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:
• Oligarchic Socialism and Mixed Signals. As the chaos being spread throughout the global economy by Trump’s Tergiversating and Terrible Tariffs graphically illustrates, the President of the United States might not be entirely consistent or even coherent in the signals he is sending to the citizens of the world or anywhere else. First, he threatens automakers not to raise prices, and a day or so later declares he doesn’t care if they raise prices. Clearly, the only thing clear about Trump’s policies is their utter lack of clarity. This, as any psychiatrist should be able to tell you, is a very good way to create a psychotic society and spread utter chaos . . . which is precisely what is happening. Keynesian economics did this economically and financially by advocating complete government control of money and credit, down to changing the value and even definition of money at will (Keynes called it “re-editing the dictionary”), so that no one knows from one day to the next what his or her money is worth or even what money is. Trump has merely taken Keynesian positivism to the next level and applied his personal chaos theory to domestic and international politics. As Hitler and Mussolini demonstrated, this sort of confusion and chaos is an ideal way for dictators to seize and maintain power. The only effective solution is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Is the Federal Reserve “Gaslighting” the Public? Well, it’s not as if they actually know what they are talking about . . . do they? As reported on Benzinga, “Economist Craig Shapiro has said that the Federal Reserve has been ‘gaslighting the public,’ after the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Tom Barkin said Thursday that inflation is not ‘de-anchored’.” What does this doubletalk mean? That they don’t know what they are talking about. This slight economic aphasia could easily solve this problem by adopting the Economic Democracy Act. . . but they’re not likely to think about that so long as they have to worry about insane tariffs destroying the world economy.
• More Social Security Problems. It’s not tariffs — this time — but the swathe “DoGE” is cutting through what system is left. According to Fortune magazine, “President Donald Trump's efforts to slash federal staffing across agencies is also resulting in the loss of technical expertise need to help maintain critical systems, including those used to pay Social Security benefits. That means payments could be at risk if there's a glitch and the right people aren't there to fix it.” Why not do something radical by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• Worker Confidence at All-Time Low. According to Fortune magazine, worker confidence is lower now than during the COVID pandemic. And the reasons? “The culprit for all the anxiety is a slowing jobs market, potentially destructive new economic policies, and fears about how AI will impact human professionals, according to the report. ‘This is indicative of workers feeling like they don’t have the power to actually change their financial situation. When you feel like you don’t have the power, your confidence in your own stability wanes,’ Drew McCaskill, a career expert at LinkedIn, tells Fortune.” Of course, the real culprit might be the surreal policies of President Trump, as the crashing stock market suggests. As usual, the solution is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• A Fusion Breakthrough? According to Popular Mechanics, “a new U.K.-based company is claiming that its fusion-powered rocket, called ‘sunbird’ could be ready for space-based demonstration by as early as 2027.” Perhaps we can persuade President Trump to take a trip to Mars a little bit early.
• NO SURRENDER! Despite the total disaster Trump’s tariffs have proven to be, President Trump has declared they are working and making everybody rich . . . everybody he knows, anyway, which is a small but diminishing group. He has therefore gone on record as insisting his policies will never change . . . despite trillions of dollars of losses in two days. What’s the solution . . . besides getting rid of Trump as fast as possible? Get rid of Trump as fast as possible and adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Greater Reset “Book Trailers”. We have produced two ninety-second “Book Trailers” for distribution (by whoever wants to distribute them), essentially minute-and-a-half commercials for The Greater Reset. There are two versions of the videos, one for “general audiences” and the other for “Catholic audiences”. Take your pick.
• The Greater Reset. CESJ’s 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.
• Economic Personalism Landing Page. A landing page for CESJ’s latest publication (now with an imprimatur), 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., 52 or more copies) at the wholesale price, send an email to info@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.
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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