It continues to be difficult to report on news items relating to the Just Third Way when the media are filled with the economic chaos being spread without regard of anything connected to reality. As always, however, we believe the solution to the chaos and quite a few other things is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act:
• Trump and Social Insecurity. President Trump’s hiring freeze across federal agencies that has hindered the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) ability to track inflation combined with the firing of the head of the BLS has raised questions about the about whether Social Security’s 2026 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will be accurate — and that could have serious repercussions. According to the Motley Fool, “questionable inflation data will make the 2026 COLA suspect, and the timing is particularly bad. The Senior Citizens League, a nonprofit advocacy group, estimates 20% of Social Security's buying power has been stripped by insufficient COLAs since 2010. Additionally, most retired workers think the last two COLAs were too small, according to research from The Motley Fool.” All this could easily be resolved by making Social Security need-based, merging the special tax into general revenues, and adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• Stressful Food Inflation. According to the Associated Press, “The vast majority of U.S. adults are at least somewhat stressed about the cost of groceries, a new poll finds, as prices continue to rise and concerns about the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs remain widespread. About half of all Americans say the cost of groceries is a “major” source of stress in their life right now, while 33% say it's a ‘minor’ source of stress, according to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Only 14% say it's not a source of stress, underscoring the pervasive anxiety most Americans continue to feel about the cost of everyday essentials.” Ironically, this could be resolved by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• More on the Terrible Trump Tariffs. As reported in The Hill, “Republicans on Capitol Hill are feeling jittery about the economy after the latest jobs report showed the economy added far fewer jobs than previously estimated over the past three months. President Trump and his economic team insist the economy is going strong and poised for significant growth, but their bullish projections are meeting skepticism from some in the GOP who worry Trump’s trade regime is creating economic headwinds.” Frankly, the answer is to dump the Trump tariffs and adopt the tax and monetary reforms of the Economic Democracy Act.
• Hunt, Don’t Poison. Authorities in California are concerned about the fact that their efforts to poison the massive numbers of wild pigs roaming the state are tainting the meat and turn it blue for people who hunt the hogs. Evidently, the poison is ineffective, which suggests it should be abandoned and perhaps something more creative adopted, such as lifting any limit or season on hunting pigs. We’re not sure how this fits into urging adoption of the Economic Democracy Act., but there’s probably something.
• Trump Economy Not Doing Well. As reported in Vox, “The US economy is bending — but not yet breaking — beneath the weight of President Donald Trump’s nationalist agenda. That is the story told by an avalanche of economic data released last week. According to those new figures, employers are pulling back on hiring to a dramatic (and unexpected) degree, economic growth is slowing, and consumer prices are rising. And there are strong indications that Trump’s trade and immigration policies are driving all of these trends.” Again, the answer is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Trump’s “Redneck Recession.” As reported in The Telegraph, “[U]nderneath the gloss of an artificial intelligence boom and surging Wall Street profits, all is not well. America is grappling with an alarming jobs slowdown, a frozen housing market, a small business crunch and crumbling consumer confidence. The US president may have delivered a booming stock market, but economists warn he is pushing many sectors into recession. His working class Maga support base will be the worst hit.” Evidently, a command economy, even one commanded by President Trump, simply can’t deliver for the ordinary citizen. Obviously, the solution is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Rising Unemployment Claims. As reported in Yahoo! Finance, claims for unemployment in the United States are the highest they’ve been since November 2021. This is despite Trump firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “In the week ending July 26, 1.974 million continuing claims were filed, up from 1.936 million the week prior and the highest level seen since November 2021, according to data from the Department of Labor released Thursday morning. Economists see an increase in continuing claims as a sign that those out of work are taking longer to find new jobs.” The solution is to shift from a wage system to an ownership system and adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• “Politicized or Unlawful Banking.” It’s an aphorism in finance that “all loans are character loans.” Trump has decided to change that. As reported in Yahoo! Finance, “President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that ups his administration’s scrutiny over whether big banks denied services to consumers and businesses based on political or religious grounds. The action calls for federal bank regulators to investigate if the decisions made by financial institutions to deny access to certain customers were ‘politicized or unlawful debanking.’” Of course, whether someone has been refused a loan on such grounds is a very flexible judgment. What’s the solution? (And yes, there is one.) Make the character or even creditworthiness of the borrower something of complete indifference by adopting 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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