The Initiative on Economic Personalism seems to be gaining more traction. There were a few more important meetings this week and Norman Kurland’s legacy to get some of the recognition it deserves. Again, this is centered on getting the Economic Democracy Act adopted, but there is much, much more:
• Public Livestream Executions. The announcement that the execution of Nidal Hasan by firing squad at Fort Hood, Texas, will be “livestreamed” raises some extremely disturbing questions. Completely aside from the morality or lack thereof of the death penalty, it appears the execution is being transformed from a punishment for a profound criminal offense into a media event to satisfy a political agenda, apply a warped view of justice whether civil or military, and project an equivocal “macho” image to gratify some psychological need. In ancient Rome, condemned criminals were often sentenced to take part in gladiatorial combat as popular entertainment, degrading for both the criminal and the spectators. Although Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth justifies livestreaming the execution by stating the event needs to be “public” so “people are able to watch it” and understand that “there’s [sic] serious consequences for these types of things,” its utility as a deterrent is extraordinarily questionable, at best. To a certain type of mind, it actually encourages the behavior it is allegedly intended to discourage by turning a criminal into a hero or a martyr. If you want to inspire “copycat” crimes, just ensure you immortalize the criminal by giving him or her as much publicity as possible; he or she will now go down in history instead of fading away in a prison cell, forgotten by all. There is also the issue of desensitizing people to violence and making it seem almost commonplace instead of horrifying. How does this relate to the Economic Democracy Act (EDA)? By ensuring a sufficient economic surplus, a society can afford to keep criminals locked up and silenced for the rest of their lives, often a far worse punishment than giving them a moment of glory and the knowledge that they are now “legends,” even stars of the show. You may also want to consider signing the petition that has been started.
• Outreach to Rev. William Graham. No, the other Rev. William Graham, a Catholic priest who is the author of Beneath the Pond Scum, a satirical and humorous novel we are going to read as soon as we obtain our next shipment of round tuits. We had a very good conversation with Fr. Graham this past Friday, and he expressed great interest in the Initiative on Economic Personalism — and gave us some very good advice as well as several important contacts we are preparing to reach out to. As for Fr. Graham himself, as described on his website, he “is a priest from northern Minnesota. He has been a high school teacher, pastor, and professor. He founded the Master of Arts Program in Pastoral Ministry at Caldwell University in New Jersey, was the Theology and Religious Studies chair at Lewis University in Chicagoland, and was the founding director of the Catholic Studies program at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth. He holds the Ph.D. from Fordham, the Jesuit University of New York City. He has written a number of books and articles. His first novel, Beneath the Pond Scum, will be published in 2026. He is currently a Florida guy.” We suppose it’s better to be a Florida guy than the branded punchline “Florida man” . . .
 |
| David Gibson |
• Outreach to Mr. David Gibson. This past Wednesday we had a very good, if all-too-short conversation with Mr. David Gibson, Director at the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University. He is a career journalist who began covering the Vatican while living in Rome in the 1980s. He has written several books about the Catholic Church and has written and produced numerous documentaries. He is a frequent media commentator and op-ed writer on topics related to Catholicism and religion in America. He, too, was able to give us some potential contacts and wants to talk again when he has more time. The Initiative on Economic Personalism is starting to gain some momentum. Assuming it is successful — and of course it will be — it could easily segue into a country or countries adopting the Economic Democracy Act (EDA).
• Mogul Musk Decrees. We were tempted to put this into the “Let ’em eat cake department,” but that seems a little weak. Maybe it’s just an instance of utterly insensitive (as opposed to sensitive?) hypocrisy and cluelessness. Anyway, according to an article in Moneywise, “Tesla CEO Elon Musk issued a dire warning for Americans. In an appearance on the Dwarkesh Podcast, Musk said America is barreling toward bankruptcy as its national debt continues to climb.” We don’t dispute that “America is barreling toward bankruptcy.” What we dispute is Musk’s blindness in not merely taking advantage of it, but in a very real sense helping to cause it. While he seems utterly oblivious to the fact, most of his wealth and that of the other ultra-rich comes from the massive creation of money backed only by government debt and which very quickly finds itself into his pocked either from the sale of whatever products they provide or (much more often) from the incredible flow of funds into the stock market, inflating share values far beyond reason and adding enormous wealth to the coffers of the ultra-rich. The solution? How about adopting the Economic Democracy Act (EDA) so that newly created money is backed by actual value and Say’s Law is restored?
• Show Business Blues. At one time there may have been no business like show business, but the bottom line long ago overtook the chorus line. The Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger that will be called “Skydance” is a case in point. As reported in an article in Variety, “Paramount execs have said they are shooting to achieve more than $6 billion in annualized cost savings over three years — and part of that will come from layoffs. The company has not revealed at this point the extent of the job cuts it expects. According to a report issued by Los Angeles County in August, the merger could result in the loss of some 4,500 film and TV jobs over three years in L.A. alone.” Of course, aside from all the other considerations, such as the stilling of creative voices, there is the job-loss issue, which might have been avoided or ameliorated with the Economic Democracy Act (EDA).
 |
| Scott Bessent |
• Investment Gambling. We keep hearing the economy is booming . . . but for whom? As reported in an article in Yahoo! Finance: “Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the economy is ‘accelerating’ and inflation, along with bond yields, will come back down once the conflict in Iran ends. . . . He asserted that median wage growth is in line with headline inflation, and that ‘we will get to the other side of this Iran conflict. Energy will come back down, and the wage growth will continue.’” Uh, huh. Instead of starting wars and flooding the economy with government funny money, why not get down to business and adopt the Economic Democracy Act (EDA).
 |
| Robert Maynard Hutchins |
• Education as Investment, Trump Style. For more than a century, critics of American education such as Robert Maynard Hutchins and Mortimer Adler have complained about the degeneration of higher education into job training to the detriment of the liberal arts and other areas of study. Now, according to an article in MS Now, there is an effort on the part of the current administration to make higher education far more economic and much less educational: “Republicans are coming to terms with the oppressive nature of the Trump administration’s efforts to curtail the types of degree programs that qualify for federal aid. The administration has tried to assert ideological control over various colleges and universities, following a model that authoritarian leaders, such as Adolf Hitler, have deployed for ages. And now the Department of Education is defending a new federal rule that could hamstring students in certain degree programs. The rule will allow the use of IRS data to assess whether earnings for graduates of certain programs should prevent those programs from being eligible for the federal Direct Loan Program.” In other words, the disciplines which form and guide popular philosophy and political ideology are going to be effectively restricted to the children of the currently wealthy, thereby ensuring the continuance of the current system. Why not take economics out of higher education by adopting the Economic Democracy Act (EDA).
• The Triumph of the Will. There does seem to be an upswing of what might legitimately be called “toxic masculinity” — a term we use with no little trepidation, but in this case, it would seem to be accurate. It seems that individuals in the current administration are going out of their way to show macho they are, glorifying “fierce individuality and relentless ambition” in a mythical world where men are grunting gorillas and women can’t wait to line up and hop into the trunk of a car for them. As related in an article in CBS News, “In a speech timed to the sunset from the Pnyx, where Athenians gathered for their democratic assembly, Rubio cast ancient Greece as the source not only of Western democracy and philosophy, but of what he described as the character that fueled the West's rise. ‘Here, in Athens, we found the first full realization of all the essential traits that would come to define the West,’ Rubio said, citing ‘fierce individuality and relentless ambition,’ and ‘a yearning for discovery, for adventure, risk and glory.’” Hmm. It seems someone needs to read a little more history and how Socrates was sentenced to death for pushing the envelope too far. In ancient Greece, conformity was not viewed through Rubio’s morose colored glasses of personal freedom versus peer pressure, but rather as an essential mechanism for civic survival and cosmic order. Because the Greeks lived in highly decentralized, fiercely competitive city-states (poleis), an individual’s identity was entirely subordinated to the community. Relentless ambition and fierce individuality were more likely to result in exile or death than fueling anyone’s rise. Aristotle, for example, believed that individual flourishing and a person's inner drive are inherently tied to the community and the pursuit of objective virtue. While he fiercely defended individual identity and personal development, he argued an individual can only achieve true fulfillment within society, and that ambition is only noble when it seeks true honor for performing great deeds. It was the Elizabethans who worshipped success and ambition as virtues in themselves, not the ancient Greeks. They might have been more open to the Economic Democracy Act (EDA) than to the antics of, say Elon Musk or Donald Trump.
• Even More on the Trump Accounts. Fans are raving — a good way — about the so-called “Trump Accounts” to turn the kiddies into instant capitalists. Everybody thinks they really made America greedy again . . . at least according to an article in Time magazine: “Madeline Brown, a senior associate at the public policy think-tank the Urban Institute . . . . argues, however, that the program does not adequately address wealth gaps in the U.S. and should give more money to lower-income families, rather than distributing the same amounts to various groups. ‘There's no essentially guaranteed other money for lower income kids,’ she says. ‘In a structure that was aiming to reduce inequality, you would see additional annual contributions for lowest income kids, ideally from the federal government.’” So, the solution to the inequities of redistribution is more redistribution? That’s what it sounds like, anyway. Why not a program that can really deliver wealth and not just tokenism for the poor that doesn’t rely on redistribution? That would be the Economic Democracy Act (EDA).
• 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.
#30#
