way through Classical Greece, it's time to enter the subsequent Hellenistic and Roman periods. These were dominated by schools of thought that were influenced by the great classical thinkers, though they took their teachings into new territory. Eclectics, Neoplatonists, Peripatetics, Stoics, Epicureans, Cynics, who were they and what were their beliefs? Let's find out!”

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 03

Some interesting news items this week, a number of which are amusing, in a twisted sort of way.  To get back on the straight and narrow, however, we should adopt the Economic Democracy Act:

Scrooge and the Virtue of Being Rich, Part IV

In the previous posting on this subject, we closed by noting that some new ideas had entered the general culture.  As a rule, prior to the middle of the nineteenth century people got rich to be able to live “the good life” (which didn’t mean quite what it meant to Aristotle, who referred to the “good life of virtue”), which required wealth and power to be able to obtain the goods and services that went along with a materially good life.  This meant as soon as they had “enough,” they could stop accumulating wealth, and then sit back and enjoy it.

JTW Podcast: Aristotelian Logic

Today Professor Dave takes a short look at Aristotelian logic, which many consider the “toolkit” for rational thought, based on the first principle of reason, which can be stated in a negative way and a positive way.  Negative (the principle or law of [non] contradiction): “Nothing can both be and not be at the same time under the same conditions.”  Positive (the principle or law of identity): “That which is true is as true and is true in the same way as everything else that is true.”  So, what does Professor Dave have to say about it . . . if anything?

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 02

With the upcoming Inauguration of U.S. President-elect Trump, most news items related to the Just Third Way are in the “what if” category.  Still, there are a few things of note that should turn our minds in the direction of the Economic Democracy Act:

Scrooge and the Virtue of Being Rich, Part III

Continuing our Scrooge Saga, in last week’s posting we asked the eternal question, “How did being wealthy become a virtue?”  The quick answer is that people’s understanding of money changed.  The longer and more involved answer is that people’s understanding of money, credit, banking, and finance changed . . . or, briefly, people’s understanding of money changed . . .

JTW Podcast: Aristotle, the First Scientist

In today’s podcast, we take a look at “the science of science,” of which — as far as we know — Aristotle was the inventor.  Like Professor Dave, Aristotle knew a lot about a lot of stuff.  He had some pretty bad ideas, but that doesn’t mean he was fundamentally wrong or wrong about everything, just that he made mistakes . . . like you’re perfect?

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 01

This is the first new news report for the year, and we unfortunately start the year with sad news.  There is a little about the Economic Democracy Act as well:

Scrooge and the Virtue of Being Rich, Part II

In the previous, Christmas Day posting on this subject, we noted there was a significant difference between Ebenezer Scrooge and the rich of today.  Scrooge, for all his faults — and his unsuspected, if very real virtues! — did not seek wealth as an end in itself.  True, as Dickens portrayed him, Scrooge was —