This week’s news items are not very happy, but they are hopeful, in a sense. CESJ is still here, the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism is still being advanced, and the Initiative on Economic Personalism is still in the process of getting organized. Perhaps it won’t be long before the Economic Democracy Act is adopted:
Norman G. Kurland
• Dr. Norman G. Kurland, R.I.P.
It is with deep sadness that we announce
the passing of Dr. Norman Gerald Kurland, co-founder and president of CESJ, on
September 5, 2026, at his home in Arlington, Virginia. For more than six decades, Norm devoted
himself to a deceptively simple question: What would it take for every person
to have a genuine opportunity to participate in economic life, as well as in
society, as an owner? For Norm,
that question became the organizing principle that in 1984 led him to join with
others, including the social justice philosopher Rev. William J. Ferree, S.M.,
Ph.D. to establish the Center for Economic and Social Justice. CESJ became the institutional home for Norm’s
life’s work: developing what came to be known as the “Just Third Way.” An
expanded notice can be seen here.
In Your Dreams
• Trump Accounts Redux. And now for something completely
different. As reported in the San
Francisco Chronicle, California
Governor Gavin Newsome says you should open a Trump account for your “kid.” We assume he means a human child, but be that
as it may, here’s his reasoning as reported in the article: “Newsom's
cross-party praise may be less surprising in light of a California precedent:
In 2022, he launched the California Kids Investment and Development Savings
Program, which seeds accounts for children. Unlike the broader Trump program,
CalKIDS funds can be used only for college and career training.” In other words, move along, nothing to see
here. It’s the same thing all over again. If you have money, you can save it, if you
don’t have money, you can’t. The real
solution is not loudly touted tax and spending gimmicks, but a fundamental
economic reform, and that can be achieved by adopting the
Economic Democracy Act (EDA).
• “Trump’s” Economy on the Skids. Even though economists are estimating that Trump’s war on Iran has cost Americans $100 billion just in energy prices alone (so far), according to an article in The Center Square, “It’s the economy (overall), stupid,” that is holding center stage. As the article reports, “With consumer prices still higher than a year ago, voters disapprove of President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy more than his job overall, rating the economic record his weakest measure, a new national poll found.” Perhaps they just don’t realize that it’s Trump’s performance of “his job overall” that is causing the economic chaos, but that is of little moment. It doesn’t matter why you might be inspired to push for Congress to adopt the Economic Democracy Act (EDA), so long as you do.
• Interest on the Debt. Strange as it may seem, you have to be able afford to be in debt . . . and thanks to decades of the country spending like a drunken sailor on leave, the interest on the national debt is approaching a fifth of total government revenues, according to an analysis in Fortune magazine. As the article notes, “A recent analysis from investment management firm Doubleline noted that in 2025, the federal net interest payment on the U.S.’s now-$40 trillion national debt reached 18.5% of revenue, surpassing 1991's record 18.4%. That means the U.S. is collecting nearly 19% of all taxes and revenue just to pay off interest on its ballooning debt, equivalent to $1.25 trillion — more than the entire 2026 defense budget.” Again, there is only one solution to this insanity, and that is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• The Poor Priced Out of Low-Income Housing. It appears that being poor has become more expensive than ever before. As reported by the Associated Press, “The poorest people in the U.S. face the most acute shortages of affordable homes. But the majority of low-income housing financed in recent years is for those earning 50% of an area's median income or above, according to a survey of state housing agencies. Some cities are now seeing an uptick in vacancies as rents for these units approach market rates. The result: Apartments designated as affordable sit empty because the poorest of the poor cannot afford them.” Although it’s not the primary objective of CESJ and the Just Third Way, this problem has been addressed with the Homeowners Equity Corporation (HEC) as a way to make housing affordable. Naturally, the better solution is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act (EDA), but any step in the right direction is a step forward.
• More Social Security Woes. As if you haven’t heard any of this before, as reported in the Washington Post, the politicians are thinking once again of trying to solve the problem of Social Security by doing everything except what makes sense. As reported in the article, “For decades, Washington has replayed the same fight over taming the soaring national debt: Democrats cite a need for more taxes. Republicans refuse. And anyone who suggests cutting the biggest source of spending - federal retirement benefits - gets attacked. But a coming crisis in Social Security appears to be pushing at least a few Republicans off the GOP's long-standing pledge never to raise taxes. This summer, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) joined Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) in proposing to raise the payroll tax cap so people with higher incomes pay more into the program. Now the idea is emerging as an acceptable fix among other GOP lawmakers, including Rep. Tom Cole (Oklahoma), the influential chair of the House Appropriations Committee.” Given that the Economic Democracy Act (EDA) was originally promoted as a way of “saving Social Security, perhaps it’s time to give it some serious consideration.
Boss Tweed
• The Amazing Boss Trump. Yesterday,
President Trump announced a $500 Obamacare rebate. We’re starting to lose count of the number of
times he has promised to deliver the cash and the amounts . . . but we can look
it up. In any event, although people
don’t like to hear about history, historical and legal estimates indicate that back
in the middle of the 19th century, William Meagher “Boss” Tweed and
his corrupt political ring stole between $25 million and $200 million over a
period of 20 years from New York City taxpayers. Because the “Tweed Ring” of four big cheeses
and dozens of smaller bits of curd went to great lengths to alter financial
records, a definitive, exact figure will never be known. In today’s economy, $200 million equates to
roughly $3.5 billion to $5 billion, or at most an average of $250 million a
year in today’s dollars. In contrast,
the size of the U.S. federal budget in 1860 was a whopping $78 million, or
$3.14 billion in today’s dollars. In one
year, the present incumbent in the White House has only made $2.2 billion all
by himself. Not to worry, though. Like Boss Tweed, Boss T is offering to let
others in on the goodies. So far, he has
promised a $2,000 tariff refund, a $5,000 DOGE dividend, and now a $5,000 price
tag for votes. That’s $12,000 which,
when multiplied by 270 million adult Americans, comes to $3.24 trillion — so
he’ll only have to be in office another 1,500 years or step up the level of graft. (We didn’t count the recently announced
Obamacare rebate of $500 — peanuts.)
Aside from the obvious political solution of throwing the rascals out,
adopting the
Economic Democracy Act (EDA) would restore power to the people and force
accountability onto politicians.
• Once Again, It’s a Gas. Gas is once again rising in price. We know it’s the tendency of gas to rise, but we wish things would be a trifle less blatant, especially when things aren’t exactly going very well in other areas. In any event, as Reuters reports, “U.S. consumer prices accelerated in August as the cost of gasoline rebounded after two straight monthly declines, bolstering financial market expectations that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates next week. The Consumer Price Index increased 0.4% last month after edging up 0.1% in July, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday. In the 12 months through August, consumer inflation advanced 3.4% after rising by the same margin in July.” Astonishingly, despite the combination of oil’s cost-push inflation and the Iran war’s demand-pull inflation, the stock market is shooting through the roof in anticipation of the Federal Reserve’s likely decision to fight demand-pull and cost-push inflation by adding to cost-push inflation by raising interest rates. The obvious response from the Just Third Way perspective, of course, is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act (EDA) and the associated monetary reforms, which would get away from trying to counter demand-pull inflation with cost-push inflation (which is like switching from adding coal to the fire to stoke it, to adding gasoline to put it out) and restore some sense to the economy.
• 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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