Putin’s Pertinacious Problems, II: Continuing a War of Conquest

In the previous posting on this subject, we looked at the problem Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has with starting a war of conquest when neither he nor Russia (despite their fantasies) were prepared for it, and for trying to deceive others into thinking it was anything other than an attempt to increase his own personal wealth and power, for which others were paying with their lives, liberty, and property.  Today we look at the problem Putin has on his hands due to continuing a war of conquest (or any other kind), when it was painfully obvious from Day One the attempt has failed — at least to anyone applying reason to the situation.

JTW Podcast: Mortimer Adler on Liberty

Continuing our series on Mortimer Adler on the Six Great Ideas, today we have “Liberty.”  Some people are of the opinion that liberty means they can do anything they like, which means anything they can force others into letting them do.  Is that so?  Or is that “license,” while liberty means the freedom to become more fully human as an individual while living together with others in society?  Let’s listen:

News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 29

Alas, all we have this week is more of the same, which will almost certainly be the case until and unless the Economic Democracy Act is adopted:

Putin’s Pertinacious Problems, I: Starting a War of Conquest

Vladimir Putin has a few problems.  Well, he has a few hundred million problems, but we’re only going to look at three, all of which derive from his biggest problem: himself.  When you need to control or destroy other people to live your own life, the real problem is you.

JTW Podcast: Mortimer Adler on Beauty

Continuing our series on Mortimer Adler on the Six Great Ideas, today we have a video he made on “Beauty” . . . which might not be what you expect:

News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 28

With the upcoming U.S. election and the Russian attack on the largest children’s hospital in Ukraine, things are looking a trifle bad for sanity in the world.  Still, while it won’t solve all problems or even most of them, adopting the Economic Democracy Act could be a giant step in the direction of restoring sanity and a world in which children might actually be permitted to live:

Total Financial Mobilization

In defense of Ukraine, money and credit are as crucial as guns and ammunition. A robust economy with widespread purchasing power is vital for both national prosperity and security. A solid financial system and sustainable growth are necessary in peacetime and wartime alike.

JTW Podcast: Mortimer Adler on the Necessity of Government

Continuing our series on videos we’ve discovered about Mortimer Adler, today we look at Adler’s thoughts on the necessity of government.  Given the antics of today’s leaders and politicians, this is a reminder how good, even great ideas can be twisted by bad philosophy, bad motives, and bad people:

News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 27

Once again, the news items from this week sound like a fantasy writer who might have snacked on the wrong pan of brownies and got kicked off the writing team of Killer Klowns from Outer Space for being too far out.  Ironically, many of the world’s problems could be solved or at least ameliorated by adopting the Economic Democracy Act:, returning economic (and thus political) power to people, and getting rid of a few of the dictators and wannabes:

Central Bank Funding, II: Traditional Solutions to the Twin Threats

Today’s posting is the second half of “Central Bank Funding of Economic Growth and Economic Justice Through Expanded Capital Ownership” By Norman A. Bailey, Ph.D., presented at the Capital Ownership Group Conference on Globalization, Four Points Sheraton Hotel, Washington, D.C., October 9-11, 2002.

The first half of this article,“The Twin Threats,” can be found here.

JTW Podcast: Mortimer Adler on Beauty

Continuing our series on videos we’ve discovered about Mortimer Adler, who brought knowledge of philosophy to a popular audience, today we have a talk he gave on beauty:

News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 26

One of the “interesting” things about the current world situation is the insistence of the experts that what has never worked must work if we just try harder, and to avoid like a cliché what has been proven to work and continues to work every day . . . but which endangers the monopoly of power currently held by the elite.  Not their wealth, just their currently monopoly on power.  What’s the solution?  Adopt the Economic Democracy Act:

Central Bank Funding, I: The Twin Threats

Today’s posting is the first half of “Central Bank Funding of Economic Growth and Economic Justice Through Expanded Capital Ownership” By Norman A. Bailey, Ph.D., presented at the Capital Ownership Group Conference on Globalization, Four Points Sheraton Hotel, Washington, D.C., October 9-11, 2002.

JTW Podcast: Mortimer Adler on Justice

Possibly the best known (and best? you can have your own opinion) Aristotelian philosopher in the twentieth century, Mortimer Adler brought knowledge of philosophy to a popular audience.  Today we have a talk he gave on the premier natural virtue of justice:

News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 25

Yet another week of the same old same old.  Putin is destroying Russia in his bid to save Ukraine from itself and the hordes of gay Jewish Nazis, while politicians and academic economists cannot seem to understand how an economy that benefits the few at the expense of the many isn’t benefiting the many!  Oh, the humanity.  No one seems considering the possibility of making it easy on themselves by adopting the Economic Democracy Act:

Declaring War on Debt

According to the Bureau of Fiscal Service, America’s public — and completely non-productive — debt and liabilities now stands at $42.9 trillion and rising.  At the same time, America’s net worth in private sector agricultural, industrial, and commercial wealth is estimated at $123.8 trillion, while the federal government owns $5.2 trillion in assets.

JTW Podcast: Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics

Today we have a talk on the Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle, which most authorities consider the first half of The Philosopher’s The Politics:

News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 24

As the Russian economy implodes and its attempted conquest of Ukraine flounders with astronomical losses of men (more than half a million estimated to date) and material grinds to a stalemate, Putin continues to threaten the world with nuclear holocaust, promise aid to America’s “crappy” (Russia’s term) allies, and make shows of force that everyone except other delusional politicians and toadying sycophants on Putin’s payroll knows are expensive shams, the world continues to dither about What To Do About Russia.  No one seems to consider the possibility that adopting the Economic Democracy Act would be the final nail in the coffin Putin has constructed for Russia and virtually ensure Russia could never effectively threaten Ukraine or anywhere else ever again:

Something Missing

Today’s blog posting is adapted from the book, Economic Personalism, which you can get free from the CESJ website, or from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

In response to the spread of socialism and the other “New Things,” Pope Pius IX, socialism and the other new things continued to spread.  Finally, in 1868 he convened the first ecumenical council since Trent in the sixteenth century.

JTW Podcast: Washington Outsider Report

“How Banks Went Astray — But Can Still Help Independence Movements and the Poor.”  That pretty much says it all, but you’ll want to see this episode of the Washington Outsider Report from Tuesday, June 4, 2024, featuring Michael D. Greaney, Director of Research for the interfaith Center for Economic and Social Justice talking about money, credit, banking, and all the things that go along with really trying to understand what is going on today:

News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 23

One thing that struck us this week about the news is how often experts and dictators who aren’t succeeding at solving their own problems are busily solving everyone else’s or threatening to do more of the same.  How about if we adopt the Economic Democracy Act and the economists and dictators can do as they want to themselves and their warships and leave the rest of us alone?

JTW Podcast: Mortimer Adler on Goodness

You can always count — or at least you could when he was with us in the flesh — on Mortimer Adler giving us a few good tips on moral virtue:

News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 22

Ex-president Trump has been convicted, but what difference will it make?  We predict no difference at all for good or ill . . . unless Congress wises up and adopts the Economic Democracy Act:

Putin’s Tiger by the Tail

According to Renaud Foucart, a senior economics lecturer at Lancaster University in a recent article in Business Insider, Putin has put Russia into a “lose-lose” position.  In a “tiger by the tail” scenario, the country cannot afford to continue the war against Ukraine, but neither can it afford to stop.  According to Foucart’s analysis, the Russian economy has become so dependent on the war that “defense” spending is the only thing keeping up the illusion of viability.