tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54084580473418255812024-03-18T12:00:54.018-04:00The Just Third WayA Blog of the Global Justice MovementMichael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comBlogger3932125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-90025452181363622112024-03-18T06:00:00.004-04:002024-03-18T09:31:55.516-04:00JTW Podcast: Mortimer Adler on the Great Ideas<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;">Here is one of
Mortimer Adler’s appearances on William F. Buckley’s <i>Firing Line</i> about the need for genuine education:<br /><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18.0pt;">CLICK ON THE LINKS, NOT THE PHOTO</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhriLXTkpD1FT3gybmNajIGvAJXGd7QKKvaKOb-aDCFx6VF5pA17h7KQuQzLZxeWGgIrgWawVPKHyhyzj0ZCOj0FYWWaPzMdphHkR20XcXonIbPFd7GxTuVH_Xb9ezf2BfkwKCZVLOwE_RnnyxyFqF6LsJsNsc2H3D4R94TUQalI5ct1zjxXGoOqnuyN2K5/s481/Adler%20copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="363" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhriLXTkpD1FT3gybmNajIGvAJXGd7QKKvaKOb-aDCFx6VF5pA17h7KQuQzLZxeWGgIrgWawVPKHyhyzj0ZCOj0FYWWaPzMdphHkR20XcXonIbPFd7GxTuVH_Xb9ezf2BfkwKCZVLOwE_RnnyxyFqF6LsJsNsc2H3D4R94TUQalI5ct1zjxXGoOqnuyN2K5/w301-h400/Adler%20copy.jpg" width="301" /></a></div><br />You must click on the link below to get to the video,
not on the photo.<p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFGFrqIxmh0">The Idea of the Great Ideas</a></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b>(The links right above are what you're supposed to
click on.)</b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b>And if you want the playlists for previous videos:</b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRmICNv3FlpF_zyV1mzG6bd"><b><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;">The Greater Reset</span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"> Interviews</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Economic Personalism (The Book)</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLSUmtLxsrFmTDAuB3aVohsj"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Economic Personalism v. The
Great Reset</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRYLLB9qD2lLB-56PO8vrUB"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Book Reviews and Other Things</span></b></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: .25in;"> </p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLQjsSptAWXV11wANtdge4kK"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Socialism, Modernism and the New
Age</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: .25in;">#30#</p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-73781300204596839952024-03-15T06:00:00.025-04:002024-03-15T10:32:00.559-04:00 News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 11<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;">It is depressing to see how strong
a hold discredited economic theories have on today’s global and national
economies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of the news items this
week wouldn’t even be on the radar if the so-called experts had sound
principles and a workable paradigm, as found in <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>:<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYBL9oZetNTzyLCoYJHKltXo5dCNcz7E8c8Zi2gkLoloBrS8pTnn87yzlgsgVeHFiIq7n4QhMzxzLEdHIrB0XVhSPHt75gRxWkG-yb15syzuw5G-XvfIhbWAymYVVujcy_q5Rn3CtmgeM3CIPMgkkPYkFU4dCB6ur2qNZ6AAcRZQnqi0KwGinLw2_JtHsj/s1052/Screenshot%202024-03-15%20at%2010.27.01%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1052" data-original-width="878" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYBL9oZetNTzyLCoYJHKltXo5dCNcz7E8c8Zi2gkLoloBrS8pTnn87yzlgsgVeHFiIq7n4QhMzxzLEdHIrB0XVhSPHt75gRxWkG-yb15syzuw5G-XvfIhbWAymYVVujcy_q5Rn3CtmgeM3CIPMgkkPYkFU4dCB6ur2qNZ6AAcRZQnqi0KwGinLw2_JtHsj/w167-h200/Screenshot%202024-03-15%20at%2010.27.01%20AM.png" width="167" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yeah, this works for about a day.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Is Retirement Stupid?</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/conservative-pundit-says-retirement-stupid-080600663.html?.tsrc=fp_deeplink">“conservative
pundit” has declared that “retirement is stupid”</a> and we should all work
until we drop in our tracks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, we
agree the concept of retirement needs to be reconsidered, but “stupid”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, sad to say, the “pundit” assumes as a
given the only way for most people to gain an adequate and secure income (don’t
laugh) is through the wage and welfare system . . . at a time when the value of
labor relative to advancing technology is diminishing rapidly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The real answer, of course, is not to have
people work until they die in jobs that were created only to get them income
and fuel inflation, but to adopt <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a> so that people can gain income from capital
ownership and spend their time doing real work: becoming more fully human and
helping themselves and others do so.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3uDC32iesvnqMSQ8qB2iT0YjQxG4dmYG6wbfUq7yH_bYnkWH6m31lK4hjEcQ0J7LQEyX8PIYRVsTGPXHS14MShb5lDquitoGjt8WDHMjv9OrCuawRlxvN7MpOEhlay4s2CBFDp-0FnH_zRfVboNkh6ek6T5BmY8Df4avzlbSGlko3DdlulCtsnWgav9tH/s476/Reuther.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="476" data-original-width="359" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3uDC32iesvnqMSQ8qB2iT0YjQxG4dmYG6wbfUq7yH_bYnkWH6m31lK4hjEcQ0J7LQEyX8PIYRVsTGPXHS14MShb5lDquitoGjt8WDHMjv9OrCuawRlxvN7MpOEhlay4s2CBFDp-0FnH_zRfVboNkh6ek6T5BmY8Df4avzlbSGlko3DdlulCtsnWgav9tH/s320/Reuther.png" width="241" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walter Reuther<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Making the Same Mistake</b>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Depending on your point of view, it can be a
good or bad thing for other countries to follow the United States.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, that’s never a blanket thing, but
depends on what they’re following.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Japan
went full tilt and became a great success economically . . . but then also made
the same economic mistakes, such as giving in to the myth of the wage and
welfare system as <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/toyota-likely-agreed-wage-requests-230508027.html">the
only way people can gain legitimate income</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had they listened to another possibility as
suggested by U.S. labor statesman Walter Reuther, things might be a lot
different — and a lot better — for everyone. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he said in his testimony before the Joint
Economic Committee of Congress, February 20, 1967, “The breakdown in collective
bargaining in recent years is due to the difficulty of labor and management
trying to equate the relative equity of the worker and the stockholder and the
consumer in advance of the facts…. If the workers get too much, then the
argument is that that triggers inflationary pressures, and the counter argument
is that if they don’t get their equity, then we have a recession because of
inadequate purchasing power. We believe this approach (progress sharing) is a
rational approach because you cooperate in creating the abundance that makes
the progress possible, and then you share that progress after the fact, and not
before the fact. Profit sharing would resolve the conflict between
management apprehensions and worker expectations on the basis of solid economic
facts as they materialize rather than on the basis of speculation as to what
the future might hold…. If the workers had definite assurance of equitable
shares in the profits of the corporations that employ them, they would see less
need to seek an equitable balance between their gains and soaring profits
through augmented increases in basic wage rates. This would be a desirable
result from the standpoint of stabilization policy because profit sharing does
not increase costs. Since profits are a residual, after all costs have been
met, and since their size is not determinable until after customers have paid
the prices charged for the firm’s products, profit sharing as such cannot be
said to have any inflationary impact upon costs and prices…. Profit sharing in
the form of stock distributions to workers would help to democratize the
ownership of America’s vast corporate wealth. This is the whole idea
behind <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>, that Japan, the U.S., and all other countries
should consider adopting.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje6jSdtPztXPkAIyF6jkvfdR0plu6vYV3AZwqNNh7uZa_dpEq03WxNOx-8djjKEu8aAPz1s8dbEDg7KUffg11y5uEn77qxkNGq1bbQqxxgkp1ecklQ0jaa45RLPZkp0BBJEafRFedYsrC4oheXVJdLMo2I_HCb1uXZcjdljT__7nKq00php6VQgOcwEmkd/s760/Screenshot%202024-03-15%20at%2010.31.30%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="760" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje6jSdtPztXPkAIyF6jkvfdR0plu6vYV3AZwqNNh7uZa_dpEq03WxNOx-8djjKEu8aAPz1s8dbEDg7KUffg11y5uEn77qxkNGq1bbQqxxgkp1ecklQ0jaa45RLPZkp0BBJEafRFedYsrC4oheXVJdLMo2I_HCb1uXZcjdljT__7nKq00php6VQgOcwEmkd/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-15%20at%2010.31.30%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jerome Powell</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;"><b>• Fed Chairman Powell Strikes
Again!</b> . . . and it’s not pretty. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According
to Jerome Powell, <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/jerome-powell-just-revealed-hidden-210653681.html">the
cost of insurance is the problem causing inflation</a>, not the habit of the
Federal Reserve groveling to the federal government and printing up massive
amounts of funny money backed only with government debt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Powell says, “Insurance of various
different kinds — housing insurance, but also automobile insurance, and things
like that—that’s been a significant source of inflation over the last few years.”
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Insurance is not th<span style="background-color: white;">e problem, however,
but part of the solution. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A major
barrier to extending access to meaningful capital ownership among the poor and middle class is the collateral that lenders
require from borrowers to protect against losses from defaulted loans. This
creates a “Catch-22” situation where “you need money to make money” — new money
and credit for growing
the economy and creating new </span><span style="background-color: white;">capital</span><span style="background-color: white;">
owners is virtually inaccessible to those who do not already have assets to
serve as collateral.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a substitute for
traditional collateral requirements, Congress and the Federal Reserve could
encourage under the Economic Democracy Act the establishment of <em>commercial
loan default insurance
and reinsurance pools</em>
(like FHA mortgage insurance),
funded by the risk premium portion of service charges. In contrast to the
handling of the savings and loan crisis, the full faith and </span><span style="background-color: white;">credit</span><span style="background-color: white;">
of the Federal Government should not stand behind these bank loans or insurers
of </span><span style="background-color: white;">capital</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">credit</span><span style="background-color: white;">
in the</span> event of default by companies issuing expanded ownership shares.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Capital credit insurance and reinsurance is a
key component of <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Greater Reset “Book Trailers”.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are two versions of the videos, one <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L57ndWkGrvU">for “general audiences”</a>
and the other <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnJ6N8dD5Eo">for
“Catholic audiences”</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take your
pick. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• The Greater Reset</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CESJ’s new book by members of CESJ’s core
group, <i>The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Law</i>
is, of course, available from the publisher, <a href="https://tanbooks.com/contemporary-issues/social-issues/the-greater-reset-reclaiming-human-sovereignty-under-natural-law/">TAN
Books, an imprint of Saint Benedict Press</a>, and has already gotten a top
review on that website.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It can also be
obtained from <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/greater-reset-michael-d-greaney/1140792581?ean=9781505122596">Barnes
and Noble</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Greater-Reset-Reclaiming-Personal-Sovereignty/dp/1505122597/ref=sr_1_1?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=29&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=9&qid=1647607715&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-1&unfiltered=1">Amazon</a>,
or by special order from your local “bricks and mortar” bookstore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>The Greater Reset</i> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It describes reality,
rather than a Keynesian fantasy world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Please note that <i>The Greater Reset</i> is <b><i><u>NOT</u></i></b> a
CESJ publication as such, and enquiries about <a href="https://tanbooks.com/booklets-bulk-pricing/">quantity discounts</a> and <a href="https://tanbooks.com/business-terms-for-resellers-and-distributors/">wholesale
orders for resale</a> must be sent to the publisher, Saint Benedict Press, <b><i><u>NOT</u></i></b>
to CESJ.<b></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">• <i>Economic Personalism</i> Landing Page</span></b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A landing page for CESJ’s latest publication,
</span><a href="https://www.cesj.org/economic-personalism-book/"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">Economic
Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person</span></a><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">, has been
created and can be accessed by clicking on this link.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone is encouraged to visit the page and
send the link out to their networks.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">• <i>Economic Personalism</i></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you purchase a copy of <i>Economic
Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person</i>, be sure you post
a review after you’ve read it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
available on both </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Economic-Personalism-Property-Justice-Person/dp/0944997139/ref=sr_1_3?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=35&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=13&dchild=1&qid=1606486838&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-3&unfiltered=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Amazon</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> and </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/economic-personalism-michael-d-greaney/1138274999?ean=9780944997130"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Barnes and Noble</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> at the cover price of $10 per copy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can also download </span><a href="https://www.cesj.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/C-EconPersonalism_Web-NOblanks.pdf"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">the free copy in .pdf available from the CESJ
website</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’d like to order in bulk (<i>i.e.</i>,
ten or more copies) at the wholesale price, send an email to </span><a href="mailto:publications@cesj.org"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">publications@cesj.org</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> for details.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>CESJ members get a $2 rebate per copy on submission of proof of
purchase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wholesale case lots of 52
copies are available at $350, plus shipping (whole case lots ONLY).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prices are in U.S. dollars.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Sensus Fidelium Videos, Update</b>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CESJ’s series of videos for <i>Sensus
Fidelium</i> are doing very well, with over 155,000 total views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latest <i>Sensus Fidelium</i> video is “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPACvt9tSdU&list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2&index=10&t=3s">The
Five Levers of Change</a>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The video is
part of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2">the
series on the book, Economic Personalism</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latest completed series on “the Great
Reset” can be found on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLSUmtLxsrFmTDAuB3aVohsj">the
“Playlist” for the series</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
previous series of sixteen videos on socialism is available by clicking on the
link: “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLQjsSptAWXV11wANtdge4kK">Socialism,
Modernism, and the New Age</a>,” along with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRYLLB9qD2lLB-56PO8vrUB">some
book reviews and other selected topics</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For “interfaith” presentations to a Catholic audience they’ve proved to
be popular, edging up to <b><u>150,000</u></b> views to date.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They aren’t really “Just Third Way videos,”
but they do incorporate a Just Third Way perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can access the playlist for the entire
series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;">Those are the happenings for this
week, at least those that we know about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>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.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Due to imprudent and
intemperate language on the part of some commentators, we removed temptation
and disabled comments.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;">#30#</p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-75151372673643188472024-03-11T06:00:00.005-04:002024-03-11T06:00:00.153-04:00JTW Podcast: Mortimer Adler Gets AttackedFrankly, we didn’t
know anything about this . . . and neither do a lot of other people:
<span><a name='more'></a></span><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18.0pt;">CLICK ON THE LINKS, NOT THE PHOTO</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg37Id40-KVHXckXV4QdE0mlLLc-TiNuHmrk2efZZqpIqpj1zLfcMWVt3EKsXXHuxsOnF_3tGWIzkaFrZ21e49NNWv02queaBa2KCnYYTaAzDD0P4sGVWhDNp5QN4k3bxKr0WVmdE3O2ljIHbqldl7IOLSyXbPACYjliK8B5B_QE7NwpTCsv9OPZZA2GLW9/s481/Adler%20copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="363" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg37Id40-KVHXckXV4QdE0mlLLc-TiNuHmrk2efZZqpIqpj1zLfcMWVt3EKsXXHuxsOnF_3tGWIzkaFrZ21e49NNWv02queaBa2KCnYYTaAzDD0P4sGVWhDNp5QN4k3bxKr0WVmdE3O2ljIHbqldl7IOLSyXbPACYjliK8B5B_QE7NwpTCsv9OPZZA2GLW9/w301-h400/Adler%20copy.jpg" width="301" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mortimer J. Adler<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />You must click on the link below to get to the video,
not on the photo.</p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rmKpDVp1Ww">Understanding Seeking Faith</a></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b>(The links right above are what you're supposed to
click on.)</b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b>And if you want the playlists for previous videos:</b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRmICNv3FlpF_zyV1mzG6bd"><b><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;">The Greater Reset</span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"> Interviews</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Economic Personalism (The Book)</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLSUmtLxsrFmTDAuB3aVohsj"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Economic Personalism v. The
Great Reset</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRYLLB9qD2lLB-56PO8vrUB"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Book Reviews and Other Things</span></b></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: .25in;"> </p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLQjsSptAWXV11wANtdge4kK"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Socialism, Modernism and the New
Age</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: .25in;">#30#</p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-53847274547817451762024-03-08T06:00:00.010-05:002024-03-08T15:43:48.852-05:00News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 10<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;">Yes, it’s depressingly the same
news items (or very nearly) week after week, but it’s what is going to continue
happening until we adopt <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>:<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;"><b></b></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_IwWbo4LxtaRMX8lIKVkA4RgPdqtGiN_AdUHrjAbm6MfxeolQ5DRk3NO_9QLwVyvta0s8ElDAt8Uu0vxHM9IfkjDbw-77V4POYUIgqLSkV0GsiJ1IWgvoxLTdz8FBTXTVaAda8fEIncQigZohf8LFK-ppom9em5rOCqohbwuYD7W6-K0WGYqDfS1urv7G/s356/Screenshot%202024-03-08%20at%2010.48.41%20AM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="266" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_IwWbo4LxtaRMX8lIKVkA4RgPdqtGiN_AdUHrjAbm6MfxeolQ5DRk3NO_9QLwVyvta0s8ElDAt8Uu0vxHM9IfkjDbw-77V4POYUIgqLSkV0GsiJ1IWgvoxLTdz8FBTXTVaAda8fEIncQigZohf8LFK-ppom9em5rOCqohbwuYD7W6-K0WGYqDfS1urv7G/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-08%20at%2010.48.41%20AM.png" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jerome Powell<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> </b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;"><b>• Interest Rates and Inflation.</b>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jerome Powell is opining that <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/feds-powell-says-rate-cuts-133407291.html">interest
rates won’t be cut until inflation reaches the magical 2% level</a> . . . .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But strictly speaking in the Just Third Way paradigm interest is not the price of money, but a
share of profits from a productive enterprise; it’s from “ownership interest.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once we understand that, we can see why “usury,”
which consists of taking interest on a loan of money for a non-productive
expenditure, is wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not because
usury is all interest or high interest, but taking a profit when no profit is
due.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thinking of interest as the price
of money completely changes one’s understanding of money, credit, banking, and
finance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then there is the quantity of
money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s be blunt here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A share of profits is based on the relative
value of one’s contribution to production.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If the money you provide contributes, say, 5% to the effort, then the
interest rate should be 5%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you
contribute 50% to the effort, the interest rate should be 50%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who decides what the contribution is
worth?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The free market, that is, the
aggregate of opinions of people in the market as to what something is
worth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Changing the interest rate
frankly has no effect on inflation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
causes inflation (at least the demand-pull variety) in most cases today is
governments creating massive amounts of money backed with their own debt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Manipulating interest rates in a futile
effort to counteract this insanity is a fool’s game as there is no logical
connection between the two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Correcting this
insanity requires that we adopt <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXjoE6Y48NY-f-Z-sUW6dbmiLRUWpOO9KL_GvxPdxk3yK4vpTNJFIN2IguBq_9OMXfjTOlca9nvaoD7ARovMIIgJ5KFa5HPziVIRhcJLkY3e38yiU7tW4MyFl5aGHstrc-y783rfEoqVUOK28cBfsyqXsUeoyvuqhoRWH06W3Vxw-lcVzuOt9vPFI3uof/s898/Screenshot%202024-03-08%20at%2010.50.05%20AM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="898" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXjoE6Y48NY-f-Z-sUW6dbmiLRUWpOO9KL_GvxPdxk3yK4vpTNJFIN2IguBq_9OMXfjTOlca9nvaoD7ARovMIIgJ5KFa5HPziVIRhcJLkY3e38yiU7tW4MyFl5aGHstrc-y783rfEoqVUOK28cBfsyqXsUeoyvuqhoRWH06W3Vxw-lcVzuOt9vPFI3uof/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-08%20at%2010.50.05%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;"><b>• Economy Booming . . . For
Some.</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite the howls of delight
that the economy is booming and in great shape, there is <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/am-losing-mind-behind-gaudy-102039280.html">growing
discontent among people who are unable to find the jobs</a> believed essential
for them to participate in the benefits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At the same time, <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-applications-jobless-claims-hold-133903178.html">jobless
claims are “holding steady,”</a> leading the experts to say everything is just
fine and getting better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Uh, huh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What the jobless claim statistics don’t tell
you is the numbers of people whose benefits have run out, those who have just
given up, and those who are underemployed or holding multiple jobs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part of the problem and what causes what
amounts to a massive delusion on the part of economists and policymakers is the
fixed belief that the only way most people can gain income is from jobs or
welfare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As has been pointed out for
more than two centuries with increasing insistence, however, the only truly empowering
way for people to gain income is through capital ownership — in other words, to
become productive with their own tools instead of being used as a tool, “human
capital,” by others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the whole
idea behind <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhieAB9_4goHVRWDd_JqxhyphenhyphenVK4iyLCSWnzwOESzefDGXMLbWFJGPaesU4sm6LkaOnzSjddJB6-q7l71B9ORVRABnaYCL7dhTfVPQBcDhbE74chlmGQQDGK9dKCa0h95MCnqH-FwhJXKAX7kHb_6f_p07w2uQqDwDyhV9xXqQmKlKZpVME0Kiv0wQqpLOZdu/s950/Screenshot%202024-03-08%20at%2010.51.09%20AM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="950" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhieAB9_4goHVRWDd_JqxhyphenhyphenVK4iyLCSWnzwOESzefDGXMLbWFJGPaesU4sm6LkaOnzSjddJB6-q7l71B9ORVRABnaYCL7dhTfVPQBcDhbE74chlmGQQDGK9dKCa0h95MCnqH-FwhJXKAX7kHb_6f_p07w2uQqDwDyhV9xXqQmKlKZpVME0Kiv0wQqpLOZdu/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-08%20at%2010.51.09%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt;"><b>• American Dream is Dying.</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As has been the case for more than a century —
since the Panic of 1893, in fact — <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/middle-class-sinking-ship-investment-175153696.html">periodic
announcements have been made regarding the demise of the American “middle
class,”</a> meaning those who are neither rich nor poor, but are the presumed
majority of producers and consumers . . . who are becoming less and less
productive as technology advances and takes their “jobs.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The answer is to make people productive once
again, and that means making them owners of the capital that is taking their
jobs away — and that means adopting <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy6mtbySTFIBHWyWIfbqfi8IcK4ETVLLoRF2ytZgy5WmTYJULL_IeBPqHNWuZOCtgDEDnHbLur9DZcsQKhKzSSv5R-NtnPJK-rMZMDwvjctL13mgjRyCAc9cxjjzXJlPx6K0dhiGk45SNyp76-KBT2qN67hF6uJH45gO7Xh2Vw-mtKY17uuhDN3339gBLT/s462/Screenshot%202024-03-08%20at%2010.52.07%20AM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="428" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy6mtbySTFIBHWyWIfbqfi8IcK4ETVLLoRF2ytZgy5WmTYJULL_IeBPqHNWuZOCtgDEDnHbLur9DZcsQKhKzSSv5R-NtnPJK-rMZMDwvjctL13mgjRyCAc9cxjjzXJlPx6K0dhiGk45SNyp76-KBT2qN67hF6uJH45gO7Xh2Vw-mtKY17uuhDN3339gBLT/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-08%20at%2010.52.07%20AM.png" width="296" /></a></b></div><b><br /> </b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;"><b>• Both Sides of His Financial
Mouth.</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Federal Reserve Chairman <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/analysis-worst-case-inflation-fears-181804939.html">Jerome
Powell has become quite expert at managing to say everything and nothing at the
same time</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, “An uneasy
calm that has pervaded the U.S. bond market could break in coming days, as
looming data on employment and consumer prices shed more light on how long the
Federal Reserve might need to keep rates elevated in its battle to decisively
defeat inflation.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyone who really
understands money, credit, banking, and finance would just shake his or her
head at that statement, as would anyone with even a superficial understanding
of the first principle of finance: to know the difference between a mortgage
(past savings) and a bill of exchange (future savings).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Getting back to a true understanding of money
might require passing <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a> . . . which might not get passed before people gain
a true understanding of money!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a
real chicken-or-the-egg question, because the mistaken idea of money assumes
you can’t produce marketable goods and services until and unless you have money
. . . which derives from marketable goods and services!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The answer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Using future savings — the present value of future increases in
production — instead of past savings (past decreases in consumption) to finance
new capital formation and future production of marketable goods and services.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;"><b>• Greater Reset “Book Trailers”.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are two versions of the videos, one <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L57ndWkGrvU">for “general audiences”</a>
and the other <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnJ6N8dD5Eo">for
“Catholic audiences”</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take your
pick. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;"><b>• The Greater Reset</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CESJ’s new book by members of CESJ’s core
group, <i>The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Law</i>
is, of course, available from the publisher, <a href="https://tanbooks.com/contemporary-issues/social-issues/the-greater-reset-reclaiming-human-sovereignty-under-natural-law/">TAN
Books, an imprint of Saint Benedict Press</a>, and has already gotten a top
review on that website.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It can also be
obtained from <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/greater-reset-michael-d-greaney/1140792581?ean=9781505122596">Barnes
and Noble</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Greater-Reset-Reclaiming-Personal-Sovereignty/dp/1505122597/ref=sr_1_1?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=29&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=9&qid=1647607715&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-1&unfiltered=1">Amazon</a>,
or by special order from your local “bricks and mortar” bookstore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>The Greater Reset</i> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It describes reality,
rather than a Keynesian fantasy world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Please note that <i>The Greater Reset</i> is <b><i><u>NOT</u></i></b> a
CESJ publication as such, and enquiries about <a href="https://tanbooks.com/booklets-bulk-pricing/">quantity discounts</a> and <a href="https://tanbooks.com/business-terms-for-resellers-and-distributors/">wholesale
orders for resale</a> must be sent to the publisher, Saint Benedict Press, <b><i><u>NOT</u></i></b>
to CESJ.<b></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">• <i>Economic Personalism</i> Landing Page</span></b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A landing page for CESJ’s latest publication,
</span><a href="https://www.cesj.org/economic-personalism-book/"><i><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">Economic
Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person</span></i></a><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">, has been
created and can be accessed by clicking on this link.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone is encouraged to visit the page and
send the link out to their networks.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">• <i>Economic Personalism</i></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you purchase a copy of <i>Economic
Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person</i>, be sure you post
a review after you’ve read it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
available on both </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Economic-Personalism-Property-Justice-Person/dp/0944997139/ref=sr_1_3?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=35&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=13&dchild=1&qid=1606486838&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-3&unfiltered=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Amazon</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> and </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/economic-personalism-michael-d-greaney/1138274999?ean=9780944997130"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Barnes and Noble</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> at the cover price of $10 per copy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can also download </span><a href="https://www.cesj.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/C-EconPersonalism_Web-NOblanks.pdf"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">the free copy in .pdf available from the CESJ
website</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’d like to order in bulk (<i>i.e.</i>,
ten or more copies) at the wholesale price, send an email to </span><a href="mailto:publications@cesj.org"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">publications@cesj.org</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> for details.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>CESJ members get a $2 rebate per copy on submission of proof of
purchase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wholesale case lots of 52
copies are available at $350, plus shipping (whole case lots ONLY).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prices are in U.S. dollars.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;"><b>• Sensus Fidelium Videos, Update</b>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CESJ’s series of videos for <i>Sensus
Fidelium</i> are doing very well, with over 155,000 total views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latest <i>Sensus Fidelium</i> video is “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPACvt9tSdU&list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2&index=10&t=3s">The
Five Levers of Change</a>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The video is
part of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2">the
series on the book, <i>Economic Personalism</i></a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latest completed series on “the Great
Reset” can be found on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLSUmtLxsrFmTDAuB3aVohsj">the
“Playlist” for the series</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
previous series of sixteen videos on socialism is available by clicking on the
link: “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLQjsSptAWXV11wANtdge4kK">Socialism,
Modernism, and the New Age</a>,” along with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRYLLB9qD2lLB-56PO8vrUB">some
book reviews and other selected topics</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For “interfaith” presentations to a Catholic audience they’ve proved to
be popular, edging up to <b><u>150,000</u></b> views to date.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They aren’t really “Just Third Way videos,”
but they do incorporate a Just Third Way perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can access the playlist for the entire
series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;">Those are the happenings for this
week, at least those that we know about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>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.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Due to imprudent and
intemperate language on the part of some commentators, we removed temptation
and disabled comments.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;">#30#</p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-21571211030855007862024-03-06T06:00:00.016-05:002024-03-06T10:22:30.879-05:00Solidarity and Personalism<br /><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: .25in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Today’s
blog posting is adapted from the book, <i>Economic Personalism</i>, which you
can get </span></b><a href="https://www.cesj.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/C-EconPersonalism_Web-NOblanks.pdf"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">free from the CESJ
website</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">, or from </span></b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Economic-Personalism-Property-Justice-Person/dp/0944997139/ref=sr_1_5?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=46&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=10&qid=1697042184&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-5&unfiltered=1"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Amazon</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> or </span></b><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/economic-personalism-michael-d-greaney/1138274999?ean=9780944997130"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Barnes and Noble</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Confronted today
by growing conflict and inequality between people and nations around the globe,
no one can ignore any longer the universal question that will shape the future
for generations to come: What is the place of the human person</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>— each of us — in society? <span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">This question is
not academic, nor is it simple. It raises issues of human dignity</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, freedom</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, responsibility, and power</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>— and who and what is entitled to those
things. Must we accept the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">status quo, </i>a
system that fosters conflict, inequality, and injustice? Or can and should the
social order</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>at all levels be structured to operate justly
for the good of every person</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>everywhere, without the disadvantage of anyone
anywhere?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCwMV535BO6-NA5ISS7j8K6CXlowBR2owC5sUyXoMJuG7h-3goLwozjYpbjoBXWAKjEm8q5pIf_K1gJDBgQD9GWDZ7PSZZYbzepbenZOJliyd2qKK52ShLu4d0KwYJmDa0xu_QEydj5BUeChb_R0LMnfAIvJRl1i7V6smIUIc_5EpAsTk08wSelSVCUAmC/s274/PopeJohnPaulII02%20copy.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="274" data-original-width="207" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCwMV535BO6-NA5ISS7j8K6CXlowBR2owC5sUyXoMJuG7h-3goLwozjYpbjoBXWAKjEm8q5pIf_K1gJDBgQD9GWDZ7PSZZYbzepbenZOJliyd2qKK52ShLu4d0KwYJmDa0xu_QEydj5BUeChb_R0LMnfAIvJRl1i7V6smIUIc_5EpAsTk08wSelSVCUAmC/s1600/PopeJohnPaulII02%20copy.png" width="207" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pope John Paul II<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">To answer the
original question, and whether such justice-based systemic reform is possible,
we can look to the related concepts of “Personalism</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">” and “Solidarity</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">.” To define what we mean by these
terms, we begin with the thought of Pope John Paul</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>II — Karol Józef Wojtyła</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In February 1961,
while still Auxiliary Bishop of Kraków, Wojtyła</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>startled the intellectual community with his
paper, “Personalizm Tomistyczny” (“Thomistic Personalism</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">”), defining personalism as any
school of thought, or any intellectual movement, that focuses on the reality of
the human person</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and each person</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">’s unique dignity</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
the short article presenting personalism as an alternative, he countered
ideologies that shift dignity</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and power</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>away from the human person.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Suggesting that
some later interpretations of the documents were not consistent with the
original intent, during the Second Vatican Council</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(1962-1965), Wojtyła</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>contributed to <i>Dignitatis Humanae</i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(“Decree on Religious Freedom”) and <i>Gaudium
et Spes</i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(“Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the
Modern World”).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In Wojtyła</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">’s thought, the concept of
solidarity</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>holds an important place. As he would later
state — putting the word in quotes — solidarity is a “virtue</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">,” the habit of doing good, but not
in the same sense as, <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">for example,</span>
justice</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and charity</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">. In his encyclical issued as pope on
the twentieth anniversary of <i>Populorum Progressio</i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>he explained that solidarity —</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: 9.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 9.0pt;">. . . is above all a question of
interdependence, sensed as a system determining relationships in the
contemporary world, in its economic, cultural, political, and religious
elements, and accepted as a moral category. When interdependence becomes
recognized in this way, the correlative response as a moral and social
attitude, as a “virtue</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 9.0pt;">,” is solidarity</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 9.0pt;">. (<i><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Solicitudo Rei Socialis</span></i><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">, § 38</span>)</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNQn38MbGrX7rI7j7x14z5NU3yLaWI31GfvB6_0h-1B-Ne88gU_vP8gtVXgwVqVVsm-5naQJTMKjoK5poiZ7V0nFq29vNGelf_3ygi4vhdySrMRCxXF1-jfoDZfEMkbS-vAqNukyxK7jsMEZ-UJGEkSg9wIFBxQTOM8ztvzPQAyYq0k9XtnEd6Mu5hbn6y/s956/Aquinas02%20copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="722" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNQn38MbGrX7rI7j7x14z5NU3yLaWI31GfvB6_0h-1B-Ne88gU_vP8gtVXgwVqVVsm-5naQJTMKjoK5poiZ7V0nFq29vNGelf_3ygi4vhdySrMRCxXF1-jfoDZfEMkbS-vAqNukyxK7jsMEZ-UJGEkSg9wIFBxQTOM8ztvzPQAyYq0k9XtnEd6Mu5hbn6y/s320/Aquinas02%20copy.jpg" width="242" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thomas Aquinas<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Specifically,
solidarity</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, a characteristic of groups <i>per
se</i>, is a principle that fulfills and completes that general justice</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>which permeates all virtue</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, a sort of “general social charity</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">.” It is not a particular virtue (a
virtue that is defined by a specific “act” directed at a specific “object”), nor
does it exclude non-Christians.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In the context of Wojtyła</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">’s Thomistic personalism</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, then, solidarity</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>describes an awareness of rights</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and duties within a particular group that
define how sovereign</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>individuals relate as persons to one another
and to the group as a whole. All people as members of a group have solidarity
when they have that awareness and can participate fully as members of that
group.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Solidarity</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in Wojtyła</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">’s thought is an essential
prerequisite for social justice</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, for (as we will see) only members
of groups can carry out acts of social justice</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">. By this means cooperation is
achieved, not by absorbing people into the group or collective, but by mutual
interaction and give-and-take in exercising rights</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and attaining the common goals and aspirations
of the group.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">A common mistake
today is to assume that social rights</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and virtues are rights and virtues that
society or humanity has by nature. This is impossible, as “society” and
“humanity” are abstractions, things created by human persons. Things have only
such rights as human beings delegate to them. A social right or virtue</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is a right or virtue that human persons have regarding
society, not that society has with regard to persons.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ex4E39E7I1VEC57xS3ptDqMmLYDt3LAL_kxS7zMYgCI9CRkVtJ96CHHmg8QJkbtminZXK5udC5rpkBwSkc7bQmA48iEyleeS80VvweSoun_rSb_76oSE9hkIM_Q1mUWknPLuCnU2_MFQiAZGjlBWEsz8OMq36fWl7GGoMY5eR7CDU6-xV5ziYa7D8OY-/s962/Screenshot%202024-03-06%20at%2010.22.02%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="704" data-original-width="962" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ex4E39E7I1VEC57xS3ptDqMmLYDt3LAL_kxS7zMYgCI9CRkVtJ96CHHmg8QJkbtminZXK5udC5rpkBwSkc7bQmA48iEyleeS80VvweSoun_rSb_76oSE9hkIM_Q1mUWknPLuCnU2_MFQiAZGjlBWEsz8OMq36fWl7GGoMY5eR7CDU6-xV5ziYa7D8OY-/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-06%20at%2010.22.02%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Together, Wojtyła</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">’s concepts of solidarity and
Thomistic personalism provide more than an esoteric academic discussion, but a
practical means for applying the principles of Catholic social teaching</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to many of today’s otherwise overwhelming
problems. Solidarity</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>motivates our care for the common good</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">. Personalism</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>focuses our actions on promoting the dignity</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of every human being and on how each person</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>can relate fully to society and to the common
good. Combined, the two concepts offer a holistic paradigm for problem solving
that puts even the most monumental tasks within the reach of every person
acting in free association with others.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Today, many people
throughout the world are forced to serve the State or a political or economic <i>élite</i>
that controls the social tool of the State. This puts the most basic human
needs, including subsistence and security, under the control of some who wield
the State’s monopoly over coercion. Because of the way institutions</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and laws have been structured, the <i>élite</i>
are able to monopolize power</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and benefit themselves at the expense of
others.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ultimately, every
issue in religious, political, or family life concerns human dignity</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">. What does it mean to be a person</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">? Who should have power</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and thus control over the life</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and even the soul of the human person</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">? Are human beings mere things to
be owned by others, the State or a political or economic <i>élite</i>? Or are
human beings born with equal worth and inalienable rights</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, and thus meant to have the power
and means to pursue their own higher ends or destinies?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">To answer these questions,
we must first ask with the Psalmist, “What is man, that thou art mindful of
him?” The answer might surprise many people, and upset many preconceptions
about ourselves, our fellow human beings, and our place in the world.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">#30#</span></p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-50085711612580524022024-03-04T06:00:00.004-05:002024-03-04T06:00:00.138-05:00JTW Podcast: The Perennial Philosophy<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;">Given that this
week marks the 750<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the death of Thomas Aquinas, we
thought we’d give you a little talk about Aquinas talking about how faith and
reason go together:<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18.0pt;">CLICK ON THE LINKS, NOT THE PHOTO</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38nHiS-5JWzCsodBt1HPmvn39SXebjpwlaV6tKsmhFxTun6WHyrEs34f6OODrFK7QzMwgEf5J4iKeNRAikSOtHa3q9jGjkBrfdBb6RuNRPGg9selXwZLTxQHjjKT9An2qZaVaNDH9ScUkg71UXxBjnNDCrAjhVX_M-RfRpsJ2v7SQKf47J6XD9GW5ZOSu/s956/Aquinas02%20copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="722" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38nHiS-5JWzCsodBt1HPmvn39SXebjpwlaV6tKsmhFxTun6WHyrEs34f6OODrFK7QzMwgEf5J4iKeNRAikSOtHa3q9jGjkBrfdBb6RuNRPGg9selXwZLTxQHjjKT9An2qZaVaNDH9ScUkg71UXxBjnNDCrAjhVX_M-RfRpsJ2v7SQKf47J6XD9GW5ZOSu/w303-h400/Aquinas02%20copy.jpg" width="303" /></a></div><br />You must click on the link below to get to the video,
not on the photo.<p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb3pyVa36Tw">Aquinas versus Averroes</a></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b>(The links right above are what you're supposed to
click on.)</b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b>And if you want the playlists for previous videos:</b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRmICNv3FlpF_zyV1mzG6bd"><b><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;">The Greater Reset</span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"> Interviews</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Economic Personalism (The Book)</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLSUmtLxsrFmTDAuB3aVohsj"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Economic Personalism v. The
Great Reset</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRYLLB9qD2lLB-56PO8vrUB"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Book Reviews and Other Things</span></b></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: .25in;"> </p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLQjsSptAWXV11wANtdge4kK"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Socialism, Modernism and the New
Age</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: .25in;">#30#</p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-53463979025390918692024-03-01T06:00:00.021-05:002024-03-01T10:24:55.942-05:00News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 09<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;">At the top of the news this week, at
least from the perspective of the Just Third Way, is Norman G. Kurland being
honored as an Ambassador of Peace by the Universal Peace Federation:<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkjrae88QPs0Dtd-qxJbp3-01hyBchezQa2E0mjRec808STsyGgo3xMfHCC-mo_C9ujF96gaXA3CqfEfePorTaTq9IDQlbrWhqnYG3YKhvGXYinc5K-sO1SXfBhzhl-cBKqpg6IGLTv5qsGIj-QyCKFahwvMFskOUcve9BcYUfP5Ppk_rj_BC91bpRgenL/s466/Kurland.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="355" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkjrae88QPs0Dtd-qxJbp3-01hyBchezQa2E0mjRec808STsyGgo3xMfHCC-mo_C9ujF96gaXA3CqfEfePorTaTq9IDQlbrWhqnYG3YKhvGXYinc5K-sO1SXfBhzhl-cBKqpg6IGLTv5qsGIj-QyCKFahwvMFskOUcve9BcYUfP5Ppk_rj_BC91bpRgenL/w153-h200/Kurland.png" width="153" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Norman G. Kurland<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Norman Kurland Named Ambassador
of Peace</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On Thursday, February 29,
2024, at the fourth anniversary luncheon for the Universal Peace Federation, at
the <i>Washington Times</i>, Dr. Norman G. Kurland, president of the interfaith
Center for Economic and Social Justice in Arlington, Virginia, was named “Ambassador
of Peace” for his many accomplishments and years of service promoting the cause
of economic and social justice, particularly with <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The luncheon
was followed by a tour of the <i>Times</i> offices, which showed how
presentation of the news has changed over the years in response to rapidly
advancing technology.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjyNwPhVa_RXsmJArZVyFTXfB1wtEUODaVsBr3oUFx5sCM_qpgjRhVGqJpUvKN48vPQg8RbAAk4otznwwqRph3YW52UeMp8lWUSJEzJcqFfXAgzInlhnUIprityjZnPVeNlfJU6UB71SMW6Xa-9Hl3U7zjlnbiXfsG1A8SwLvFQXwXna5cJh-cHcrPxASl/s846/Screenshot%202024-03-01%20at%2010.13.39%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="846" data-original-width="678" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjyNwPhVa_RXsmJArZVyFTXfB1wtEUODaVsBr3oUFx5sCM_qpgjRhVGqJpUvKN48vPQg8RbAAk4otznwwqRph3YW52UeMp8lWUSJEzJcqFfXAgzInlhnUIprityjZnPVeNlfJU6UB71SMW6Xa-9Hl3U7zjlnbiXfsG1A8SwLvFQXwXna5cJh-cHcrPxASl/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-01%20at%2010.13.39%20AM.png" width="256" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warren Buffett<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Warren Buffett Says Stock Market
a Casino.</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you suppose <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/warren-buffett-says-stock-market-212445057.html">Warren
Buffett has secretly been listening to Dr. Norman Kurland’s talks</a>?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Demonstrating why we need both <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"> </span>and Justice
University, Buffett said, “For whatever reasons, markets now exhibit far more
casino-like behavior than they did when I was young,” Buffett wrote, adding
that “though the stock market is massively larger than it was in our early
years, today’s active participants are neither more emotionally stable nor
better taught than when I was in school.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Buffett doesn’t come right and say it, but
people need to shift their investment strategy from the current speculative
model to one more in tune with true investment, that is, going for assets that
generate income, and not speculative gains by buying and selling the asset
itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the whole idea behind <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzIOz50Pg0BwhkdCo69QlBDeL-d7wtsd-XU0qSIYlKH3Y9vCvhyphenhyphenPxtzSXnaoRYzzOL_NJE8rl-JS1LTK7ooZk6qoGd_N90tIRU1yDuy59hJDbn92xOSPImrGgRX9DofS7kCRheNpZVfJA_nVcZaW7KPRYPQrayJIagvHlais5IRv2btwsL8fmhus91B6Mt/s1074/Screenshot%202024-03-01%20at%2010.14.53%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="1074" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzIOz50Pg0BwhkdCo69QlBDeL-d7wtsd-XU0qSIYlKH3Y9vCvhyphenhyphenPxtzSXnaoRYzzOL_NJE8rl-JS1LTK7ooZk6qoGd_N90tIRU1yDuy59hJDbn92xOSPImrGgRX9DofS7kCRheNpZVfJA_nVcZaW7KPRYPQrayJIagvHlais5IRv2btwsL8fmhus91B6Mt/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-01%20at%2010.14.53%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• News Flash: Money is Losing
Value!</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a surprise finding, a
study by Wells Fargo shows that people need more money than they have as prices
continue to rise in response to government manipulation of the money supply and
the currency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Amid high prices, rising
interest rates, and ongoing recession fears, three out of five Americans are
worried about their financial future, a new report finds. That has translated
into many cutting back on spending, some to the point where making their money
work in today's economy leaves little room to consider significant life
decisions down the road.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s the
answer? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As you might expect it’s to adopt
<a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;"><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4PA0osljk0mnb0avdJKWBAOxaN7OSGJPrAYlpV64tUrHYwIvhv14HBibGx5ep8TEt2fVTNzKeAI6zlArjPjH2hNMoSVTQISuQKHWvcvfd-cxMGhRB8o3Kg3qjJ6DNhxB529KY-UOBoWsvakNrs-oAFdfvDP9pjW61tQBCH4PsOGGgM9iMHAPHZkMB6Ifo/s1122/Screenshot%202024-03-01%20at%2010.16.23%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="1122" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4PA0osljk0mnb0avdJKWBAOxaN7OSGJPrAYlpV64tUrHYwIvhv14HBibGx5ep8TEt2fVTNzKeAI6zlArjPjH2hNMoSVTQISuQKHWvcvfd-cxMGhRB8o3Kg3qjJ6DNhxB529KY-UOBoWsvakNrs-oAFdfvDP9pjW61tQBCH4PsOGGgM9iMHAPHZkMB6Ifo/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-01%20at%2010.16.23%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not even fun while it lasts<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;"><b>• The Forty-Year-Old Baby.</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/youre-being-baby-41-old-123000305.html">there
are those who figure they’ve latched onto the good life and why be stupid and
work</a> . . . until Mommy and Daddy die, and you discover that money has to
come from somewhere?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inheritances don’t
last very long if you spend the principal and there is nothing more coming
in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, there are also people who
can’t work even when they desperately want to, and those whose labor simply can’t
seem to generate sufficient income.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
is to be done?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately, there is a
way to take care of both types.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s called
<a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a> and it should be enacted at the earliest possible
date.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDBDm-sMSGlEKNPww9XYPZNUN1G2O3noPHryzLD8FoGDM7CjZ5OU5m4BfnYpzT7qHpDgYUZOgffRoodrI-VcWGSNHX_6BuCIV0618G6-O0SMd5IgeOrp7e2BhnTzRb2oAQmUm0HlmXKJFzAs7G90HW-UCHKF0htgtWox8hGNzLtocXyMJ0ptMfvcHGkIp_/s920/Screenshot%202024-03-01%20at%2010.18.00%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="920" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDBDm-sMSGlEKNPww9XYPZNUN1G2O3noPHryzLD8FoGDM7CjZ5OU5m4BfnYpzT7qHpDgYUZOgffRoodrI-VcWGSNHX_6BuCIV0618G6-O0SMd5IgeOrp7e2BhnTzRb2oAQmUm0HlmXKJFzAs7G90HW-UCHKF0htgtWox8hGNzLtocXyMJ0ptMfvcHGkIp_/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-01%20at%2010.18.00%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Starting a Business “Dumb and
Selfish”?</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Real estate mogul <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/grant-cardone-says-dumbest-most-164014929.html">Grant
Cardone says that starting a business to produce a marketable good or service
is “dumb” and “selfish</a>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s much
better to own real estate and let dumb and stupid people pay you for the
privilege of using your property to fail at being productive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, if those (other) people aren’t
productive (<i>i.e.</i>, are dumb and selfish), then they won’t be able to pay
rent for the use of your property, and you’ll end up paying the taxes and
maintenance, losing a ton of money in the process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s the solution? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Become an owner of an existing business, or a
co-owner with others whose skills and knowledge complement yours, or even
provide financing for a business that will pay dividends for your
investment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This can be done with <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a><span class="MsoHyperlink">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-95mxPfSBXI21j5KSLjJATGyw-I86R6Maxk0F6HDotZwVe0wOYCqEjfF9NiFXMO0Wonejq_nExZf01c82SMovXOnrbBmmCsRkZ6RfmALHcsWCwunz9DWEonodSBxb24MefpRQe0vC6qQi2-IijLH2jD8kiGqknSpY9tumbSxSa0IGCKbZSYPfnBVnd0JR/s1016/Screenshot%202024-03-01%20at%2010.19.37%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1016" data-original-width="926" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-95mxPfSBXI21j5KSLjJATGyw-I86R6Maxk0F6HDotZwVe0wOYCqEjfF9NiFXMO0Wonejq_nExZf01c82SMovXOnrbBmmCsRkZ6RfmALHcsWCwunz9DWEonodSBxb24MefpRQe0vC6qQi2-IijLH2jD8kiGqknSpY9tumbSxSa0IGCKbZSYPfnBVnd0JR/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-01%20at%2010.19.37%20AM.png" width="292" /></a></b></div><b><br /> </b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Fight of the Century: Gen Z v.
the Millennials.</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Millennials: <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/millennials-know-real-reason-gen-171632798.html">Gen
Z is lazy and stupid; Gen Z: Millennials are greedy and stupid</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“‘Gen Z spends all their money on avocado
toast and coffee. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All they do is sit on
social media and they don’t wanna work.’”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“‘Not true. We wanna be able to afford a decent living but can’t even
move out of our parent’s house. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You had
the opportunity to afford a house because things cost less, and you had way
less debt than we do now.’”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well . . .
they’re both a little right and a lot wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The fact is that many things cost far out of proportion to any economic
benefit, largely due to misconceptions about what education is all about, how
goods and services are produced, and how people should be gaining income.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This again illustrates the need for both
Justice University and of <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a><span class="MsoHyperlink">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUF-Tob5UuPfOQvAHppSPocsi5KrBcPvXSXVFn7i1A7YJy9hSvwHASVsDIdgjObcLAbJvgPkUOcU4jXwsDkIbY_fmWI5HiGHWIZzSzB8Hx874-HEzr9YC6ytzrCKaYO0qo4nF732G3QJQrzH4PODh4nEJzKMyBMMI-6LawgWLruJIIgFIRDejT-kRpmfEg/s622/Screenshot%202024-03-01%20at%2010.24.17%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="622" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUF-Tob5UuPfOQvAHppSPocsi5KrBcPvXSXVFn7i1A7YJy9hSvwHASVsDIdgjObcLAbJvgPkUOcU4jXwsDkIbY_fmWI5HiGHWIZzSzB8Hx874-HEzr9YC6ytzrCKaYO0qo4nF732G3QJQrzH4PODh4nEJzKMyBMMI-6LawgWLruJIIgFIRDejT-kRpmfEg/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-01%20at%2010.24.17%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You're looking in a mirror . . .<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• America’s Miserable Attitude.</b>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Evidently, <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/blame-fed-inflation-fighting-why-224123888.html">according
to Larry Summers and other top economists</a>, the (other) experts have been
remarkably unsuccessful in persuading Americans that the economy is really
doing just great. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is due to the
Federal Reserve continuing to mess around with interest rates and other artificial
manipulation of the money supply.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of
course, this is inherent in the wrong view of money and credit that pervades
academic and political thinking today, <i>viz</i>., the “Currency Principle.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In contrast, binary economics and the Just
Third Way of Economic Personalism are based on the “Banking Principle.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fundamental difference is that in the
Currency Principle, the quantity of money determines the level of economic
activity, while in the Banking Principle the level of economic activity
determines the quantity of money.<span style="background: lime; mso-highlight: lime;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Greater Reset “Book Trailers”.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are two versions of the videos, one <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L57ndWkGrvU">for “general audiences”</a>
and the other <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnJ6N8dD5Eo">for
“Catholic audiences”</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take your
pick. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• The Greater Reset</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CESJ’s new book by members of CESJ’s core
group, <i>The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Law</i>
is, of course, available from the publisher, <a href="https://tanbooks.com/contemporary-issues/social-issues/the-greater-reset-reclaiming-human-sovereignty-under-natural-law/">TAN
Books, an imprint of Saint Benedict Press</a>, and has already gotten a top
review on that website.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It can also be
obtained from <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/greater-reset-michael-d-greaney/1140792581?ean=9781505122596">Barnes
and Noble</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Greater-Reset-Reclaiming-Personal-Sovereignty/dp/1505122597/ref=sr_1_1?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=29&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=9&qid=1647607715&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-1&unfiltered=1">Amazon</a>,
or by special order from your local “bricks and mortar” bookstore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>The Greater Reset</i> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It describes reality,
rather than a Keynesian fantasy world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Please note that <i>The Greater Reset</i> is <b><i><u>NOT</u></i></b> a
CESJ publication as such, and enquiries about <a href="https://tanbooks.com/booklets-bulk-pricing/">quantity discounts</a> and <a href="https://tanbooks.com/business-terms-for-resellers-and-distributors/">wholesale
orders for resale</a> must be sent to the publisher, Saint Benedict Press, <b><i><u>NOT</u></i></b>
to CESJ.<b></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">• <i>Economic Personalism</i> Landing Page</span></b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A landing page for CESJ’s latest publication,
</span><a href="https://www.cesj.org/economic-personalism-book/"><i><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">Economic
Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person</span></i></a><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">, has been
created and can be accessed by clicking on this link.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone is encouraged to visit the page and
send the link out to their networks.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">• <i>Economic Personalism</i></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you purchase a copy of <i>Economic
Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person</i>, be sure you post
a review after you’ve read it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
available on both </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Economic-Personalism-Property-Justice-Person/dp/0944997139/ref=sr_1_3?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=35&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=13&dchild=1&qid=1606486838&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-3&unfiltered=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Amazon</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> and </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/economic-personalism-michael-d-greaney/1138274999?ean=9780944997130"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Barnes and Noble</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> at the cover price of $10 per copy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can also download </span><a href="https://www.cesj.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/C-EconPersonalism_Web-NOblanks.pdf"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">the free copy in .pdf available from the CESJ
website</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’d like to order in bulk (<i>i.e.</i>,
ten or more copies) at the wholesale price, send an email to </span><a href="mailto:publications@cesj.org"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">publications@cesj.org</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> for details.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>CESJ members get a $2 rebate per copy on submission of proof of
purchase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wholesale case lots of 52
copies are available at $350, plus shipping (whole case lots ONLY).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prices are in U.S. dollars.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Sensus Fidelium Videos, Update</b>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CESJ’s series of videos for <i>Sensus
Fidelium</i> are doing very well, with over 155,000 total views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latest <i>Sensus Fidelium</i> video is “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPACvt9tSdU&list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2&index=10&t=3s">The
Five Levers of Change</a>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The video is
part of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2">the
series on the book, <i>Economic Personalism</i></a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latest completed series on “the Great
Reset” can be found on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLSUmtLxsrFmTDAuB3aVohsj">the
“Playlist” for the series</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
previous series of sixteen videos on socialism is available by clicking on the
link: “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLQjsSptAWXV11wANtdge4kK">Socialism,
Modernism, and the New Age</a>,” along with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRYLLB9qD2lLB-56PO8vrUB">some
book reviews and other selected topics</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For “interfaith” presentations to a Catholic audience they’ve proved to
be popular, edging up to <b><u>150,000</u></b> views to date.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They aren’t really “Just Third Way videos,”
but they do incorporate a Just Third Way perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can access the playlist for the entire
series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;">Those are the happenings for this
week, at least those that we know about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>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.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Due to imprudent and
intemperate language on the part of some commentators, we removed temptation
and disabled comments.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;">#30#</p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-36238656740967449112024-02-28T06:00:00.021-05:002024-02-28T10:29:29.452-05:00The Just Third Way<br /><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.25in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Today’s
blog posting is adapted from the book, <i>Economic Personalism</i>, which you
can get </span></b><a href="https://www.cesj.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/C-EconPersonalism_Web-NOblanks.pdf"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">free from the CESJ
website</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">, or from </span></b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Economic-Personalism-Property-Justice-Person/dp/0944997139/ref=sr_1_5?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=46&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=10&qid=1697042184&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-5&unfiltered=1"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Amazon</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> or </span></b><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/economic-personalism-michael-d-greaney/1138274999?ean=9780944997130"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Barnes and Noble</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The fortieth
anniversary of the interfaith Center for Economic and Social Justice is coming
up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ll tell a little bit more about
that as the anniversary itself, April 7, approaches, but today we’re looking at
a major program developed by CESJ: the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0yANt7mtlj4doclDHsm1Grv6AYFkyXy7RMaWLZr9kBCHupUZD0PqtSRT-7GZPiJGgsPqxnWbOjJdClRW1WD600AV4cMzbVl0-frVCPq78wB1LRlJXWVEdfLGk8wIDYmFCH3rUIU_hyphenhyphen2uKhf7X9cLsnosdYA-v2VlqhAVC8HdZJ8OHtzlCNVqiny8KWNiE/s790/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20at%209.16.44%20AM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="790" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0yANt7mtlj4doclDHsm1Grv6AYFkyXy7RMaWLZr9kBCHupUZD0PqtSRT-7GZPiJGgsPqxnWbOjJdClRW1WD600AV4cMzbVl0-frVCPq78wB1LRlJXWVEdfLGk8wIDYmFCH3rUIU_hyphenhyphen2uKhf7X9cLsnosdYA-v2VlqhAVC8HdZJ8OHtzlCNVqiny8KWNiE/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20at%209.16.44%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Nearly five years
before the Soviet Union officially dissolved, an historic meeting took place
that escaped the world’s notice and barely survived a last-minute cancellation.
At the time even the participants in the meeting missed its full significance.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">On February 9,
1987, representatives of President Ronald Reagan’s Presidential Task Force on
Project Economic Justice (PEJ), including founders of the interfaith Center for
Economic and Social Justice who conceived the Task Force, had assembled at the
Vatican with members of the Polish Solidarity Movement (</span><i><span lang="PL" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: PL;">Solidarność</span></i><span lang="PL" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: PL;">)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">. They had been granted a private
audience with His Holiness Pope John Paul II.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1gZ71aGyvt6CpUBoKph-KhRNn9CELxqv7uhXN8MF5A40aeiFM_zUfqlXXZZtPqAKIW8uCddTgFpaXaixgP08PVIrdh8kvYBe4rezWViSlsYpN9zLJ0trejzmwe6TcViGYTJ2h2VbMxsTpiQ5_Qa0on8BLIpRYNJBvLaLU21YLn0_oLNmBRd27oBtvx3ep/s1968/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20at%209.17.25%20AM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1294" data-original-width="1968" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1gZ71aGyvt6CpUBoKph-KhRNn9CELxqv7uhXN8MF5A40aeiFM_zUfqlXXZZtPqAKIW8uCddTgFpaXaixgP08PVIrdh8kvYBe4rezWViSlsYpN9zLJ0trejzmwe6TcViGYTJ2h2VbMxsTpiQ5_Qa0on8BLIpRYNJBvLaLU21YLn0_oLNmBRd27oBtvx3ep/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20at%209.17.25%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Headed by Norman
G. Kurland, Deputy Chairman of the Task Force and President of CESJ, the
delegation had traveled from the U.S. and Poland <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">to </span>present to His Holiness the bipartisan Task Force’s report, <i>High
Road to Economic Justice</i>. (This unanimous report was later delivered to
President Reagan in a White House ceremony on August 3, 1987.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">The PEJ report offered a peaceful, justice-based strategy to counter the
spread of Marxist-Leninism throughout Central America and the Caribbean region
by promoting worker ownership through Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs). </span><i><span lang="PL" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; mso-ansi-language: PL;">Solidarność</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"> members had
translated into Polish the Project Economic Justice orientation book, <i>Every
Worker an Owner</i>, and had distributed 40,000 copies throughout the country</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Earlier, when the
delegation’s U.S. contingent had arrived at the airport in Rome, they were told
that their meeting with the pope had been canceled. The delegation had been
“bumped” at the last minute by a head of state requesting a papal audience. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYQQsTTFSZJQthbaSN21jZUh9o59m6RrAEXawcaDMC9Am_LzUxMxJX5HesbbpYOxCvgtPQVr2nIzNfERcdzOhGOB5bAEWj4JKue56qaG1XFeDeNmjRjM4XYLFyGW7dBgE8ZBx1o1bgGiifeupvYSsxXP9DQlN09SX_66FHViB9B4Z0_Fah741f4Gn4jSW2/s278/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20at%209.18.38%20AM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="204" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYQQsTTFSZJQthbaSN21jZUh9o59m6RrAEXawcaDMC9Am_LzUxMxJX5HesbbpYOxCvgtPQVr2nIzNfERcdzOhGOB5bAEWj4JKue56qaG1XFeDeNmjRjM4XYLFyGW7dBgE8ZBx1o1bgGiifeupvYSsxXP9DQlN09SX_66FHViB9B4Z0_Fah741f4Gn4jSW2/s1600/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20at%209.18.38%20AM.png" width="204" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Upon receiving
this disappointing news, Rabbi Herzel Kranz, head of an orthodox Jewish
congregation in Silver Spring, Maryland, and a key figure in the formation of
the Presidential Task Force, sprang into action. He convinced the organizer of
the papal audience, the Very Reverend Cassian Yuhaus, C.P. (former head of the
Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate), to appeal to His Excellency
then-Archbishop Achille Silvestrini to intercede. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Archbishop
Silvestrini, the Vatican’s Secretary of State for Public Affairs and a close
friend of Fr. Cassian’s, agreed to do what he could. The delegation was
squeezed into the pope’s busy schedule.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">His Holiness
warmly received the members of the delegation outside his private library and
encouraged them in their work. He also recommended that they collaborate with
His Eminence Roger Cardinal Etchegaray, President of the Pontifical Council on
Justice and Peace, to educate Vatican scholars on the ideas contained in the
Task Force report.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeeeYjZF6nYrA5fCX3YokWIbjzca_aYl7UuVPQ6Ip6Y7cAvagwY3VPGNAx__F_uWLSQF5FHxGRGAwHQxUun9ST7Zv_O0DBXgRIWGLNYT7kRgV9Dnu1pjEkiCeb5WD6_ch4t0Rolxo6O36kx2Dus6ZQbbGX7BuSU4N_NuhdufaKP-4Nu1aUbCXgebvd42L5/s398/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20at%209.19.28%20AM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="398" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeeeYjZF6nYrA5fCX3YokWIbjzca_aYl7UuVPQ6Ip6Y7cAvagwY3VPGNAx__F_uWLSQF5FHxGRGAwHQxUun9ST7Zv_O0DBXgRIWGLNYT7kRgV9Dnu1pjEkiCeb5WD6_ch4t0Rolxo6O36kx2Dus6ZQbbGX7BuSU4N_NuhdufaKP-4Nu1aUbCXgebvd42L5/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20at%209.19.28%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Over the next
several years, with now-Cardinal Silvestrini’s support and Fr. Cassian’s
counsel, CESJ continued to build connections within the Vatican with officials
including Paul Cardinal Poupard, head of the Pontifical Council on Culture. In
1991, CESJ organized a conference in Rome for Vatican scholars on a
socio-economic paradigm later called the “Just Third Way.” Speakers focused on
social teachings of the Catholic Church, particularly the encyclicals of Popes
Leo XIII and Pius XI, which emphasized the importance of widespread capital
ownership.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Highlighted in the
conference presentations were the definition and principles of “Social Justice”
as articulated by Pius XI, a sociologist who analyzed the moral relationship
between the human person, social institutions and the Common Good. (Pius XI’s concepts
of Social Justice had been at the heart of CESJ’s founding in 1984, when they
were introduced by Reverend William Ferree, SM, Ph.D., a world-recognized
scholar in the social philosophy of Pius XI.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjunpQUNLWou-5Xt2GjX4Rxj1hdhDrkftHydz-2KYnRNOb_j-4yYccvPjudMHja09rxxsi0czqVVynBPIswNKLVs8elzApcbw7TRjEZIyt9QX0LgGbDYi66JL1GSX_Bn_AoHiyLkFoEh_7-SSSke_H4pJPNNDNSMh8GTCtDpE9ebf_ILzg3FPGF26INfTUs/s368/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20at%209.20.57%20AM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="344" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjunpQUNLWou-5Xt2GjX4Rxj1hdhDrkftHydz-2KYnRNOb_j-4yYccvPjudMHja09rxxsi0czqVVynBPIswNKLVs8elzApcbw7TRjEZIyt9QX0LgGbDYi66JL1GSX_Bn_AoHiyLkFoEh_7-SSSke_H4pJPNNDNSMh8GTCtDpE9ebf_ILzg3FPGF26INfTUs/w187-h200/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20at%209.20.57%20AM.png" width="187" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Louis O. Kelso<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The conference
also focused on the three principles of “Economic Justice” as defined by
corporate finance lawyer and expanded ownership economist Louis O. Kelso and
his co-author, Aristotelian-Thomist philosopher Mortimer J. Adler. Their
systematized understanding of Economic Justice, also adopted by CESJ, addressed
the moral omissions in both Capitalism and Socialism. Incorporated within
Kelso’s theory of “binary economics,” these principles informed the financial
technologies and institutional reforms Kelso invented (and CESJ later refined).
These enable every citizen, even those lacking savings to invest, to purchase a
personal stake of capital assets.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">Following the Rome conference, CESJ’s delegation was granted a second
audience with Pope John Paul II in which His Holiness was presented with a
special edition of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Every Worker an Owner.
</i>The papal audience and conference led to further progress. CESJ published
several books on the principles and applications for creating a Culture of
Life, Liberty, and Justice, with economic independence for every person</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNBeWlKyEMOdWiA_u6wu5kwDAl-n8FOmxP_w1LXRFGLwaYQJaIuMWVs7tUKYZodSvlOKRNvCOg4ACq2eMVWujrtl2pRwgOsqCCmBuLPWqAkPY_AXhiPp9N5S46v2wjhc1zpFlr85gZ7345F8sftAFXPNPJmsFzRSHgBis-ILGvmDs9Cjx47x_BeYOTvcbI/s1036/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20at%209.22.06%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1036" data-original-width="758" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNBeWlKyEMOdWiA_u6wu5kwDAl-n8FOmxP_w1LXRFGLwaYQJaIuMWVs7tUKYZodSvlOKRNvCOg4ACq2eMVWujrtl2pRwgOsqCCmBuLPWqAkPY_AXhiPp9N5S46v2wjhc1zpFlr85gZ7345F8sftAFXPNPJmsFzRSHgBis-ILGvmDs9Cjx47x_BeYOTvcbI/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20at%209.22.06%20AM.png" width="234" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mortimer Adler<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">CESJ’s “pro-life
economic agenda” provides the reasons and reforms for extending to every member
of society full access to the Common Good, including the monetary system. With
access through the commercial and central banking system to newly created asset-backed
money and insured capital credit, every person every year, from birth to death,
would gain the means to purchase shares of new and transferred capital.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The two audiences
with Pope John Paul II symbolized a confluence of revolutionary ideas developed
over the centuries. Principles and theories of social and economic justice,
universal human rights, non-violent social change, and free market economics
could be practically applied. This was now possible thanks to a new
understanding of money and credit as tools for financing sustainable and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">broadly owned</i> economic growth in a
globalized and technology-driven world.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">This synthesis of
social, economic, and political thought would coalesce as a “Just Third Way”
transcending systems of individualism and collectivism that concentrate power
in a private <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">élite</i> or in the State.
Not fully appreciated by CESJ until recently was Pope John Paul II’s own
profound contributions to the philosophical orientation known as “Personalism.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivnevvdJTvCjAto7IZCpDdeWXWJavjiQ03WWcrT7T44PFcjFvo6P51qIEwnrT7mS270z8gwv_m2UlREQuHPjJTynqM5ZvR8j3ybA7tnbWsw86eVfEWC9Wh3zgn3JeNeDkmIqw981LuIbvfVvZjNwb-cNQxcRa6vr2A652ARJikqI4WifdMgmEeNkhDiX2_/s1054/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20at%2010.27.56%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1054" data-original-width="792" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivnevvdJTvCjAto7IZCpDdeWXWJavjiQ03WWcrT7T44PFcjFvo6P51qIEwnrT7mS270z8gwv_m2UlREQuHPjJTynqM5ZvR8j3ybA7tnbWsw86eVfEWC9Wh3zgn3JeNeDkmIqw981LuIbvfVvZjNwb-cNQxcRa6vr2A652ARJikqI4WifdMgmEeNkhDiX2_/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20at%2010.27.56%20AM.png" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pope Francis<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Today His Holiness
Pope Francis faces deep divisions within the Church, while external threats are
driving apart people, nations and the world. The global community faces a
deadly pandemic with no end in sight, impending economic collapse, rising trade
wars and military tensions, dissolution of alliances, devastating climate
change, and a growing gap in wealth, power and opportunity between the richest
1% and 99% of the world’s citizens. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The poorest of the
poor, now facing sheer starvation, have been virtually forgotten by
politicians, academia, the media and the general public. Ultra-nationalist,
anti-immigrant, and racist sentiments are winning over, with alarming rapidity,
the hearts and minds of ordinary citizens. At the opposite end of the
ideological spectrum, self-styled “progressives” and “democratic socialists”
are calling upon the State to redistribute income and wealth.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">This book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Economic Personalism: Property, Power and
Justice for Every Person</i>, explores a new path for the future. By
understanding the moral basis of John Paul II’s “Personalism” and the ideas of
other “personalist” and “post-scarcity” thinkers, we can identify the elements
of a new paradigm for overcoming humanity’s greatest challenges. With new
assumptions, we can conceive a new economy based on the dignity, development,
and empowerment of every human person, within a just social order and
life-enhancing environment.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX-uLlM2BhLuoGr0LxOarBdTy__4NTsQZt9PNA6ieTGagNKc3m1IkXfdpd6sZSC1DgDkal5aIgc9cxkrXwLAROSlmGc7yLrVUgSam-Ej9Jd6Z-cTlnXiJ58FWw9Xn4wmSBtLiFhO9dI0KCbrSCfWmVdmIqspkKBQYmn0ITEVtE2eFw1UvIuXR1DhPoohe-/s824/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20at%2010.28.52%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="824" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX-uLlM2BhLuoGr0LxOarBdTy__4NTsQZt9PNA6ieTGagNKc3m1IkXfdpd6sZSC1DgDkal5aIgc9cxkrXwLAROSlmGc7yLrVUgSam-Ej9Jd6Z-cTlnXiJ58FWw9Xn4wmSBtLiFhO9dI0KCbrSCfWmVdmIqspkKBQYmn0ITEVtE2eFw1UvIuXR1DhPoohe-/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20at%2010.28.52%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">As explained in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Economic Personalism</i>, every member of
society — including the poorest of the poor, the unemployed, and those unable
to engage in economic work — can become a fully empowered producer and consumer
in the economy. Our basic institutions can be restructured to provide truly equal
economic opportunity through equal access to the means to become an owner of
future productive capital, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">without having
to redistribute anyone’s existing wealth.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">This new
possibility starts with a re-examination of justice, property, and the role of
money and credit as “social tools.” As Pope Francis has stated, we must say
“No” to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">worship</i> of money and the
material goods of this world. Only when such things as the State, corporations
and money are returned to their proper role as humanity’s servants — not its
masters — can we dismantle the systemic barriers that divide people instead of
uniting them.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">With the proper
functioning of money within a more just economic system, advanced technologies
of all kinds could free every person from dehumanizing toil. Unfettered by the
daily struggle for subsistence and survival, each of us would be free to
develop our highest human potential and pursue our highest spiritual needs.
Each of us could own and not be owned.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Economic Personalism</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> posits that there are universal
moral values and principled yet effective means for reforming human
institutions to liberate and empower every human person. It affirms John Paul
II’s observation that the economic system and society as a whole benefit when
the rights, values, and dignity of each person are respected.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">When we have
conquered systemic poverty, we can all become, as global design scientist R.
Buckminster Fuller put it: “Architects of the future, not its victims.” We will
have the means to become better stewards of Nature, prospering in harmony with
the natural world rather than destroying it. The Personalist approach to
building a just global economy will also eliminate the economic causes of war,
bringing global unity in support of eliminating weapons of mass destruction.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ultimately, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Economic Personalism</i> is a tribute to the
vision of John Paul II and other pioneering thinkers who have advanced the
dignity and empowerment of every person as the basis for an effective
democratic order, a good society, and the beloved community.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">As a guide for Pope Francis and other world leaders, the idea of
Economic Personalism as a “Just Third Way” above and beyond Capitalism and
Socialism has the potential to bring about a new era of justice, ownership, freedom,
and peace for all people throughout the world</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">#30#</span></p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-60805267771782583722024-02-26T06:00:00.007-05:002024-02-26T06:00:00.241-05:00JTW Podcast: March on Washington, August 28, 1963<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;">The National
Archives film on the March . . . they left out private property in capital,
though:<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18.0pt;">CLICK ON THE LINKS, NOT THE PHOTO</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Q_dVWEBsvn5ARx_rFSVjP-atxoHVYhofj-0hq4gVVOTXp9F2lvGR_zE7mNhOyNFJJGs6u4T6oKkVu1e61dFgqM3SJRjvwaKn1kjFFsXu_B0z5x62eoL5pVZ9sNCpBIETKNMhh0kpUA98tYxAipsk4ZPByZRXiPap6xgAuuWR7YucXjeoXwx9rco8mEuX/s1442/Screenshot%202024-02-25%20at%205.08.37%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1064" data-original-width="1442" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Q_dVWEBsvn5ARx_rFSVjP-atxoHVYhofj-0hq4gVVOTXp9F2lvGR_zE7mNhOyNFJJGs6u4T6oKkVu1e61dFgqM3SJRjvwaKn1kjFFsXu_B0z5x62eoL5pVZ9sNCpBIETKNMhh0kpUA98tYxAipsk4ZPByZRXiPap6xgAuuWR7YucXjeoXwx9rco8mEuX/w400-h295/Screenshot%202024-02-25%20at%205.08.37%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />You must click on the link below to get to the video,
not on the photo.<p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQYzHIIQ1O4">March on Washington</a></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b>(The links right above are what you're supposed to
click on.)</b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b>And if you want the playlists for previous videos:</b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRmICNv3FlpF_zyV1mzG6bd"><b><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;">The Greater Reset</span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"> Interviews</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Economic Personalism (The Book)</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLSUmtLxsrFmTDAuB3aVohsj"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Economic Personalism v. The
Great Reset</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRYLLB9qD2lLB-56PO8vrUB"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Book Reviews and Other Things</span></b></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: .25in;"> </p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLQjsSptAWXV11wANtdge4kK"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Socialism, Modernism and the New
Age</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: .25in;">#30#</p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-14744025404949757412024-02-23T06:00:00.014-05:002024-02-23T11:39:10.061-05:00News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 08<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;">This week’s news items are again a brief
chronicle of dumb government tricks seemingly validated by failed Keynesian
economics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, as usual, we believe most
if not all of these issues could be solved by adopting <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Udz3F8KOXYxxxtuVhOp7P5nGxJYxuHr8g98F30LCQ2qLcoSORxTAiGA54UtEwQvmWENJtCQZyFbIGd617AsjZJp1fRA4kCt36rQuKl_Umm-OXzznDdT5Ozr6R0yxoUNRj8C769PgJtQaiWm9c8iZkx0jqoicVPTHKuQQ9tTUk6vo2gStvTElHrRgyTbJ/s642/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20at%2011.30.11%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="642" data-original-width="622" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Udz3F8KOXYxxxtuVhOp7P5nGxJYxuHr8g98F30LCQ2qLcoSORxTAiGA54UtEwQvmWENJtCQZyFbIGd617AsjZJp1fRA4kCt36rQuKl_Umm-OXzznDdT5Ozr6R0yxoUNRj8C769PgJtQaiWm9c8iZkx0jqoicVPTHKuQQ9tTUk6vo2gStvTElHrRgyTbJ/w194-h200/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20at%2011.30.11%20AM.png" width="194" /></a></b></div><b><br /> </b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• The Crazy Tipping Tradition.</b>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every so often there’s <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/customer-shocks-restaurant-staff-leaving-005837721.html">a
news story about someone leaving a huge tip, with varying results</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This are usually heartwarming, etc., but there’s
a dark side that is never mentioned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That is, it builds an unconscious expectation in the minds of servers
and others that an outrageous reward is somehow due, plus it reinforces a
system in which many people rely on inadequate wages supplemented with welfare
benefits and surprise gifts to survive instead of being productive in ways that
other people value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adopting <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a> would go a long way toward solving the problem.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVnMnSjzBIh2bD3sKHlHWNgc6i0uBF3KTulTbvSQAVrgRu8M6w2-l91lsMWVEUNc8fP2d3G5e1cupVoTuhYBFYjERuy-MI_oK8h1wffHLgl3NfzXPBhP6R0W_2f9tiMA6fIGkVnYnNMS8t5o7WoaD57XFzQFFHuWicdIH1V3L2lwwADODwtIxxPHSXkHfn/s944/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20at%2011.32.40%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="698" data-original-width="944" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVnMnSjzBIh2bD3sKHlHWNgc6i0uBF3KTulTbvSQAVrgRu8M6w2-l91lsMWVEUNc8fP2d3G5e1cupVoTuhYBFYjERuy-MI_oK8h1wffHLgl3NfzXPBhP6R0W_2f9tiMA6fIGkVnYnNMS8t5o7WoaD57XFzQFFHuWicdIH1V3L2lwwADODwtIxxPHSXkHfn/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20at%2011.32.40%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Fund Public Pensions by
Abolishing Private Pensions</b>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
another genius move, <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/talk-robbing-peter-pay-paul-131200883.html">some
lawmakers are suggesting abolishing tax benefits for 401(k)s, IRAs, and so on</a>,
to be able to channel more money into Social Security . . . which was
instituted due to the inadequacy of private sector efforts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not merely robbing Peter to pay Paul,
as the article suggests, but sabotaging individual lives to provide more money for
feckless politicians to spend on their pet projects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It assumes that the State is the first
recourse in running people’s lives instead of a last resort; all people are to
be made “mere creatures of the state.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
counter this, it is essential to adopt <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5tsD_hq67-WPZ0NA7BThyphenhyphenNK14PCUixTTZ1cfbfaFeM2XtlMgGxB-VmDu6pXu02Ib3afjGTXAAEbmZrYUTQtlpxBu592PX64SJWfgf6gXYxPLnghOUzT49at_y2-vD9f3oNeYnCUPcShxQj_Q58mmGggAcH8qDdTSpua5c4ez4ruqSAg3eVQimIL1Icsrt/s1118/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20at%2011.36.55%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="1118" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5tsD_hq67-WPZ0NA7BThyphenhyphenNK14PCUixTTZ1cfbfaFeM2XtlMgGxB-VmDu6pXu02Ib3afjGTXAAEbmZrYUTQtlpxBu592PX64SJWfgf6gXYxPLnghOUzT49at_y2-vD9f3oNeYnCUPcShxQj_Q58mmGggAcH8qDdTSpua5c4ez4ruqSAg3eVQimIL1Icsrt/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20at%2011.36.55%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;"><b>• Is the Federal Reserve a “Criminal
Organization”?</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/rich-dad-poor-dad-author-180342750.html">According
to Robert Kiyosaki</a> “‘Sick and tired of hearing “experts” ask, “What is the
Fed doing?” The Fed is the problem. The Fed is a criminal organization. The Fed
has destroyed the economy, made the poor and middle class poorer and bailed out
their rich banking friends’.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He doesn’t
stop there, however.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“According to
Kiyosaki, since the dollar’s decoupling from the gold standard, it has become ‘fake
money’ — a government IOU that can be produced in unlimited quantities, thus
eroding its value over time.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kiyosaki
is right . . . mostly, and about the problem, not the solution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is, stuck in the badly flawed “Currency
Principle” and thinks a return to the gold standard is the key.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a positive move up to a point but is not
the solution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a> and a return to the Banking Principle has the potential
to solve the problem.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicCYtJZRUIKDT-F8bFOFzv5-AmLk3M54uv_hNrDYXJJsP0KZKpIyaIVQGLTf3EmimN39QSqQ1ikcyCf7cscitnMhFiI_L_kOCQd-t7A3glAOkeM86jQhJDXvmlxItWJM_clDEl1-Wo-iyWFDKMFU0k8fcT9XbIvDK-7aqIedHJehKRGQS0UE2onaH1JzhL/s812/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20at%2011.38.39%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="668" data-original-width="812" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicCYtJZRUIKDT-F8bFOFzv5-AmLk3M54uv_hNrDYXJJsP0KZKpIyaIVQGLTf3EmimN39QSqQ1ikcyCf7cscitnMhFiI_L_kOCQd-t7A3glAOkeM86jQhJDXvmlxItWJM_clDEl1-Wo-iyWFDKMFU0k8fcT9XbIvDK-7aqIedHJehKRGQS0UE2onaH1JzhL/w200-h164/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20at%2011.38.39%20AM.png" width="200" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Japan Downgrades Economic
Projections.</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In common with every
other economy in the world based on the Currency Principle and Keynesian
economics, <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/japan-downgrades-view-economy-sluggish-092516660.html">Japan
is facing a bleak economic future</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Saddled
with a bad money and credit system and an orientation toward production for
export, the domestic economy has been left to fend for itself when it should be
the top priority — which is the goal of <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Greater Reset “Book Trailers”.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are two versions of the videos, one <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L57ndWkGrvU">for “general audiences”</a>
and the other <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnJ6N8dD5Eo">for
“Catholic audiences”</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take your
pick. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• The Greater Reset</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CESJ’s new book by members of CESJ’s core
group, <i>The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Law</i>
is, of course, available from the publisher, <a href="https://tanbooks.com/contemporary-issues/social-issues/the-greater-reset-reclaiming-human-sovereignty-under-natural-law/">TAN
Books, an imprint of Saint Benedict Press</a>, and has already gotten a top
review on that website.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It can also be
obtained from <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/greater-reset-michael-d-greaney/1140792581?ean=9781505122596">Barnes
and Noble</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Greater-Reset-Reclaiming-Personal-Sovereignty/dp/1505122597/ref=sr_1_1?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=29&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=9&qid=1647607715&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-1&unfiltered=1">Amazon</a>,
or by special order from your local “bricks and mortar” bookstore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>The Greater Reset</i> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It describes reality,
rather than a Keynesian fantasy world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Please note that <i>The Greater Reset</i> is <b><i><u>NOT</u></i></b> a
CESJ publication as such, and enquiries about <a href="https://tanbooks.com/booklets-bulk-pricing/">quantity discounts</a> and <a href="https://tanbooks.com/business-terms-for-resellers-and-distributors/">wholesale
orders for resale</a> must be sent to the publisher, Saint Benedict Press, <b><i><u>NOT</u></i></b>
to CESJ.<b></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">• <i>Economic Personalism</i> Landing Page</span></b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A landing page for CESJ’s latest publication,
</span><a href="https://www.cesj.org/economic-personalism-book/"><i><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">Economic
Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person</span></i></a><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">, has been
created and can be accessed by clicking on this link.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone is encouraged to visit the page and
send the link out to their networks.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">• <i>Economic Personalism</i></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you purchase a copy of <i>Economic
Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person</i>, be sure you post
a review after you’ve read it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
available on both </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Economic-Personalism-Property-Justice-Person/dp/0944997139/ref=sr_1_3?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=35&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=13&dchild=1&qid=1606486838&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-3&unfiltered=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Amazon</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> and </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/economic-personalism-michael-d-greaney/1138274999?ean=9780944997130"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Barnes and Noble</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> at the cover price of $10 per copy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can also download </span><a href="https://www.cesj.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/C-EconPersonalism_Web-NOblanks.pdf"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">the free copy in .pdf available from the CESJ
website</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’d like to order in bulk (<i>i.e.</i>,
ten or more copies) at the wholesale price, send an email to </span><a href="mailto:publications@cesj.org"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">publications@cesj.org</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> for details.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>CESJ members get a $2 rebate per copy on submission of proof of
purchase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wholesale case lots of 52
copies are available at $350, plus shipping (whole case lots ONLY).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prices are in U.S. dollars.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Sensus Fidelium Videos, Update</b>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CESJ’s series of videos for <i>Sensus
Fidelium</i> are doing very well, with over 155,000 total views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latest <i>Sensus Fidelium</i> video is “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPACvt9tSdU&list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2&index=10&t=3s">The
Five Levers of Change</a>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The video is
part of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2">the
series on the book, <i>Economic Personalism</i></a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latest completed series on “the Great
Reset” can be found on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLSUmtLxsrFmTDAuB3aVohsj">the
“Playlist” for the series</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
previous series of sixteen videos on socialism is available by clicking on the
link: “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLQjsSptAWXV11wANtdge4kK">Socialism,
Modernism, and the New Age</a>,” along with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRYLLB9qD2lLB-56PO8vrUB">some
book reviews and other selected topics</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For “interfaith” presentations to a Catholic audience they’ve proved to
be popular, edging up to <b><u>150,000</u></b> views to date.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They aren’t really “Just Third Way videos,”
but they do incorporate a Just Third Way perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can access the playlist for the entire
series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;">Those are the happenings for this
week, at least those that we know about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>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.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Due to imprudent and
intemperate language on the part of some commentators, we removed temptation
and disabled comments.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;">#30#</p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-71880815826218650152024-02-21T06:00:00.009-05:002024-02-21T09:36:23.816-05:00Five Levers of Change: Technology<br /><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: .25in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Today’s
blog posting is adapted from the book, <i>Economic Personalism</i>, which you
can get </span></b><a href="https://www.cesj.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/C-EconPersonalism_Web-NOblanks.pdf"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">free from the CESJ
website</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">, or from </span></b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Economic-Personalism-Property-Justice-Person/dp/0944997139/ref=sr_1_5?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=46&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=10&qid=1697042184&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-5&unfiltered=1"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Amazon</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> or </span></b><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/economic-personalism-michael-d-greaney/1138274999?ean=9780944997130"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Barnes and Noble</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">For centuries
workers have understood that when technology advances it usually means they
will lose their jobs to machines that can do the work better and cheaper. Sometimes
advancing technology creates more new jobs than it displaces, although this is
not always a benefit. The cotton gin created an enormous demand for labor that
was filled by expanding the number of human beings owned as slaves</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">. The Industrial Revolution</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>largely eliminated most production by small
and family-owned enterprises and turned millions of people into “employees”
dependent on private employers and the State.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ilLEogZa5pijxLs_ugl6uYSaA-E-pLFjqbXckDaFatSHfpOG91Pm-eyyvCRcNwnoPon2GDxzE3ntkdLbqDvblrKqT3_ja6JVTTIDAORoaSAaOJIeA7PJF2GAlKk4CNdZKVbu195MQanQ0jpW_qQhBWudHs-PqFSF0EwMeHkGv6Muuw0kDR6wcncNK-KQ/s1116/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20at%209.31.11%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="1116" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ilLEogZa5pijxLs_ugl6uYSaA-E-pLFjqbXckDaFatSHfpOG91Pm-eyyvCRcNwnoPon2GDxzE3ntkdLbqDvblrKqT3_ja6JVTTIDAORoaSAaOJIeA7PJF2GAlKk4CNdZKVbu195MQanQ0jpW_qQhBWudHs-PqFSF0EwMeHkGv6Muuw0kDR6wcncNK-KQ/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20at%209.31.11%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In the age of
robotics and automation, as the rate of technological advancement accelerates,
the rate of job creation slows. Finally, a point is reached at which the number
of jobs eliminated by technology exceeds that of new jobs created.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Of particular
importance in this respect are the technological advances in any of the key
sectors of the economy, especially energy, agriculture, and robotics. Financed
in traditional ways, the ownership of new technologies becomes concentrated. This
undermines the ability of most people to gain a living income through their
labor or from future capital ownership opportunities.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv4LMruNe7CEG9Jst41OGmPZkJKhmeVOc9JCZSbD2UPgL5Sf2j2J1QffQlA1nonbJimaTuZV5EXTGVS8v351R3uB6sCWUwshusmvuWTY2KgJZ-5Gsfkgf9LTn4M76QNwn8bVn_Tkkkn3Kqu5PYUHTTg60MS10xrbw_0-uTm-T6xu2bfd5jdfpiFCR9TelN/s898/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20at%209.32.19%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="718" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv4LMruNe7CEG9Jst41OGmPZkJKhmeVOc9JCZSbD2UPgL5Sf2j2J1QffQlA1nonbJimaTuZV5EXTGVS8v351R3uB6sCWUwshusmvuWTY2KgJZ-5Gsfkgf9LTn4M76QNwn8bVn_Tkkkn3Kqu5PYUHTTg60MS10xrbw_0-uTm-T6xu2bfd5jdfpiFCR9TelN/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20at%209.32.19%20AM.png" width="256" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Financed in ways
that allow everyone to have an equal opportunity and means to become an owner
of them, the new technologies would shift from having a disruptive effect on
the social order</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to being capable of benefiting every person</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">. Technological advances would no
longer be seen as a threat to ordinary people, but as serving their pursuit of
a better life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Abraham Lincoln</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">’s 1862 Homestead Act</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>illustrates the importance of widespread
capital ownership. In the nineteenth century, a growing number of people were
cut off from ownership of technology. This ensured that a combination of the
English and European type of liberal democracy (individualist and collectivist,
respectively) would emerge in the United States in the twentieth century.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">That this should
happen in America, “the last, best hope of Earth,” was a disaster. Not by
coincidence, it could be traced to the failure to maintain an ownership society
so that economic democracy could continue to support political democracy. Only
the Homestead Act</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>slowed the drift into the Welfare/Servile
State</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, and then only until the available
land was taken.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD2LpWCzyEQxY5cMycxq4u4xXmSG5PrtB12sUSxQWf9EXLx7OQRIZPM1PO9fxMNrqZcTwgUcrgkNygnn8N7IHHNUSIy1Siv8j88IH6IAU-YapSFLbytepm73_rRchE9A1d4-whvRB_f50qcwAUiWP3KlZVZ1Ewzo8jeSsXQgfvPzMAO8PN38oJ9yOOZ-lU/s980/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20at%209.33.32%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="980" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD2LpWCzyEQxY5cMycxq4u4xXmSG5PrtB12sUSxQWf9EXLx7OQRIZPM1PO9fxMNrqZcTwgUcrgkNygnn8N7IHHNUSIy1Siv8j88IH6IAU-YapSFLbytepm73_rRchE9A1d4-whvRB_f50qcwAUiWP3KlZVZ1Ewzo8jeSsXQgfvPzMAO8PN38oJ9yOOZ-lU/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20at%209.33.32%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">To extend Lincoln</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">’s Homestead Act</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to a technologically advanced economy and
restore the institutions</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of American liberal democracy</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, we propose an “Economic Democracy
Act</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">” (formerly “Capital Homestead
Act”). The idea is that instead of being limited to land (which is finite), an Economic
Democracy Act</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>would include all forms of productive capital,
with particular emphasis on the infinite frontier of advancing technology.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The concept is simple
and could be applied in any society in which productive activity takes place. Specific
details, such as required legislation, money, and tax</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>reforms, and so on, would have to be tailored
to fit particular circumstances and cultures. (<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">See Norman G. Kurland, Dawn K. Brohawn, and Michael D.
Greaney, <i>Capital Homesteading for Every Citizen: A Just Free Market Solution
for Saving Social Security</i>. Arlington, Virginia: Economic Justice Media,
2004.</span>)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEdnTOzNDQ9Q1DyB_9S1_aTvMH40G8qLL3sd88yIkqRIYxq2BUGY-wHxPKWUGh3CL5pLX_oL9FwufOtdVExXAiBnZGE8ztcTiN1w4BNZvqSnLi6mILIusAgFY_zVgiuv7mYv1vVQcNG4gNOq9IG0L7Pq9SvxpVnNjs9QBDb2Txc10D6_FOGuN9vGWqoLhy/s872/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20at%209.35.31%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="872" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEdnTOzNDQ9Q1DyB_9S1_aTvMH40G8qLL3sd88yIkqRIYxq2BUGY-wHxPKWUGh3CL5pLX_oL9FwufOtdVExXAiBnZGE8ztcTiN1w4BNZvqSnLi6mILIusAgFY_zVgiuv7mYv1vVQcNG4gNOq9IG0L7Pq9SvxpVnNjs9QBDb2Txc10D6_FOGuN9vGWqoLhy/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20at%209.35.31%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In general,
however, people without capital would have equal access to no-interest (but not
no-cost) commercial bank loans to purchase capital shares to be repaid with the
full stream of future profits, with the new money</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>only created to purchase specific capital, and
the loan collateralized with capital credit</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>insurance. As the new capital assets generate
profits, the loan would be repaid with the future pretax stream of future
profits, thereafter providing the new capital owners with a stream of dividend
income.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">By empowering
every citizen with capital ownership (not just private-sector workers as with
the ESOP</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, <i>e<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">.g.</span></i><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">, teachers, fire fighters, law enforcement, military, government
workers, as well as those who are unable to work, such as children, the
disabled, and the elderly.</span>) and protecting the private property</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>rights</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of all owners, democratic economic control and
thereby political control would be restored to every person</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">. This would gradually reverse
today’s concentration of economic and political power</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in the hands of the relatively few who own
capital. It would also spread future ownership and power to every citizen,
without violating property</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>rights of existing capital owners.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In addition,
technological solutions are being developed to address the environmental crisis
facing every nation, every human being, and all life on our planet. With
expanded access to sound financing, more green technologies, renewable energy
systems, and processes for more efficient, non-polluting use of natural
resources can be developed and commercialized.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Given these levers
of change — Education, Politics, Money and Credit, Tax</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Policy, and Technology — our social
environment can be brought into closer conformity with human nature, that is,
with the natural law</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">. This would lay the foundation for
a personalist</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>society that promotes the full dignity</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and development of every human being.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">#30#</span></p><p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-44838380523492923842024-02-19T06:00:00.003-05:002024-02-19T06:00:00.164-05:00JTW Podcast: Walter Reuther on Civil Rights, August 28, 1963Just in case you
were wondering who else spoke during the March on Washington . . . and note the
irony that the bill to which Reuther referred died with Kennedy a little over
two months later:
<span><a name='more'></a></span><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18.0pt;">CLICK ON THE LINKS, NOT THE PHOTO</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPrpZ9ys_8_Z0fLwbTiSAP_r5p04fjJ47llcMsXxUmx-51rvncxTCDd_-EEwcsLSlsgOqMORbPcpQ_OKnMd-S7VhTxsHUKugdU4BcS2GobV2Kj2phO75nL3231BBHnHnfdf9c9YS_hG4xTp7Zyt0Hajls4ds_9kagemQGHLwao7TKUKzYqiYZfI-iPKFRJ/s1258/Screenshot%202024-02-17%20at%204.14.04%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1254" data-original-width="1258" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPrpZ9ys_8_Z0fLwbTiSAP_r5p04fjJ47llcMsXxUmx-51rvncxTCDd_-EEwcsLSlsgOqMORbPcpQ_OKnMd-S7VhTxsHUKugdU4BcS2GobV2Kj2phO75nL3231BBHnHnfdf9c9YS_hG4xTp7Zyt0Hajls4ds_9kagemQGHLwao7TKUKzYqiYZfI-iPKFRJ/w400-h399/Screenshot%202024-02-17%20at%204.14.04%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />You must click on the link below to get to the video,
not on the photo.<p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVkE1hiborY">Walter Reuther on Civil
Rights</a></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b>(The links right above are what you're supposed to
click on.)</b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b>And if you want the playlists for previous videos:</b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRmICNv3FlpF_zyV1mzG6bd"><b><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;">The Greater Reset</span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"> Interviews</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Economic Personalism (The Book)</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLSUmtLxsrFmTDAuB3aVohsj"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Economic Personalism v. The
Great Reset</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRYLLB9qD2lLB-56PO8vrUB"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Book Reviews and Other Things</span></b></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: .25in;"> </p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLQjsSptAWXV11wANtdge4kK"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Socialism, Modernism and the New
Age</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: .25in;">#30#</p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-45966820110444228332024-02-16T06:00:00.020-05:002024-02-16T09:49:18.988-05:00News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 07As has become usual, this week’s
news items focus primarily on the growing debt crisis, both personal and
public.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, as usual, we believe most
if not all of these issues could be solved by adopting <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.
<span><a name='more'></a></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1MVLVaT8qAZA_d8XuV-O7B_U4ZefdGRlOtIQJi-QtsveaFtl_5e-I91fTmvIBnvCehjLtW8adL_Qkt32wcHX-6Ac76fcIwgxxHpPREyiaxDRrHAjzJ7ELCwT6mf8DYjPX_KilAXlM2Ft0qQJ9zhcutMa4isymuiH7ubBcoXRPT4KKFy1zFPxLOgfOyNh4/s668/Screenshot%202024-02-16%20at%209.41.29%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="638" data-original-width="668" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1MVLVaT8qAZA_d8XuV-O7B_U4ZefdGRlOtIQJi-QtsveaFtl_5e-I91fTmvIBnvCehjLtW8adL_Qkt32wcHX-6Ac76fcIwgxxHpPREyiaxDRrHAjzJ7ELCwT6mf8DYjPX_KilAXlM2Ft0qQJ9zhcutMa4isymuiH7ubBcoXRPT4KKFy1zFPxLOgfOyNh4/w200-h191/Screenshot%202024-02-16%20at%209.41.29%20AM.png" width="200" /></a></b></div><b><br /> </b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Bob Moore, R.I.P</b>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bob Moore, founder of “Bob’s Red Mill,” a
leading worker-owned company, <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/bobs-red-mill-founder-bob-132257055.html">has
died at the age of 94</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Refusing repeated
efforts to buy the company, <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/former-gas-station-owner-j-013935455.html?.tsrc=fp_deeplink">Bob
preferred to sell the company to the workers using an ESOP</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We like to think Bob would have been behind <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipxROTUxX8ojIM6vmzz8sSCc1zpCkLtKyrw_CEl59JzjfXgmUSYRcMiPnNdB7vUKs_IJZU64Q8nI_7lvgMu7PtrkdyCPmfSsXNdRgif6606Czng0ZhB_7ZJhuxIfEXm6sta_XnmeiofjAts2pXzmVKYD1KrLsPcmuhRtO6etKrMAspx7wqu6VNt6GdN4iN/s804/Screenshot%202024-02-16%20at%209.43.09%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="804" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipxROTUxX8ojIM6vmzz8sSCc1zpCkLtKyrw_CEl59JzjfXgmUSYRcMiPnNdB7vUKs_IJZU64Q8nI_7lvgMu7PtrkdyCPmfSsXNdRgif6606Czng0ZhB_7ZJhuxIfEXm6sta_XnmeiofjAts2pXzmVKYD1KrLsPcmuhRtO6etKrMAspx7wqu6VNt6GdN4iN/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-16%20at%209.43.09%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Credit Card Debt Soaring.</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>U.S. credit card is now over a trillion
dollars, and <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/credit-card-u-debt-soared-172300776.html">according
to the experts the reason is simple</a>: “You have these noticeable pockets of
consumers — mostly middle- and lower-income renters who have not benefited from
the wealth effect of higher housing prices and stock prices — who are feeling
financial stress and that's driving up these delinquency levels. They've been
hit very hard by inflation.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Translation: people who didn’t have enough income to buy an expensive
house as an “investment” and gamble on the stock market are getting caught
between the upper and nether millstones of the economy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, the experts are clueless about how
to get more income to people without capital assets, even though it’s starting them
right in the face: adopt <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipB7INm1SApt3N1NsOX0H3-W1Q836xgRMcfGOIIarzDmmXIblo75BeYH7EaE064VLCMbp5OmqjP256WM7hcdfVOhGLIZ7XTMY6TiSo-ZWrL5ssijcMuKVh3RxIyRfi-WFHawEnx_SlC0Nein-VpuEucuzIZZKNrU1zed4NDyh8leED5DOpCQzaduIPnefk/s906/Screenshot%202024-02-16%20at%209.43.56%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="906" data-original-width="708" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipB7INm1SApt3N1NsOX0H3-W1Q836xgRMcfGOIIarzDmmXIblo75BeYH7EaE064VLCMbp5OmqjP256WM7hcdfVOhGLIZ7XTMY6TiSo-ZWrL5ssijcMuKVh3RxIyRfi-WFHawEnx_SlC0Nein-VpuEucuzIZZKNrU1zed4NDyh8leED5DOpCQzaduIPnefk/w156-h200/Screenshot%202024-02-16%20at%209.43.56%20AM.png" width="156" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Henry C. Adams<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• U.S. Debt Crisis</b>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back in the Stone Age, 1898, to be exact,
Henry C. Adams, wrote a book, <i>Public Debts: An Essay on the Science of
Finance</i>, explaining how government debt is the fastest way for a country to
lose its sovereignty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adams’s bottom
line was that while productive debt (debt that generates its own repayment) is
a very great good, non-productive debt is a very great evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jamie-dimon-believes-u-debt-093000484.html?.tsrc=fp_deeplink">Jamie
Dimon and other experts aren’t coming up with something new as they sound
warnings about the level of debt in the world</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The solution is to adopt <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyLT9J5EfybYv8lyOpdNXrTJtLIzKTEQSFyErtHjVhVqa0aWtJfU2zQfS55rlTMcDRir8GLh34IeX1_QM3tTBKD-6okZ4H36OkHdpRKBAcwhjZaBmf6BWh3PoBTfPQTduW6fadR8zdcq5wMV1LQ-0dJPk2WYCDQBmAEoeWJrYB20yQ2IHcIdMLhwyEgpWl/s1284/Screenshot%202024-02-16%20at%209.29.33%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1016" data-original-width="1284" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyLT9J5EfybYv8lyOpdNXrTJtLIzKTEQSFyErtHjVhVqa0aWtJfU2zQfS55rlTMcDRir8GLh34IeX1_QM3tTBKD-6okZ4H36OkHdpRKBAcwhjZaBmf6BWh3PoBTfPQTduW6fadR8zdcq5wMV1LQ-0dJPk2WYCDQBmAEoeWJrYB20yQ2IHcIdMLhwyEgpWl/w200-h158/Screenshot%202024-02-16%20at%209.29.33%20AM.png" width="200" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Robot Revenge.</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A defenseless <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/robotaxi-vandalized-set-ablaze-crowd-203601455.html">robot
taxi was attacked and destroyed in San Francisco’s China Town</a> in what
authorities say was an incident without apparent motive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, it could have been high spirits
during the Chinese New Year celebration, or just a luddite protest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re not certain how <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a> could be used to solve the problem, but there’s probably
some way.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidi8Ajde_Js6cZz1k_mXye0c45nAhniKjazFnJ4vpdGx6FTrKOTqxWuJQWn9i4azhq6fa7EVCzOeNr5hIkauhfILnDrmqNhte0i1vk938CP1DfjlSh_Q_41Ok0dlrCm1vkoCMJeiNmFnDbg0yTX_Jue205cyF2-bVoj9tCH_wsB50vted5c7vaTRVfh5ni/s844/Screenshot%202024-02-16%20at%209.48.55%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="412" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidi8Ajde_Js6cZz1k_mXye0c45nAhniKjazFnJ4vpdGx6FTrKOTqxWuJQWn9i4azhq6fa7EVCzOeNr5hIkauhfILnDrmqNhte0i1vk938CP1DfjlSh_Q_41Ok0dlrCm1vkoCMJeiNmFnDbg0yTX_Jue205cyF2-bVoj9tCH_wsB50vted5c7vaTRVfh5ni/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-16%20at%209.48.55%20AM.png" width="156" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Spend! Spend! Spend!</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s a financial horror story, <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/20-old-model-wants-spend-113900747.html">a
twenty-year-old model with a slightly askew view of personal finance</a>: “The
20-year-old Austin, Texas native, revealed she’s on a slippery slope of
overspending and has a ‘bad habit’ of borrowing on credit cards. . . . she
likes to “spend, spend, spend” all her income as soon as it hits her account,
considers her credit card purchases an ‘investment’ and believes grocery
shopping is a ‘scam’.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frankly, there
are some people that even <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a> might not be able to help.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Greater Reset “Book Trailers”.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are two versions of the videos, one <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L57ndWkGrvU">for “general audiences”</a>
and the other <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnJ6N8dD5Eo">for
“Catholic audiences”</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take your
pick. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• The Greater Reset</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CESJ’s new book by members of CESJ’s core
group, <i>The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Law</i>
is, of course, available from the publisher, <a href="https://tanbooks.com/contemporary-issues/social-issues/the-greater-reset-reclaiming-human-sovereignty-under-natural-law/">TAN
Books, an imprint of Saint Benedict Press</a>, and has already gotten a top
review on that website.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It can also be
obtained from <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/greater-reset-michael-d-greaney/1140792581?ean=9781505122596">Barnes
and Noble</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Greater-Reset-Reclaiming-Personal-Sovereignty/dp/1505122597/ref=sr_1_1?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=29&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=9&qid=1647607715&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-1&unfiltered=1">Amazon</a>,
or by special order from your local “bricks and mortar” bookstore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>The Greater Reset</i> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It describes reality,
rather than a Keynesian fantasy world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Please note that <i>The Greater Reset</i> is <b><i><u>NOT</u></i></b> a
CESJ publication as such, and enquiries about <a href="https://tanbooks.com/booklets-bulk-pricing/">quantity discounts</a> and <a href="https://tanbooks.com/business-terms-for-resellers-and-distributors/">wholesale
orders for resale</a> must be sent to the publisher, Saint Benedict Press, <b><i><u>NOT</u></i></b>
to CESJ.<b></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">• <i>Economic Personalism</i> Landing Page</span></b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A landing page for CESJ’s latest publication,
</span><a href="https://www.cesj.org/economic-personalism-book/"><i><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">Economic
Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person</span></i></a><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">, has been
created and can be accessed by clicking on this link.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone is encouraged to visit the page and
send the link out to their networks.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">• <i>Economic Personalism</i></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you purchase a copy of <i>Economic
Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person</i>, be sure you post
a review after you’ve read it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
available on both </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Economic-Personalism-Property-Justice-Person/dp/0944997139/ref=sr_1_3?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=35&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=13&dchild=1&qid=1606486838&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-3&unfiltered=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Amazon</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> and </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/economic-personalism-michael-d-greaney/1138274999?ean=9780944997130"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Barnes and Noble</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> at the cover price of $10 per copy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can also download </span><a href="https://www.cesj.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/C-EconPersonalism_Web-NOblanks.pdf"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">the free copy in .pdf available from the CESJ
website</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’d like to order in bulk (<i>i.e.</i>,
ten or more copies) at the wholesale price, send an email to </span><a href="mailto:publications@cesj.org"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">publications@cesj.org</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> for details.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>CESJ members get a $2 rebate per copy on submission of proof of
purchase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wholesale case lots of 52
copies are available at $350, plus shipping (whole case lots ONLY).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prices are in U.S. dollars.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Sensus Fidelium Videos, Update</b>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CESJ’s series of videos for <i>Sensus
Fidelium</i> are doing very well, with over 155,000 total views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latest <i>Sensus Fidelium</i> video is “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPACvt9tSdU&list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2&index=10&t=3s">The
Five Levers of Change</a>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The video is
part of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2">the
series on the book, <i>Economic Personalism</i></a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latest completed series on “the Great
Reset” can be found on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLSUmtLxsrFmTDAuB3aVohsj">the
“Playlist” for the series</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
previous series of sixteen videos on socialism is available by clicking on the
link: “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLQjsSptAWXV11wANtdge4kK">Socialism,
Modernism, and the New Age</a>,” along with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRYLLB9qD2lLB-56PO8vrUB">some
book reviews and other selected topics</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For “interfaith” presentations to a Catholic audience they’ve proved to
be popular, edging up to <b><u>150,000</u></b> views to date.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They aren’t really “Just Third Way videos,”
but they do incorporate a Just Third Way perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can access the playlist for the entire
series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;">Those are the happenings for this
week, at least those that we know about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>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.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Due to imprudent and
intemperate language on the part of some commentators, we removed temptation
and disabled comments.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;">#30#</p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-72591919643461510752024-02-14T06:00:00.012-05:002024-02-14T14:33:13.782-05:00Five Levers of Change: Tax Policy<br /><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: .25in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Today’s
blog posting is adapted from the book, <i>Economic Personalism</i>, which you
can get </span></b><a href="https://www.cesj.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/C-EconPersonalism_Web-NOblanks.pdf"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">free from the CESJ
website</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">, or from </span></b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Economic-Personalism-Property-Justice-Person/dp/0944997139/ref=sr_1_5?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=46&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=10&qid=1697042184&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-5&unfiltered=1"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Amazon</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> or </span></b><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/economic-personalism-michael-d-greaney/1138274999?ean=9780944997130"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Barnes and Noble</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In 1891, Pope Leo
XIII</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>declared that “Many excellent results will
follow” from expanding ownership to as many people as possible (<i>Rerum
Novarum</i>, § 47). As he said,<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: 9.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 9.0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5u5YZQ_q_HPlF1EJLoj9XFq_63xJqWZKVc7EPBEUExCVR5gIEx2lNNsjmhNR_IoyeRhzTpTw4uCTXI3I4TtMmdtjGAE60WJOpEUlE2-qLkzli_NAl97bnXLdPZEbbvV5OMx84_n18OeAxcA1BfOl48A0hpRDkhBOaTppkVW166eZayo80zkS3Gl-c4yUW/s958/PopeLeoXIII02%20copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="958" data-original-width="726" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5u5YZQ_q_HPlF1EJLoj9XFq_63xJqWZKVc7EPBEUExCVR5gIEx2lNNsjmhNR_IoyeRhzTpTw4uCTXI3I4TtMmdtjGAE60WJOpEUlE2-qLkzli_NAl97bnXLdPZEbbvV5OMx84_n18OeAxcA1BfOl48A0hpRDkhBOaTppkVW166eZayo80zkS3Gl-c4yUW/s320/PopeLeoXIII02%20copy.jpg" width="243" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pope Leo XIII<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: 9.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 9.0pt;">[F]irst of all, property</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 9.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>will certainly become more equitably divided.
. . . A further consequence will result in the great abundance of the fruits of
the earth. Men always work harder and more readily when they work on that which
belongs to them; . . . And a third advantage would spring from this: men would
cling to the country in which they were born, for no one would exchange his
country for a foreign land if his own afforded him the means of living a decent
and happy life. (<i>Ibid</i>.)</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Solving the wealth
gap, poverty, and immigration with the same program is surely a desirable
outcome. Leo, however, reminded us that,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: 9.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 9.0pt;">. . . [t]hese three important
benefits, however, can be reckoned on only provided that a man's means be not
drained and exhausted by excessive taxation</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 9.0pt;">. The right to possess private
property</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 9.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is derived from nature, not from man; and the
State has the right to control its use in the interests of the public good
alone, but by no means to absorb it altogether. The State would therefore be
unjust and cruel if under the name of taxation, it were to deprive the private
owner of more than is fair. (<i>Ibid</i>.)</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It is not enough,
however, merely to say that taxation</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>should not be “unjust and cruel.” In order to
be practical — for social justice</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>must always be effective — tax</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>policies must reflect and be consistent with
the goal of turning as many people as possible into capital owners.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">There must,
therefore, be legislative initiatives introduced to encourage businesses to
finance</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>their growth and expansion in ways that also
grow and expand the base of capital ownership in an economy. Tax</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>policy must make it possible for those who own
little or no capital to use pre-tax</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(<i>i.e.</i>, tax</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">-deferred) future savings</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to accumulate a significant amount of capital
in as short a time as possible.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyb-xEMkRqB-R4pg0Q-xifyTd7SmhRq9RHr_uF_SU2bP-lwPywq9hIGAKD4GfICWkJijjmGvYKtB1lo6KDM0SR7GubV-q5_-0BmhMv3kb9IGTTmzDrgPU0WSF8KGeeLC0SZt6GOOAa-cMf6DRiKWFUobCabB_7QWk2GoZatE9vMqmwZNBJNORCH-7wa-_/s484/Kelso%20copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="484" data-original-width="477" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyb-xEMkRqB-R4pg0Q-xifyTd7SmhRq9RHr_uF_SU2bP-lwPywq9hIGAKD4GfICWkJijjmGvYKtB1lo6KDM0SR7GubV-q5_-0BmhMv3kb9IGTTmzDrgPU0WSF8KGeeLC0SZt6GOOAa-cMf6DRiKWFUobCabB_7QWk2GoZatE9vMqmwZNBJNORCH-7wa-_/s320/Kelso%20copy.jpg" width="315" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Louis O. Kelso<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">To avoid
disrupting an entire economy by introducing a new system all at once, an
industry or region could be used as a test case. Once the test case has proved
the concept and demonstrated its desirability for the whole economy —
accelerated non-inflationary economic growth, expanded purchasing power</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, increased government revenues
from a restored tax</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>base consisting of new capital owners — there
could be an overhaul of the tax</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>system as a whole to support and maintain the
State and the common good</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Louis Kelso</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">’s Employee Stock Ownership Plan</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(ESOP</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">) illustrates the
power</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of just tax</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>reform. Prior to the tax</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>advantages enacted in the mid-1970s, there
were relatively few ESOPs</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">. Once, however, dividends from
future profits became tax</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">-deductible at the corporate level
if paid through an ESOP</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, and lenders could exclude from
taxable income a certain amount of interest earned, the number of ESOPs</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>increased dramatically. Today in the United
States thousands of companies with millions of employees have become
worker-owned whole or in part.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">#30#</span></p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-59248960539392979872024-02-12T06:00:00.001-05:002024-02-12T06:00:00.244-05:00JTW Podcast: Walter Reuther on Profit Sharing, Part 2 of 2<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;">As we noted in <a href="http://just3rdway.blogspot.com/2024/02/jtw-podcast-walter-reuther-on-profit.html">last
week’s posting on this subject</a>, January 1958 saw the publication of <i><a href="https://www.kelsoinstitute.org/pdf/cm-entire.pdf">The Capitalist
Manifesto</a></i> by Louis O. Kelso and Mortimer J. Adler . . . and this Mike
Wallace interview of labor leader Walter Reuther about profit sharing, of which
we present Part 2 of 2 today:<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18.0pt;">CLICK ON THE LINKS, NOT THE PHOTO</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiznjJjm2-9PxrH43Y3N1Xq_7hLhw5yiCZ559l3yT9ZT4PTj0IB41_-KnlBB48rBWn4K7aoSi0VsMoN7B1W8d607OHnzOH-UzNsuUtrTSyeGrOJQeUL35v4694IqWxJwWeJK2UXXmbVqR8zTon2nGucOyZHavlB6yM4uCCwW83Vq5ilyBctsXF9O6-pn-I8/s476/Reuther.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="476" data-original-width="359" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiznjJjm2-9PxrH43Y3N1Xq_7hLhw5yiCZ559l3yT9ZT4PTj0IB41_-KnlBB48rBWn4K7aoSi0VsMoN7B1W8d607OHnzOH-UzNsuUtrTSyeGrOJQeUL35v4694IqWxJwWeJK2UXXmbVqR8zTon2nGucOyZHavlB6yM4uCCwW83Vq5ilyBctsXF9O6-pn-I8/w301-h400/Reuther.png" width="301" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walter Reuther<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />You must click on the link below to get to the video,
not on the photo.</p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjcQgub0578">Walter Reuther on Profit
Sharing, 2 of 2</a></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b>(The links right above are what you're supposed to
click on.)</b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b>And if you want the playlists for previous videos:</b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRmICNv3FlpF_zyV1mzG6bd"><b><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;">The Greater Reset</span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"> Interviews</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Economic Personalism (The Book)</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLSUmtLxsrFmTDAuB3aVohsj"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Economic Personalism v. The
Great Reset</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRYLLB9qD2lLB-56PO8vrUB"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Book Reviews and Other Things</span></b></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: .25in;"> </p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLQjsSptAWXV11wANtdge4kK"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Socialism, Modernism and the New
Age</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: .25in;">#30#</p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-71212615031628825662024-02-09T06:00:00.030-05:002024-02-09T11:13:23.432-05:00News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 06<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;">This week we have a plethora of
news items that sound remarkably like the previous week and the week before
that and the week before that and the week before that . . . but you get the
idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not to get repetitive, but most if
not all of these issues could be solved by adopting <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeY906_5aWfkVrq9wMlBhlEYnkB_IAy7JXle2GpY_7qpweklcAKyHZM5ZzRuwQNE-Q7smIUE9QbFM2p7nYYKmHpkkmhdbi_y5uDu0EOIvrWeBn4BIv5_UlG3jVS0u7oeJhKoViUafU326828dUqDEnxTGn7dXHk1DalFWOS2avttGo53ACTb_wscy4OLPv/s856/Screenshot%202024-02-09%20at%2010.58.22%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="856" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeY906_5aWfkVrq9wMlBhlEYnkB_IAy7JXle2GpY_7qpweklcAKyHZM5ZzRuwQNE-Q7smIUE9QbFM2p7nYYKmHpkkmhdbi_y5uDu0EOIvrWeBn4BIv5_UlG3jVS0u7oeJhKoViUafU326828dUqDEnxTGn7dXHk1DalFWOS2avttGo53ACTb_wscy4OLPv/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-09%20at%2010.58.22%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br /> </b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Sucker Bet.</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to the talk on “the Street” (Wall
Street, that is), “the Markets” (meaning people with money to gamble or throw
away, depending) are betting that <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/markets-now-betting-fed-going-031318226.html">the
Federal Reserve is going to make a mistake with interest rate cuts</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given that the whole approach of the Federal
Reserve to interest rates has been a mistake from the very beginning, this is a
no-brainer bet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever they do, it is
almost guaranteed to be a mistake for one reason or another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they do the wrong thing, it will be
obvious, but if by chance (and it can only be by chance) they do the right
thing, it will be for the wrong reasons and the good effect will only be
temporary, but they will do it again to try and make it permanent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only way to make economic reform permanent,
however, and for the good, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>would be to
adopt <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj0C2xNyc3TF-x9pCyF7tcXGgs8FYVt9mNGaNUPOpX6BOrdEf-DviazSvIc-8P6KgdkL8ecUiwq78PyhOmYgUVj0PzsvDubd46hJcWSXJr0ucx56EES-RbZkllWQ5g7KDkxU3pc3r72h9eSKcy-262sNESCMu3UZvLbsQeA0ztLgEoY6opznm3lQdMns42/s964/Screenshot%202024-02-09%20at%2010.59.36%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="962" data-original-width="964" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj0C2xNyc3TF-x9pCyF7tcXGgs8FYVt9mNGaNUPOpX6BOrdEf-DviazSvIc-8P6KgdkL8ecUiwq78PyhOmYgUVj0PzsvDubd46hJcWSXJr0ucx56EES-RbZkllWQ5g7KDkxU3pc3r72h9eSKcy-262sNESCMu3UZvLbsQeA0ztLgEoY6opznm3lQdMns42/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-09%20at%2010.59.36%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• “Pig Butchering” on the Rise</b>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, we’re not talking about hog
slaughtering for feed, we’re talking about an internet operation <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/pig-butchering-scams-rise-fbi-133000379.html">scamming
money for greed</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They call it “pig
butchering” because the victim is “fattened” with all kinds of promises —
usually a combination of easy sex and easier money — and then bilked out of as
much money as possible before disappearing and going on to the next victim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The crypto craze has provided a great deal of
opportunity for this, a virtual commodity with nothing behind it is a perfect
match for a virtual relationship, also with nothing behind it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In both cases, romance or riches, it’s a good
idea to find out if there is anything there before you put a dime into it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, if you want financial security (we
can’t do anything about the romance department, even this close to St. Valentine’s
Day), the best thing to do is to adopt <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH9dCxPD4fDOf5IxCAH1nUQpzLPIz3BDtaHGIBZhX84pSxxXrMNzb-og7QNo0aO6iXgdvtiotp-pU8nCP3j68B9J1yPRN7fMvfxYjAhcyZye_X7PzTqhy8tFSq4lpdKX9jfCnmWaPmT5YNNxan6OzCPwlEwhfqhgwZLH8mWA3ufipPgKWogCqFCQxZFL2w/s1034/Screenshot%202024-02-09%20at%2011.01.57%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1034" data-original-width="848" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH9dCxPD4fDOf5IxCAH1nUQpzLPIz3BDtaHGIBZhX84pSxxXrMNzb-og7QNo0aO6iXgdvtiotp-pU8nCP3j68B9J1yPRN7fMvfxYjAhcyZye_X7PzTqhy8tFSq4lpdKX9jfCnmWaPmT5YNNxan6OzCPwlEwhfqhgwZLH8mWA3ufipPgKWogCqFCQxZFL2w/w164-h200/Screenshot%202024-02-09%20at%2011.01.57%20AM.png" width="164" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Trump Trumps Bidenomics</b>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least according to some pundits, people’s
disappointment with Biden’s economic policies (which he claims are beginning to
work) are <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/bidenomics-falls-flat-voters-trump-220554633.html">leading
them to give Trump a lead in the upcoming presidential contest</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, a great deal of this could be due
to the fact that “the economy” means different things to different people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’re in the money or tied to government
programs, the economy could be doing pretty well, and you’ll be more open to
Biden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’re dependent on a job or a
business for your income, you might not be doing so well and more open to the
kind of promises Trump likes to make.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What’s the solution?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How about a
return to the real world and adoption of <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1SIbQUe7a6lUFwZBlTI5iJdSXoBBofYAVQKciSV0mS4J2UWOE1nmy1kKtmjIl_VXqa08HIiMVGSgZK6SG9l20_bd_1KJn4Au5GqDUryNASsIcL2ptHZGX8J26y5q_8d0J3KD8lPlL9aoEB6KSkXAaO7rAPkvLTjXcTkIlrbaoTKtz3z2y1FeDpG48jL-p/s798/Screenshot%202024-02-09%20at%2011.04.05%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="798" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1SIbQUe7a6lUFwZBlTI5iJdSXoBBofYAVQKciSV0mS4J2UWOE1nmy1kKtmjIl_VXqa08HIiMVGSgZK6SG9l20_bd_1KJn4Au5GqDUryNASsIcL2ptHZGX8J26y5q_8d0J3KD8lPlL9aoEB6KSkXAaO7rAPkvLTjXcTkIlrbaoTKtz3z2y1FeDpG48jL-p/w200-h177/Screenshot%202024-02-09%20at%2011.04.05%20AM.png" width="200" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• U.S. on an Unsustainable
Financial Path.</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No kidding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to Jerome Powell, it is a great
revelation that <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/powell-us-unsustainable-fiscal-path-002419665.html">the
“financial path” the United States economy has been on since the New Deal is
unsustainable</a>!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gasp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You mean that programs and policies that have
never worked are still not working?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Amazing!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, if Powell —
or anyone else — wants to put the U.S. economy or any other economy on the
right path, he or she should push for the adoption of <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLrCVpikbfGlf9VA-TEif9M0nw5DmPwgwdbmnScv1E8zAfOU9d3Wt0QwMWn-CSvrLPuPJWQTk1N_8gykuWU8GwPPKdJ9Mx_bdm8lk0QeWOnb-ZalHoVY49pquhbasztpurlPZLYEzQF8YsXiTP1zzrIZWpZXaBSYcDMujKBmNEv9pfIHBu7sgXCocgkYI/s1120/Screenshot%202024-02-09%20at%2011.05.48%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="1120" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLrCVpikbfGlf9VA-TEif9M0nw5DmPwgwdbmnScv1E8zAfOU9d3Wt0QwMWn-CSvrLPuPJWQTk1N_8gykuWU8GwPPKdJ9Mx_bdm8lk0QeWOnb-ZalHoVY49pquhbasztpurlPZLYEzQF8YsXiTP1zzrIZWpZXaBSYcDMujKBmNEv9pfIHBu7sgXCocgkYI/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-09%20at%2011.05.48%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• The U.S. Economy is Doing Great!</b>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least, according to President Biden .
. . and <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-economy-doing-well-president-130030464.html?.tsrc=fp_deeplink">he’s
wondering why Americans are still “feeling bad.”</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The explanation, of course, is that the
experts reporting on how great the economy is doing are relying on misleading
indicators and Keynesian analysis, which ignore most people and concentrate on
aggregate figures and impersonal data.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For example, if one person in a group of ten has a million-dollar
income, and the other nine have nothing, the average is $100,000!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That looks good when reporting to the president
but does nothing for the nine people with nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s the solution?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An economic program that benefits all
individuals, not groups, and that means <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyVGiqyb_6Edax-NOiaO1XVc2c8UOl7_jnLSJR6ptV6jWHBEy3VSn3EIo6jBwZtoSihNQgc1wmDTpZHQ8FevUPsdPnxS9sKW3wTkbGZ90Xq0fKA0gGbPr-LrJH3q4xlsv8xCfuU3fIV4Ow14XzAc5Nje2JLzrAJGFIrbM-EsdXjvlPAc2mzojwmaHenUuY/s698/Screenshot%202024-02-09%20at%2011.08.03%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="698" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyVGiqyb_6Edax-NOiaO1XVc2c8UOl7_jnLSJR6ptV6jWHBEy3VSn3EIo6jBwZtoSihNQgc1wmDTpZHQ8FevUPsdPnxS9sKW3wTkbGZ90Xq0fKA0gGbPr-LrJH3q4xlsv8xCfuU3fIV4Ow14XzAc5Nje2JLzrAJGFIrbM-EsdXjvlPAc2mzojwmaHenUuY/w200-h134/Screenshot%202024-02-09%20at%2011.08.03%20AM.png" width="200" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Not “The Farmers at the Fed,”
But . . </b>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dissatisfied with the agricultural
economy and government policies, <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/italian-tractors-en-route-rome-165032648.html">Italian
farmers are en route to Rome as a protest</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The problem with this sort of protest, however, is that rarely do they
demand the right things . . . such as monetary reform and something like <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbci1oSiI7OCDnbz4v6bv2j8ZOIbHDLIAosgw9DKmI5LJlwGfQy2PACOLYnMbP64BlTm35QmqIq6bMC5cH3Ca0TO2yrc6DYNpxj08GC6sPvdw6Xw0o1P6-F6VCLFVD2_TgfIedVdlFX3BXZE5PKkdz6CAYBTXaTgsh5A5CwqPDShg0NJ6ME8GIemawZIQc/s1106/Screenshot%202024-02-09%20at%2011.08.59%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="1106" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbci1oSiI7OCDnbz4v6bv2j8ZOIbHDLIAosgw9DKmI5LJlwGfQy2PACOLYnMbP64BlTm35QmqIq6bMC5cH3Ca0TO2yrc6DYNpxj08GC6sPvdw6Xw0o1P6-F6VCLFVD2_TgfIedVdlFX3BXZE5PKkdz6CAYBTXaTgsh5A5CwqPDShg0NJ6ME8GIemawZIQc/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-09%20at%2011.08.59%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Don’t Quit Your Day Job</b>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to real estate mogul Grant Cardone,
despite dissatisfaction with the nine-to-five rat race, <a href="wouldn't%20go%20start%20a%20new%20business%20today%20—%20dumbest,%20most%20selfish%20thing%20a%20person%20could%20do">you
shouldn’t start a new business today</a> — it’s the “dumbest, most selfish
thing a person could do.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well . . .
yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most people don’t have what it
takes to be a successful entrepreneur.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of course, Cardone isn’t considering that there is an alternative to being
a wage slave and going it alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s
being a co-owner with others and hiring professionals as your partners to
handle the entrepreneurship aspect of the business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s the whole idea behind Louis Kelso’s
vision, applied in <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipdyQgshYicU9l88lyg4M6uorqrCrM98kAQAXz4WAN0qtBUDf7NQvLyg1Wzn6eoYXbe6V80ybIrxKWrpgE5CD142n6LMhBfXVWoDqUrUVjbBEw8RQF9XT2YYjTre3I_nmqsQGRZIspzGwgPShlnj9erretJugknOhlxf42_Sgy7ZSSk3BJ44sMAHy_HQsx/s1036/Screenshot%202024-02-09%20at%2011.10.28%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1036" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipdyQgshYicU9l88lyg4M6uorqrCrM98kAQAXz4WAN0qtBUDf7NQvLyg1Wzn6eoYXbe6V80ybIrxKWrpgE5CD142n6LMhBfXVWoDqUrUVjbBEw8RQF9XT2YYjTre3I_nmqsQGRZIspzGwgPShlnj9erretJugknOhlxf42_Sgy7ZSSk3BJ44sMAHy_HQsx/w154-h200/Screenshot%202024-02-09%20at%2011.10.28%20AM.png" width="154" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• The U.S. Economy is Better
Than EVER!</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to Fundstrat
Global Advisors managing partner Tom Lee, <a href="According%20to%20Fundstrat%20Global%20Advisors%20managing%20partner%20Tom%20Lee,">the
U.S. economy is in terrific shape and it couldn’t be better</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem here is deciding whether this is
an instance of wishful thinking or total delusion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why not get out of Lalaland altogether and adopt
<a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a><span class="MsoHyperlink">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Dave Ramsey Says Stop Spending.</b>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to Dave Ramsey, the way to
restore a sound financial position is to <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/dave-ramsey-tells-29-old-160241364.html">stop
spending like a drunken sailor on leave</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is good advice, but it’s only half the
answer, and really only applies to people who have what would otherwise be an
adequate income if they weren’t spending like idiots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s important to keep spending within bounds,
but when income starts out inadequate, simply cutting spending isn’t going to
help much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is needed for most
people in today’s economy is not a simple program of austerity, but revenue
enhancement, and realistically that means adopting <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a><span class="MsoHyperlink">.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPRvjU4VE4dYWxWZ9T2PJgH8OoOaBdy_f0_KNmuk0GwpPUs0uAj6T-SL7Boz2ot2dgCGiREoplfQwp4naWo2Xem4JwbvGY064AufczXQS-7S5WGtj6fAhsn_tfnYBLXQ6eV8q5yo-IU2Oexp0mQpTTJMQlkzPA_Y4g9ZJu5ylt-SRFVqyAvVRz09DqFlr-/s920/Screenshot%202024-02-09%20at%2011.12.49%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="716" data-original-width="920" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPRvjU4VE4dYWxWZ9T2PJgH8OoOaBdy_f0_KNmuk0GwpPUs0uAj6T-SL7Boz2ot2dgCGiREoplfQwp4naWo2Xem4JwbvGY064AufczXQS-7S5WGtj6fAhsn_tfnYBLXQ6eV8q5yo-IU2Oexp0mQpTTJMQlkzPA_Y4g9ZJu5ylt-SRFVqyAvVRz09DqFlr-/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-09%20at%2011.12.49%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• U.S. Economy on Steroids.</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to billionaire investor Paul Tudor
Jones, <a href="billionaire%20investor%20Paul%20Tudor%20Jones">the U.S. economy
is on artificial and very deceptive life support</a> caused by massive
government spending, and it’s very soon going to hit the stock market. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he says, the US economy looks like it's “on
steroids” as high government spending powers growth, and the consequences of
massive borrowing will show up in markets sooner or later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, however, all of this could be avoided
(if the powers-that-be really wanted to) by <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a><span class="MsoHyperlink">. <br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Worse Than a Collapse.</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to the political experts, the
European Union is on the verge of something worse than a collapse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/eu-isn-t-collapse-worse-182258059.html">It’s
poised to turn conservative</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of
course, how bad that is depends on how one defines “conservative.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this context, it appears to be understood
as a turn to fascism . . . which is a form of radical liberalism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Traditionally (at least for the past two
centuries), “conservative” has meant anything from individualist (moderate)
liberalism to reaction. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At no time has
it or the radical liberalism forms even approached the personalist form of
liberalism in which the human person is sovereign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, it’s always been assumed to be a struggle
between collectivism and individualism (elitism).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To restore the position of the human person
would require adopting something like of <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a><span class="MsoHyperlink">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Greater Reset “Book Trailers”.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are two versions of the videos, one <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L57ndWkGrvU">for “general audiences”</a>
and the other <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnJ6N8dD5Eo">for
“Catholic audiences”</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take your
pick. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• The Greater Reset</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CESJ’s new book by members of CESJ’s core
group, <i>The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Law</i>
is, of course, available from the publisher, <a href="https://tanbooks.com/contemporary-issues/social-issues/the-greater-reset-reclaiming-human-sovereignty-under-natural-law/">TAN
Books, an imprint of Saint Benedict Press</a>, and has already gotten a top
review on that website.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It can also be
obtained from <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/greater-reset-michael-d-greaney/1140792581?ean=9781505122596">Barnes
and Noble</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Greater-Reset-Reclaiming-Personal-Sovereignty/dp/1505122597/ref=sr_1_1?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=29&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=9&qid=1647607715&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-1&unfiltered=1">Amazon</a>,
or by special order from your local “bricks and mortar” bookstore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>The Greater Reset</i> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It describes reality,
rather than a Keynesian fantasy world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Please note that <i>The Greater Reset</i> is <b><i><u>NOT</u></i></b> a
CESJ publication as such, and enquiries about <a href="https://tanbooks.com/booklets-bulk-pricing/">quantity discounts</a> and <a href="https://tanbooks.com/business-terms-for-resellers-and-distributors/">wholesale
orders for resale</a> must be sent to the publisher, Saint Benedict Press, <b><i><u>NOT</u></i></b>
to CESJ.<b></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">• <i>Economic Personalism</i> Landing Page</span></b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A landing page for CESJ’s latest publication,
</span><a href="https://www.cesj.org/economic-personalism-book/"><i><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">Economic
Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person</span></i></a><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">, has been
created and can be accessed by clicking on this link.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone is encouraged to visit the page and
send the link out to their networks.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">• <i>Economic Personalism</i></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you purchase a copy of <i>Economic
Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person</i>, be sure you post
a review after you’ve read it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
available on both </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Economic-Personalism-Property-Justice-Person/dp/0944997139/ref=sr_1_3?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=35&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=13&dchild=1&qid=1606486838&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-3&unfiltered=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Amazon</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> and </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/economic-personalism-michael-d-greaney/1138274999?ean=9780944997130"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Barnes and Noble</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> at the cover price of $10 per copy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can also download </span><a href="https://www.cesj.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/C-EconPersonalism_Web-NOblanks.pdf"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">the free copy in .pdf available from the CESJ
website</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’d like to order in bulk (<i>i.e.</i>,
ten or more copies) at the wholesale price, send an email to </span><a href="mailto:publications@cesj.org"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">publications@cesj.org</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> for details.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>CESJ members get a $2 rebate per copy on submission of proof of
purchase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wholesale case lots of 52
copies are available at $350, plus shipping (whole case lots ONLY).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prices are in U.S. dollars.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Sensus Fidelium Videos, Update</b>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CESJ’s series of videos for <i>Sensus
Fidelium</i> are doing very well, with over 155,000 total views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latest <i>Sensus Fidelium</i> video is “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPACvt9tSdU&list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2&index=10&t=3s">The
Five Levers of Change</a>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The video is
part of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2">the
series on the book, <i>Economic Personalism</i></a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latest completed series on “the Great
Reset” can be found on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLSUmtLxsrFmTDAuB3aVohsj">the
“Playlist” for the series</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
previous series of sixteen videos on socialism is available by clicking on the
link: “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLQjsSptAWXV11wANtdge4kK">Socialism,
Modernism, and the New Age</a>,” along with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRYLLB9qD2lLB-56PO8vrUB">some
book reviews and other selected topics</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For “interfaith” presentations to a Catholic audience they’ve proved to
be popular, edging up to <b><u>150,000</u></b> views to date.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They aren’t really “Just Third Way videos,”
but they do incorporate a Just Third Way perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can access the playlist for the entire
series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;">Those are the happenings for this
week, at least those that we know about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>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.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Due to imprudent and
intemperate language on the part of some commentators, we removed temptation
and disabled comments.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;">#30#</p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-74240740053606348672024-02-07T06:00:00.021-05:002024-02-07T09:24:24.330-05:00Labor, Economic, and Civil Rights<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;">What with the
state of the economy and the so-called “woke” culture to which so many people
today look for salvation when the solution is already within reach with a
little effort, few realize that it was only a few decades ago that matters took
a dramatically wrong turn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Keynesian
New Deal, which many believed was supposed to be temporary, became permanent
public policy following World War II, even though its disutility was painfully
obvious by 1936 and the surreal “Depression within the Depression” that
directly resulted from Keynes’s prescriptions.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGSDuRfDpzpQWFxQ5Un22xn2pUkYd24SRuZNfyEcTi_Pi9k_tjlXTuIqxszwdmAkzCdZjAq1wvakfV8PELP1ToHeMdsG2rlI2fKMejXChPEjmwvoDF6YL9FYCVt0q8rUBUTXEVZFbfbljkzTYhrO9Vl0fx_XrJyyZDdr8gtK7xg4pgQ9ZQZ2nz1mhrwrpd/s956/Wilson.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="722" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGSDuRfDpzpQWFxQ5Un22xn2pUkYd24SRuZNfyEcTi_Pi9k_tjlXTuIqxszwdmAkzCdZjAq1wvakfV8PELP1ToHeMdsG2rlI2fKMejXChPEjmwvoDF6YL9FYCVt0q8rUBUTXEVZFbfbljkzTYhrO9Vl0fx_XrJyyZDdr8gtK7xg4pgQ9ZQZ2nz1mhrwrpd/w151-h200/Wilson.png" width="151" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Woodrow Wilson<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;">Nevertheless,
there were a few bright spots and signs of hope in the late 1950s and early
1960s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Swept under the rug since the
administration of Woodrow Wilson, the demand to “do something” about civil
rights for everyone was again coming to the fore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the same time — and dating from the same
1912 presidential campaign that had made civil rights a key issue — economic
and financial reform were again an important issue . . . especially after
cracks began appearing in the New Deal policies supporting full employment and
jobs over small ownership, the military-industrial complex, and monetary policy
relying on a reserve currency backed by government debt instead of private
sector hard assets.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;">Many people even
today don’t realize that what saved Keynesian economics from the dustbin of
history was the easy availability of consumer credit, beginning with the
Diner’s Club credit card.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where at the
turn of the last century consumer debt and usury were considered a national
disaster and sparked the credit union movement, nowadays easy consumer credit
and the buy-now-pay-never mentality is a vital support of both personal and
public finance . . . with the resultant loss of personal sovereignty and the
endangerment of national sovereignty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
Henry C. Adams noted in 1898,</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwB3fRxl9751Wgqrr0_o7sbUwczl_5dYItc7xu_cAgdn8Zf3pVDTieGwxYkrJL2GyMy2SRsUsD8XYo_RAhSRGFqDPdcjKEsrBQG43JRJ3PLoLDWPnlgWGEFSo4Gg6Fl5kKh9_mlEzygRus88VSN3hHlnpz_r8KV2IE6FBiKY81Kwvh2Eeke6jCeBQmVD97/s508/Screenshot%202024-02-07%20at%209.12.57%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="442" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwB3fRxl9751Wgqrr0_o7sbUwczl_5dYItc7xu_cAgdn8Zf3pVDTieGwxYkrJL2GyMy2SRsUsD8XYo_RAhSRGFqDPdcjKEsrBQG43JRJ3PLoLDWPnlgWGEFSo4Gg6Fl5kKh9_mlEzygRus88VSN3hHlnpz_r8KV2IE6FBiKY81Kwvh2Eeke6jCeBQmVD97/w174-h200/Screenshot%202024-02-07%20at%209.12.57%20AM.png" width="174" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Henry C. Adams<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: 9.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 9.0pt;">The tendency of foreign borrowing
is in the same direction as that of domestic borrowing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the latter obstructs the efficiency of
constitutional methods, so the former tends to destroy the full autonomy of
weak states.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The granting of foreign
credit is a first step toward the establishment of an aggressive foreign
policy, and, under certain conditions, leads inevitably to conquest and
occupation. . . . The facts disclosed permit one to understand how deficit
financiering, carried so far as to result in an interchange of capital and
credit between peoples of varying grades of political advancement, must
endanger the autonomy of weaker states unable to meet their debt-payments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Provided only that the interests involved are
of sufficient importance to make diplomatic interference worth the while, the
claims allowed by international law will certainly be urged against the
delinquent states, and the citizens of such states may regard themselves
fortunate if they succeed in maintaining their political integrity. (</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Henry
C. Adams, <i>Public Debts, An Essay in the Science of Finance</i>. New York: D.
Appleton and Company, 1898, 25, 28-29.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 9.0pt;">)</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiMDAzORhVvTEw5DKR96b19SES9_tHfNz-WSLiVxTbyx2tTaXq2DsIBBETnekTfTVbVZxC6cua7lWxcGodQXdx_xwMQiSkTBpMWBtY3DG1Rp3he_t4fIb7tUHnxUA9MdxxB1q5cRdh4G0U7ItmiIXcJHX1dob0hUkzIBjZqd1L_bUEbD96OwLYZpWavtzd/s481/Adler%20copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="363" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiMDAzORhVvTEw5DKR96b19SES9_tHfNz-WSLiVxTbyx2tTaXq2DsIBBETnekTfTVbVZxC6cua7lWxcGodQXdx_xwMQiSkTBpMWBtY3DG1Rp3he_t4fIb7tUHnxUA9MdxxB1q5cRdh4G0U7ItmiIXcJHX1dob0hUkzIBjZqd1L_bUEbD96OwLYZpWavtzd/w151-h200/Adler%20copy.jpg" width="151" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mortimer J. Adler<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;">By the late 1950s
and early 1960s, not only was the civil rights movement taking on new life, but
some people were also taking a new look at how economic life was
structured.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In January of 1958, Louis O.
Kelso and Mortimer J. Adler published <i>The Capitalist Manifesto</i>,
advocating widespread capital ownership and sound money creation as an
alternative to the Keynesian wage system and government control of money and
credit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They followed up with <i>The New
Capitalists</i> in 1961, a book with the provocative subtitle, “A Proposal to
Free Economic Growth from the Slavery of Savings.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;">No, contrary to
some hysterical ranting about how Kelso and Adler wanted to enslave workers by
denying them wages, the idea was to gain an adequate and secure income for
every citizen through both wages and capital ownership.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is consistent with, <i>e.g.</i>,
Catholic social teaching, which maintains that a just wage must be paid . . .
but (as one might expect) leaves the determination of what constitutes a just
wage to “reasonableness” (<span style="font-family: Symbol;">epikeia</span>).</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhykbXUTvW81Cgfn7lE0E3-dZS39BkGEAFIsxy0l8raZssszzELmHHbciI8kmw0tacnxRyrWUDSFeHBoqqLoyRn49co-YnXmP3uz3sdVxZni0GYqFzKy0T2Dh0IvmQsXY95m4zYwO1unpnwM455reUaCEVNEnnU4XlGq8f-mLW-55hNtXM8gCDDWo_Pf04K/s484/Kelso%20copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="484" data-original-width="477" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhykbXUTvW81Cgfn7lE0E3-dZS39BkGEAFIsxy0l8raZssszzELmHHbciI8kmw0tacnxRyrWUDSFeHBoqqLoyRn49co-YnXmP3uz3sdVxZni0GYqFzKy0T2Dh0IvmQsXY95m4zYwO1unpnwM455reUaCEVNEnnU4XlGq8f-mLW-55hNtXM8gCDDWo_Pf04K/w197-h200/Kelso%20copy.jpg" width="197" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Louis O. Kelso<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;">Pope Leo XIII,
for example, spoke of a sufficient or living wage as an interim measure on the
way to a more justly structured social order and economy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>True, as Pope Pius XI later noted, a
sufficient wage is always due, either out of justice, or when the market wage
rate is below what is necessary, justice supplemented with charity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The end goal, however, is not a system in
which some work for others for wages, but one in which people work together as
co-owners, taking the bulk of compensation out of profits.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;">Interestingly,
after Kelso developed the Employee Stock Ownership Plan, a means by which
workers could become co-owners, labor leader Walter Reuther, previously accused
of being a communist or socialist, endorsed Kelso's ideas, saying that the way
for the U.S. to remain competitive was for workers to become owners and take compensation
increases out of profits as a right, rather than the result of collective and
adversarial bargaining. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would not
increase costs and thus not increase prices to the consumer. That is why, as
Fulton Sheen noted, private property in capital is the cornerstone of Catholic
social teaching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Reuther explained in
his testimony before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress on the
President’s Economic Report, February 20, 1967,</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigIbeAWIwHuiv_ZzHDGMbyB_EZzYgl2brYbfJnnjxLmbya1jVwUFmxNsK_xzDz9IfKMqpUZ1BzwjhL-3TwxgqmuvD3Xs8Y7HMB1o7burLQfkmb3RVgM-2A8tzRT7oRURTQ-WVe9hWu6IKPwh51EVhl1Ek3YUBG_kfA3NRymc5UMfSU6DlOiDYzhs-jQwAu/s476/Reuther.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="476" data-original-width="359" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigIbeAWIwHuiv_ZzHDGMbyB_EZzYgl2brYbfJnnjxLmbya1jVwUFmxNsK_xzDz9IfKMqpUZ1BzwjhL-3TwxgqmuvD3Xs8Y7HMB1o7burLQfkmb3RVgM-2A8tzRT7oRURTQ-WVe9hWu6IKPwh51EVhl1Ek3YUBG_kfA3NRymc5UMfSU6DlOiDYzhs-jQwAu/s320/Reuther.png" width="241" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walter Reuther<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: 9.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 9.0pt;">Profit sharing in the form of
stock distributions to workers would help to democratize the ownership of
America’s vast corporate wealth which is today appallingly undemocratic and
unhealthy. The Federal Reserve Board recently published data from which
it is possible to estimate the degree of concentration in the ownership of
publicly traded stock held by individuals and families as of December 1962.
Preliminary analysis of these data indicates that, despite all the talk of a
“people’s capitalism” in the United States, little more than one percent of all
consumer units owned approximately 70 percent of all such stock. Fewer
than 8 percent of all consumer units owned approximately 97 percent — which
means, conversely, that the total direct ownership interest of more than 92
percent of America’s consumer units in the corporation-operated productive
wealth of this country was approximately 3 percent. Profit sharing in a
form that would help to correct this shocking maldistribution would be highly
desirable for that reason alone.… If workers had definite assurance of
equitable shares in the profits of the corporations that employ them, they
would see less need to seek an equitable balance between their gains and
soaring profits through augmented increases in basic wage rates. This would be
a desirable result from the standpoint of stabilization policy because profit
sharing does not increase costs. Since profits are a residual, after all costs
have been met, and since their size is not determinable until after customers
have paid the prices charged for the firm’s products, profit sharing as such
cannot be said to have any inflationary impact upon costs and prices.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;">#30#</p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-34243807007813967572024-02-05T06:00:00.001-05:002024-02-05T10:03:34.693-05:00JTW Podcast: Walter Reuther on Profit Sharing, Part 1 of 2<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;">January 1958 saw
the publication of <i><a href="https://www.kelsoinstitute.org/pdf/cm-entire.pdf">The
Capitalist Manifesto</a></i> by Louis O. Kelso and Mortimer J. Adler . . . and
this Mike Wallace interview of labor leader Walter Reuther about profit sharing:<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18.0pt;">CLICK ON THE LINKS, NOT THE PHOTO</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLeq-XmleHdK_FkAIVbePxMLj0kgfXDCXznvUxshyk2qYgsW7QtDU7aZjEPrvYA7QDNagNp3ORdfxSEnsJQPO0cyNakbCS7QFZxaNwU2ppjla4ANl5I8wsLTtpkOqyoMPMmwbtwF0FGXXigHgEv9Gph1zY16SEMN3LmSR0GgGKB5HUbWb37cUV97NQ0hbg/s476/Reuther.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="476" data-original-width="359" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLeq-XmleHdK_FkAIVbePxMLj0kgfXDCXznvUxshyk2qYgsW7QtDU7aZjEPrvYA7QDNagNp3ORdfxSEnsJQPO0cyNakbCS7QFZxaNwU2ppjla4ANl5I8wsLTtpkOqyoMPMmwbtwF0FGXXigHgEv9Gph1zY16SEMN3LmSR0GgGKB5HUbWb37cUV97NQ0hbg/w301-h400/Reuther.png" width="301" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walter Reuther<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />You must click on the link below to get to the video,
not on the photo.</p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVtXB0P5P9Q">Walter Reuther on Profit
Sharing, 1 of 2</a></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b>(The links right above are what you're supposed to
click on.)</b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b>And if you want the playlists for previous videos:</b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRmICNv3FlpF_zyV1mzG6bd"><b><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;">The Greater Reset</span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"> Interviews</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Economic Personalism (The Book)</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLSUmtLxsrFmTDAuB3aVohsj"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Economic Personalism v. The
Great Reset</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRYLLB9qD2lLB-56PO8vrUB"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Book Reviews and Other Things</span></b></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: .25in;"> </p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLQjsSptAWXV11wANtdge4kK"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Socialism, Modernism and the New
Age</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: .25in;">#30#</p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-2607255621320127912024-02-02T06:00:00.021-05:002024-02-02T12:49:42.872-05:00News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 05<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;">Ready for this week’s short list of
economic insanity and gloom and doom?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Neither are we, but here it is, anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of course, we could adopt <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a> . . . so if people want to see something new in this
report, get Congress to act . . .<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWVe7eKScSN-4ZMvTnEPP6AVvTPR4s768RYkVQER6bAdqgQ_D77LbOaqP9STyFvFLZr9b8J6S8cAaNC1ucJwLcYIAh6EuzShnDGrE5ruRyY44tBMvNpoTKTEszEG09UEKZiOjcTG9hvl1ZT5rxBVOhMkPZ4_J57XFEO9soVfCykAswQaZdjX-aKkwTx4Z_/s1002/Screenshot%202024-02-02%20at%2012.32.20%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="1002" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWVe7eKScSN-4ZMvTnEPP6AVvTPR4s768RYkVQER6bAdqgQ_D77LbOaqP9STyFvFLZr9b8J6S8cAaNC1ucJwLcYIAh6EuzShnDGrE5ruRyY44tBMvNpoTKTEszEG09UEKZiOjcTG9hvl1ZT5rxBVOhMkPZ4_J57XFEO9soVfCykAswQaZdjX-aKkwTx4Z_/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-02%20at%2012.32.20%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br /> </b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Conflicting Views of the
Economy.</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Depending on who you’re
talking to, <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/this-weeks-data-tells-2-conflicting-stories-about-the-economy-110014233.html">the
economy is either on the skids, or is booming like never before</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jobs and earnings are disappearing, or being
created and earnings are going through the roof. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, you have to look at the industries that
are booming, and those on the skids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sections of the economy doing well are those selling necessities that
everyone believes they must have, high-end luxuries that typify conspicuous
consumption, or are ephemeral, speculative sectors such as the stock market and
crypto that rely on the greater fool theory and greed to make a profit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is missing are the goods and services used
by the so-called “middle class” — ordinary people who are allegedly the
backbone of society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One way to restore
this would be to adopt <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFcSeMlIzxe9zXF7p16YMnEkgt9TMeL6soWAHNei0BXzsJZu_XpJ2HS1uk7ErGEbh5fAMUQ7OT92yQ8LA04eScf4aUXBxyok7mzbyxEvHNMlHarsBbjzhZc38V3qSW33P-67h4vtRSqG0gLrCX65wGGkIl9N98RDhFruxk4TtS4J8wd-D544e22Gz2KYA/s602/Screenshot%202024-02-02%20at%2012.36.02%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="602" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFcSeMlIzxe9zXF7p16YMnEkgt9TMeL6soWAHNei0BXzsJZu_XpJ2HS1uk7ErGEbh5fAMUQ7OT92yQ8LA04eScf4aUXBxyok7mzbyxEvHNMlHarsBbjzhZc38V3qSW33P-67h4vtRSqG0gLrCX65wGGkIl9N98RDhFruxk4TtS4J8wd-D544e22Gz2KYA/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-02%20at%2012.36.02%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Conspiracy Theorists Have a
Field Day</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There have been <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/neuralink-implants-brain-chip-first-231049603.html">great
advances in implanting computer chips in human brains</a>, with a number of
perceived benefits and downsides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of
the biggest benefits, of course, will be for the conspiracy industry, which
will maintain that this is another way to impose mind control on a massive
scale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That, of course, may be possible,
but with precautions — and limiting implants to medically necessary conditions
— it might be of great benefit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only
real safeguard to being taken over by power groups, of course, is to diffuse
power throughout society, is to diffuse capital ownership, and the way to do
that is to adopt <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmc9kAfoq1LfzLcdkfxUpNJxM3hsgdoptFIvGgJjWYCgrSc1LDjGVVjosoS7h18X2eL8FMu5yTxu4Eo_3vk93NEyEH3nyA8kgsOXGppsAl19cRJRTk9FTfp165U9WhfAKavzgtalyKg4hZK1ieUCs4djbd2GgnC_YE5nkwTlixaG0UEoQvq2LXg00kVkJk/s522/Screenshot%202024-02-02%20at%2012.40.23%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="482" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmc9kAfoq1LfzLcdkfxUpNJxM3hsgdoptFIvGgJjWYCgrSc1LDjGVVjosoS7h18X2eL8FMu5yTxu4Eo_3vk93NEyEH3nyA8kgsOXGppsAl19cRJRTk9FTfp165U9WhfAKavzgtalyKg4hZK1ieUCs4djbd2GgnC_YE5nkwTlixaG0UEoQvq2LXg00kVkJk/w184-h200/Screenshot%202024-02-02%20at%2012.40.23%20PM.png" width="184" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• The Sinking DINK</b>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Double Income, No Kids . . . and still <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/dinks-struggling-ends-meet-6-030405233.html">can’t
make it with a six-figure income . . . at least at the level of their “chosen
lifestyle.”</a> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a little difficult
to listen to people who have more money than most people and fewer obligatory
demands complain how bad they’ve got it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s tempting to give out a sarcastic “Boohoo” and tell the wusses to
suck it up and live within their means, they might have real problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or they might be perfect to join the effort
to push for the adoption of <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a> so people can generate their own income and afford what
they want, and find jobs in an enhanced jobs market if they want more.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYNngmg3giyh3LG0HU6hWyyoXy3njXKim6QuEadtmuLr1tsMTIo92kz1U4h-nrS85NwIVBEM9608dwS6drHd3VIqRK8SiYFoWCTmj2xH4XnU90ni__IXNspR0iKDnfitS3-BDXdrDNtai4wTbe9mQQKSmCHok_UJZJjsIssbmsGe73NpDjzVELS_ddmJA_/s916/Screenshot%202024-02-02%20at%2012.41.33%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="638" data-original-width="916" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYNngmg3giyh3LG0HU6hWyyoXy3njXKim6QuEadtmuLr1tsMTIo92kz1U4h-nrS85NwIVBEM9608dwS6drHd3VIqRK8SiYFoWCTmj2xH4XnU90ni__IXNspR0iKDnfitS3-BDXdrDNtai4wTbe9mQQKSmCHok_UJZJjsIssbmsGe73NpDjzVELS_ddmJA_/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-02%20at%2012.41.33%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Why a Rate Hike?</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The economy is booming!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/america-economy-hot-why-fed-120031309.html?.tsrc=fp_deeplink">why
is the Federal Reserve considering raising the interest rate</a>? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because the housing market and other key
sectors of the economy are sluggish, even though the speculators and gamblers
are making huge profits!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, make
it even more difficult for people to afford housing or anything else,
encouraging them to speculate on the stock market and buy lottery tickets, and
vote into office any politicians who offer them a way out . . . except for <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a> that has the potential to put an end to this
economic and financial insanity.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXfxFMKply2yD9383oc9g1XmROSDDfMm-pGquhmqr94_of5lU3OZq4fLAdm6KPbqfV4yGjQ7FmRUaBIlhZ9F6iijMMHH4onOZJg1Z0lPMSGbkdzjxUG3OVpVbJEhhcZbmlyqXfB5_dhoiWMbpwjcIUacDUHfue4VuBFua1RIB6WyaRCcf7GXhJeSSdgYEQ/s638/Screenshot%202024-02-02%20at%2012.43.06%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="638" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXfxFMKply2yD9383oc9g1XmROSDDfMm-pGquhmqr94_of5lU3OZq4fLAdm6KPbqfV4yGjQ7FmRUaBIlhZ9F6iijMMHH4onOZJg1Z0lPMSGbkdzjxUG3OVpVbJEhhcZbmlyqXfB5_dhoiWMbpwjcIUacDUHfue4VuBFua1RIB6WyaRCcf7GXhJeSSdgYEQ/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-02%20at%2012.43.06%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Harvard Woes</b>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A “mega donor” who has <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/500-million-harvard-megadonor-halts-204013749.html?.tsrc=fp_deeplink">given
in the neighborhood of half a billion dollars (U.S.) to Harvard University has
said enough</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No more gravy
train.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite the incredible amounts of
money being poured into education, America’s elite schools are turning out “whiny
snowflakes.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Robert Maynard Hutchins
warned about (something like) this nearly a century ago when he and Mortimer
Adler opined about the future of American education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What to do about it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hutchins thought that making schools
independent of donors would do the trick . . . although he suggested making
them dependent on government, which makes the problem worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It looks as if the real solution would be <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfT4NcZ2MqU7yYHpgKxfjnL-CqcCPug-XQqvceO9jC6pjPZyh0arygk5fYBINkzMssosWDgosrZQkKa3hU1qwRQ0fUdVQ_7qTUMj1iNL-kTtOUE3iTelP_mXPLfNFLVp95-KmPvGzfqP2ECqPCyupWhhcO85WB3mjIEpXz3qjheRBJiIfx9Cz74v8PUyEj/s834/Screenshot%202024-02-02%20at%2012.44.15%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="676" data-original-width="834" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfT4NcZ2MqU7yYHpgKxfjnL-CqcCPug-XQqvceO9jC6pjPZyh0arygk5fYBINkzMssosWDgosrZQkKa3hU1qwRQ0fUdVQ_7qTUMj1iNL-kTtOUE3iTelP_mXPLfNFLVp95-KmPvGzfqP2ECqPCyupWhhcO85WB3mjIEpXz3qjheRBJiIfx9Cz74v8PUyEj/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-02%20at%2012.44.15%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Peter Pans and Boomerangs</b>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Increasing numbers of <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/stay-mommy-daddy-22-old-110000071.html">young
“adults” are choosing to live in their parents’ homes and be taken care of as
long as possible</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot of this is
blamed on the economy — you know, the one that is booming yet failing to
provide an adequate living for increasing numbers of people — and that is true,
but it also can be blamed on a system that encourages lack of responsibility
and development of poor character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some
of this, the economic part at least, can be addressed by <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>, but people are going to have to solve the rest of
it themselves.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLpQ5FiguEAAfKJEQDmzHR_yUzCJxFtemvZCI7Op_5yPXnoKrnkOlU0ZtYvwKEU-B4Y4Jjv9tlBgQUGJJKnia32VisXuQhZMMwefV87ZHi0uZCH2vMMXgB8zz0bS7T9Q1oURwzMsYI0EQsgOniliS_cka5O8ZgmkGBx21T7GB4ua9rvn84r9VOP9s1qRbl/s606/Screenshot%202024-02-02%20at%2012.45.24%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="606" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLpQ5FiguEAAfKJEQDmzHR_yUzCJxFtemvZCI7Op_5yPXnoKrnkOlU0ZtYvwKEU-B4Y4Jjv9tlBgQUGJJKnia32VisXuQhZMMwefV87ZHi0uZCH2vMMXgB8zz0bS7T9Q1oURwzMsYI0EQsgOniliS_cka5O8ZgmkGBx21T7GB4ua9rvn84r9VOP9s1qRbl/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-02%20at%2012.45.24%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• UPS Lays Off 12,000 Workers.</b>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Massive layoffs are not unusual . . . but
<a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/difficult-disappointing-ups-lay-off-144500181.html">a
few months after winning a terrific compensation package, etc.</a>?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well . . . yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What better time to do it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The company’s labor costs just shot way up, giving
them a huge incentive to restructure their system and eliminate human input,
which is precisely what they did, surprise, surprise. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, as Louis Kelso said back in 1964, “<a href="https://www.cesj.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Lifemag-64-0814-3.pdf">If
the machine wants our jobs, let’s buy it</a>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Whether you or a machine you own does the work, what does it matter, so
long as you get the income?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is one
of the ideas behind <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a><span class="MsoHyperlink">.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5zltncpcr7kSGETP1VdZJ6odir79jZYliqdh5oF7vGWC5hUWvQJYVS_TJqxIom-EoRiBU_HWnSQ_SdS-O9NLowRDFr32St_BrRsIX0iSxFs3Kk67ppZCrvX5pA8heLC_-Xrm8lKTLpcZxXAM8p7oZ6_9ndbdcbkr7i4exNdsUNPgI0DWmNtMHzOX_4Cjr/s1036/Screenshot%202024-02-02%20at%2012.46.53%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="910" data-original-width="1036" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5zltncpcr7kSGETP1VdZJ6odir79jZYliqdh5oF7vGWC5hUWvQJYVS_TJqxIom-EoRiBU_HWnSQ_SdS-O9NLowRDFr32St_BrRsIX0iSxFs3Kk67ppZCrvX5pA8heLC_-Xrm8lKTLpcZxXAM8p7oZ6_9ndbdcbkr7i4exNdsUNPgI0DWmNtMHzOX_4Cjr/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-02%20at%2012.46.53%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• The “Great Resignation” is Over</b>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the problem is that, now there are
more people than desired jobs, <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/great-resignation-officially-done-those-194557638.html">the
big bucks employers were willing to offer to lure people back to work are
coming to an end as well</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s the
answer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why not do the obvious thing and
make it possible for people to live without a job through expanded capital
ownership?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s the goal of <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>, which would mean employers would have to offer what
a job is objectively worth to people to lure them back into the workforce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some jobs might be so attractive, according
to some very bad jokes, that people will pay to do them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(“What do you do?” “I help strippers dress.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“What’s that worth?” “A hundred dollars a week.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“That’s not much.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“No, but it’s all I could afford to pay them.”)</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBEyCEvJ1TajJHeM3pDPILmOG8-escYW08wdELs80S57Q8F4U_xzInbIiDhnzDZcNTiL8omCoVI0J0fRHiOOa3s6F8thcMQK5r3zpgXu2YMEudslrOHe7gFXtPPLBNGoqo_1p2DYH4h6t9DAxr4-W2BPoGeubzlTX_-zXI-4Llpa7MATqznKN5cfkYDv3P/s874/Screenshot%202024-02-02%20at%2012.49.16%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="874" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBEyCEvJ1TajJHeM3pDPILmOG8-escYW08wdELs80S57Q8F4U_xzInbIiDhnzDZcNTiL8omCoVI0J0fRHiOOa3s6F8thcMQK5r3zpgXu2YMEudslrOHe7gFXtPPLBNGoqo_1p2DYH4h6t9DAxr4-W2BPoGeubzlTX_-zXI-4Llpa7MATqznKN5cfkYDv3P/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-02%20at%2012.49.16%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• U.S. Manufacturing Output
Greatest Since October 2022!</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of
course, that doesn’t really mean much if we don’t know how October 2022 compares
with output levels over a longer period of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Between “lousy” and “really lousy” there is
often very little real difference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-manufacturing-output-hits-highest-level-since-october-2022-170351960.html">output
may be greater than two years ago</a>, but what was two years ago compared to,
say, 1955, or 1973?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What should be
looked at is sustainable consumer demand, and that will only result from the
adoption of <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a><span class="MsoHyperlink">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Greater Reset “Book Trailers”.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are two versions of the videos, one <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L57ndWkGrvU">for “general audiences”</a>
and the other <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnJ6N8dD5Eo">for
“Catholic audiences”</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take your
pick. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• The Greater Reset</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CESJ’s new book by members of CESJ’s core
group, <i>The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Law</i>
is, of course, available from the publisher, <a href="https://tanbooks.com/contemporary-issues/social-issues/the-greater-reset-reclaiming-human-sovereignty-under-natural-law/">TAN
Books, an imprint of Saint Benedict Press</a>, and has already gotten a top
review on that website.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It can also be
obtained from <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/greater-reset-michael-d-greaney/1140792581?ean=9781505122596">Barnes
and Noble</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Greater-Reset-Reclaiming-Personal-Sovereignty/dp/1505122597/ref=sr_1_1?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=29&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=9&qid=1647607715&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-1&unfiltered=1">Amazon</a>,
or by special order from your local “bricks and mortar” bookstore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>The Greater Reset</i> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It describes reality,
rather than a Keynesian fantasy world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Please note that <i>The Greater Reset</i> is <b><i><u>NOT</u></i></b> a
CESJ publication as such, and enquiries about <a href="https://tanbooks.com/booklets-bulk-pricing/">quantity discounts</a> and <a href="https://tanbooks.com/business-terms-for-resellers-and-distributors/">wholesale
orders for resale</a> must be sent to the publisher, Saint Benedict Press, <b><i><u>NOT</u></i></b>
to CESJ.<b></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">• <i>Economic Personalism</i> Landing Page</span></b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A landing page for CESJ’s latest publication,
</span><a href="https://www.cesj.org/economic-personalism-book/"><i><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">Economic
Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person</span></i></a><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">, has been
created and can be accessed by clicking on this link.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone is encouraged to visit the page and
send the link out to their networks.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">• <i>Economic Personalism</i></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you purchase a copy of <i>Economic
Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person</i>, be sure you post
a review after you’ve read it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
available on both </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Economic-Personalism-Property-Justice-Person/dp/0944997139/ref=sr_1_3?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=35&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=13&dchild=1&qid=1606486838&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-3&unfiltered=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Amazon</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> and </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/economic-personalism-michael-d-greaney/1138274999?ean=9780944997130"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Barnes and Noble</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> at the cover price of $10 per copy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can also download </span><a href="https://www.cesj.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/C-EconPersonalism_Web-NOblanks.pdf"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">the free copy in .pdf available from the CESJ
website</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’d like to order in bulk (<i>i.e.</i>,
ten or more copies) at the wholesale price, send an email to </span><a href="mailto:publications@cesj.org"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">publications@cesj.org</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> for details.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>CESJ members get a $2 rebate per copy on submission of proof of
purchase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wholesale case lots of 52
copies are available at $350, plus shipping (whole case lots ONLY).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prices are in U.S. dollars.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Sensus Fidelium Videos, Update</b>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CESJ’s series of videos for <i>Sensus
Fidelium</i> are doing very well, with over 155,000 total views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latest <i>Sensus Fidelium</i> video is “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPACvt9tSdU&list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2&index=10&t=3s">The
Five Levers of Change</a>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The video is
part of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2">the
series on the book, <i>Economic Personalism</i></a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latest completed series on “the Great
Reset” can be found on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLSUmtLxsrFmTDAuB3aVohsj">the
“Playlist” for the series</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
previous series of sixteen videos on socialism is available by clicking on the
link: “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLQjsSptAWXV11wANtdge4kK">Socialism,
Modernism, and the New Age</a>,” along with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRYLLB9qD2lLB-56PO8vrUB">some
book reviews and other selected topics</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For “interfaith” presentations to a Catholic audience they’ve proved to
be popular, edging up to <b><u>150,000</u></b> views to date.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They aren’t really “Just Third Way videos,”
but they do incorporate a Just Third Way perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can access the playlist for the entire
series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;">Those are the happenings for this
week, at least those that we know about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>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.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Due to imprudent and
intemperate language on the part of some commentators, we removed temptation
and disabled comments.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;">#30#</p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-82975839335565637272024-01-31T06:00:00.011-05:002024-01-31T09:49:59.819-05:00Five Levers of Change: Money and Credit<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Today’s
blog posting is adapted from the book, <i>Economic Personalism</i>, which you
can get </span></b><a href="https://www.cesj.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/C-EconPersonalism_Web-NOblanks.pdf"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">free from the CESJ
website</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">, or from </span></b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Economic-Personalism-Property-Justice-Person/dp/0944997139/ref=sr_1_5?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=46&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=10&qid=1697042184&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-5&unfiltered=1"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Amazon</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> or </span></b><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/economic-personalism-michael-d-greaney/1138274999?ean=9780944997130"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Barnes and Noble</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">.</span></b>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">As we have seen in
the previous postings on this subject, the meaning and purpose of life —
becoming virtuous to become more fully human — requires that people have power</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">. As a rule, to have power, people
must have private property</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">. In order to have private property</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and be secure in its possession, people must
have access to the means of acquiring and possessing private property</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, and that
requires access to the just and responsible use of money</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and credit</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisQd442cPHmyQjlJkl6Z15dITM2_DO4uvMFo0Y28datqDi0X04WBfW0aCrVXgDKoBelbnvHb2eU2UbQzbk1PH8iJ7CjgKh7jIGerNmkCZ0zg7DnJrLSxAWHoCVSrGisHbBUyZ6ESQ_YAJZz7jfXkb_viwSaxId2RDKCuD63Q5-oHrp-qNobonGAtxuT0vv/s238/Screenshot%202024-01-31%20at%209.46.44%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="238" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisQd442cPHmyQjlJkl6Z15dITM2_DO4uvMFo0Y28datqDi0X04WBfW0aCrVXgDKoBelbnvHb2eU2UbQzbk1PH8iJ7CjgKh7jIGerNmkCZ0zg7DnJrLSxAWHoCVSrGisHbBUyZ6ESQ_YAJZz7jfXkb_viwSaxId2RDKCuD63Q5-oHrp-qNobonGAtxuT0vv/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-31%20at%209.46.44%20AM.png" width="238" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">To use money and
credit responsibly means that we must know the fundamentals of a just money</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and credit</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>system. Given that, we understand that all
money</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>— particularly the currency — must be:</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .75in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">Asset-Backed, based directly on something with a
tangible, measurable value sufficient to meet the requirements of consideration
in a valid contract (this precludes a government issuing currency backed with
its own debt),</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .75in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">Elastic, expand and contract directly with the needs of
the economy,</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .75in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">Stable, not subject to fluctuations in value, and</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: .75in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">Uniform, all units of currency have the same value.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinrqA2cZaUFRjYmmuzoeRjJ6c8USDClxpwDljQFRnZd_qJwQ8u5xP_cs4QtxsCR9DOG7r-IC_Fhr6hR_BUIXpZ34xkCW9bPAwiObi2yzYILNcE4YvTQ4dlTirHtQjM-UyJHdU9SBFgEPub43JoMD3U7g4TKl3LHVUQzjJUOrQ9H9ihSMeAqoHFx5MGDk5t/s804/Screenshot%202024-01-31%20at%209.47.43%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="658" data-original-width="804" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinrqA2cZaUFRjYmmuzoeRjJ6c8USDClxpwDljQFRnZd_qJwQ8u5xP_cs4QtxsCR9DOG7r-IC_Fhr6hR_BUIXpZ34xkCW9bPAwiObi2yzYILNcE4YvTQ4dlTirHtQjM-UyJHdU9SBFgEPub43JoMD3U7g4TKl3LHVUQzjJUOrQ9H9ihSMeAqoHFx5MGDk5t/s320/Screenshot%202024-01-31%20at%209.47.43%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Using money</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and credit</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>as a lever of change to move to a just
economic system assumes these fundamentals as a given. Applied properly, the
right form of money</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>can provide the financing for working models
demonstrating democratized money</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>power</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and universal access to capital ownership. To
achieve this goal, we would want new money</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>backed by productive assets, and no-interest
(but not “no-cost”) credit</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to be channeled to productive business
projects in ways that create new owners of the new capital being financed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The power</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of money</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and credit</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>as a lever for change is illustrated by what
happened when adequate money</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and credit</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>became available for industry, agriculture,
and commerce. When commercial banking</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was reinvented during the Renaissance and
central banking was invented with the establishment of the Bank of England in
1694, economic development accelerated enormously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Contrary
to popular belief, the Bank of England was not originally established to act as
the British government’s banker, but to provide “accommodation” (<i>i.e.</i>,
adequate money, credit, and reserves) to member commercial banks.</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In any event, the effect of a new monetary
system, even one flawed in some essentials, can be seen in the following chart:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8tTBFwmsonNBiigMHVqQNDpu2NwJIWnRx0mXtLLMXUJO74bdxZTU_-Zk6R753Iwy0R9fLUXZYuxUbBfqi85c1Cd9y7Ta57kiFRBAmjLLasNwkM-xoUYtz5d-yMBa1H-aRMvDSxhBIjTz5e9_KFwbo8YMiLB0SbWIKN5h8MYNJKlpJ0eF4ZqQiq6kV5IkP/s1398/Screenshot%202024-01-31%20at%207.39.40%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1298" data-original-width="1398" height="594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8tTBFwmsonNBiigMHVqQNDpu2NwJIWnRx0mXtLLMXUJO74bdxZTU_-Zk6R753Iwy0R9fLUXZYuxUbBfqi85c1Cd9y7Ta57kiFRBAmjLLasNwkM-xoUYtz5d-yMBa1H-aRMvDSxhBIjTz5e9_KFwbo8YMiLB0SbWIKN5h8MYNJKlpJ0eF4ZqQiq6kV5IkP/w640-h594/Screenshot%202024-01-31%20at%207.39.40%20AM.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In the United
States, the introduction of the leveraged Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
in the 1950s demonstrated the power of capital credit. When repayable with
future corporate profits, capital credit can turn non-owning workers into
owners without harming the rights of existing owners.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdY_7FBohay2hsYGTyMixY0Dxy8cnddmibEDjNsK5obNZDF0xVtW2huMC76S_lmXCJT0Z_dgTpYKEd5HVM1Ga9GpzcEnOqOFQ_yuEoCvPholUEdqQMXBWIbpmD0pd-RficQDoXMBJlqXp_69Dw-gkGW_E3ImYOeisrbpsp8N8PPUKmDSxPz6EpSO560NME/s1068/Screenshot%202024-01-31%20at%209.49.26%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="1068" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdY_7FBohay2hsYGTyMixY0Dxy8cnddmibEDjNsK5obNZDF0xVtW2huMC76S_lmXCJT0Z_dgTpYKEd5HVM1Ga9GpzcEnOqOFQ_yuEoCvPholUEdqQMXBWIbpmD0pd-RficQDoXMBJlqXp_69Dw-gkGW_E3ImYOeisrbpsp8N8PPUKmDSxPz6EpSO560NME/w400-h153/Screenshot%202024-01-31%20at%209.49.26%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">For example, Mid South Building Supply, Inc., in
Springfield, Virginia, U.S.A., the world's first 100% bank-financed buyout by
all the workers, is a successful example of universal capital ownership
financing. A similar method of purchasing capital on credit repayable with
future pre-tax corporate profits could be extended to every child, woman and
man. Under “</span><a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">the Economic
Democracy Act</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">,” CESJ's proposed economic reform package,
no-interest (but not “no-cost”) loans would be made, with the right to borrow
to purchase qualified investments (<i>e.g.</i>, newly issued, voting, full
dividend payout shares) allocated equally to each citizen through local
commercial banks.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">Instead of traditional collateral or the seller’s loan
guarantee as used at Mid South, loans would be secured with private sector
capital credit insurance and reinsurance. See CESJ, “Universalizing Capital
Ownership: How Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Can Save
the Economy,”
https://www.cesj.org/just-third-way-feature/universalizing-capital-ownership-how-article-17-of-the-universal-declaration-of-human-rights-can-save-the-economy/
(accessed May 8, 2020).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">#30#</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{margin-bottom:0in;}ul
{margin-bottom:0in;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-48179468178355239782024-01-29T06:00:00.003-05:002024-01-29T06:00:00.132-05:00JTW Podcast: The Great Conversation, XXXIX<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;">This appears to
be the final installment of “The Great Conversation” . . . like Jack Benny,
they stopped at 39.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The end or not of
this series, today’s video is about how Herodotus explained the first ancient
people and the origin of the Nile.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18.0pt;">CLICK ON THE LINKS, NOT THE PHOTO</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-SZpEg2KBPFgFwN9hQHzGvJ5mG6D3UMtS2yVwd50yvHJ87PZEHYYUH4nGBb1xrTw7lE8DfWXoVLcYQ3yPAaS_nvdGekO4CfMB5YY8F1TzDmihkqNE4m9LTy8e5up1mqHGHtVJw9IBB_ebrjwOm8cBwLRal2Pserl_OaU4Op64OBHhk830l8WXjq1U3oKj/s1916/Screenshot%202024-01-27%20at%201.38.39%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1078" data-original-width="1916" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-SZpEg2KBPFgFwN9hQHzGvJ5mG6D3UMtS2yVwd50yvHJ87PZEHYYUH4nGBb1xrTw7lE8DfWXoVLcYQ3yPAaS_nvdGekO4CfMB5YY8F1TzDmihkqNE4m9LTy8e5up1mqHGHtVJw9IBB_ebrjwOm8cBwLRal2Pserl_OaU4Op64OBHhk830l8WXjq1U3oKj/w400-h225/Screenshot%202024-01-27%20at%201.38.39%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />You must click on the link below to get to the video,
not on the photo.<p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hgLPqEi-Uo">The First Ancient People</a></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b>(The links right above are what you're supposed to
click on.)</b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b>And if you want the playlists for previous videos:</b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRmICNv3FlpF_zyV1mzG6bd"><b><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;">The Greater Reset</span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"> Interviews</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Economic Personalism (The Book)</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLSUmtLxsrFmTDAuB3aVohsj"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Economic Personalism v. The
Great Reset</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRYLLB9qD2lLB-56PO8vrUB"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Book Reviews and Other Things</span></b></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: .25in;"> </p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLQjsSptAWXV11wANtdge4kK"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Socialism, Modernism and the New
Age</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: .25in;">#30#</p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-89521923154961122182024-01-26T06:00:00.015-05:002024-01-26T11:28:25.233-05:00News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 04<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;">Yet again there is a depressing
sameness about the news items this week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That means that our solution is the same, if not at all depressing: adopt
<a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a> . . . so if people want to see something new in this
report, get Congress to act . . .<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC1SVYkWet9eQW02xoxiuguzKUdd0xjK41ApO3-XlNd6eYGWR5wCdaqJqHyFRrPVu2_u5aSxcixzRy-mDUSzb7tCMHBb4a_X2iuNddchL6UqglKAVY3duUwvnOonZQVr1ed02oxH4SEuzldbTLpb2jwbXbtqI1v6WsDX1o_Ih9BRcB8TK47yTOpZ-skmfX/s530/Screenshot%202024-01-26%20at%2011.21.54%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="530" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC1SVYkWet9eQW02xoxiuguzKUdd0xjK41ApO3-XlNd6eYGWR5wCdaqJqHyFRrPVu2_u5aSxcixzRy-mDUSzb7tCMHBb4a_X2iuNddchL6UqglKAVY3duUwvnOonZQVr1ed02oxH4SEuzldbTLpb2jwbXbtqI1v6WsDX1o_Ih9BRcB8TK47yTOpZ-skmfX/w200-h198/Screenshot%202024-01-26%20at%2011.21.54%20AM.png" width="200" /></a></b></div><b><br /> </b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Unholy Smoke!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An Imprimatur!</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our manuscript relating the story of how the “New
Things” (<i>rei novae</i>) of socialism, “modernism” (probably not what you
think it is), and the New Age began and spread has been granted an “imprimatur”
by the Catholic bishop of Arlington, Virginia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This does NOT mean that the bishop agrees with or endorses the book,
just that he has examined it (or had it examined by his resident expert(s)) and
found it free of error, at least by his lights, in the area of faith and
morals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now we just need to find an
agent or a publisher.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjVcwXDAWJywXHwaS7ImoxZ28N6cp7vPGKv7pOjkgrIYELHK4KBxpfIJPHgYPLB6WhOpC-nSGeIUOPUvXH7ZFt0VijJ2XbHXQapiXw5N-wSf4yFFzPNZGCHGWwEdnMotgQfdd0Ns9TzJReANzRjnFqqOHobagEil8Zay-vlpIXmj4l2fIDwhzcxpU7JCz2/s346/Screenshot%202024-01-26%20at%2011.23.36%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="256" data-original-width="346" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjVcwXDAWJywXHwaS7ImoxZ28N6cp7vPGKv7pOjkgrIYELHK4KBxpfIJPHgYPLB6WhOpC-nSGeIUOPUvXH7ZFt0VijJ2XbHXQapiXw5N-wSf4yFFzPNZGCHGWwEdnMotgQfdd0Ns9TzJReANzRjnFqqOHobagEil8Zay-vlpIXmj4l2fIDwhzcxpU7JCz2/s320/Screenshot%202024-01-26%20at%2011.23.36%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Consumer Debt Killer</b>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, this is not a serial killer driven insane
by being in debt . . . although that may be next week’s lead story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the brief saga of <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/im-127k-credit-card-debt-110000511.html">a
woman who has nearly $130,000 in credit card debt</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The size of the debt rather boggles us, as we
have sometimes pushed the limit on a credit card in a month when we were
putting on a conference or something and were cut off until the — timely! — payment
was received.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only thing we can
figure is that <i>somebody</i> has maybe one or two additional credit cards and,
instead of paying off one when reaching the limit, simply obtains another
card.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As they say, you can cure ignorance
but not stupidity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would seem the
thing to do in this instance is first to start exercising a little restraint in
spending and start living within your means.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The next step is to work on revenue enhancement, and that means adopting
<a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyIQqHBfyeWnE0HR0zME-vkrKVQyKisu-9cKRwK1rgbb2wuHGMFIXZBb_a4wx9LSZue2TRFCbkpFxq1u3oPFKC3Cx52Fsm9IqX9fCb5MC6PLmJXXMrApt7nfEnsrHjR-PUd7wjj9iiD5TYpBfFMTuxz1NMO0hy6hZQK08iyRtg5htDoAAyivLxabAQODPa/s954/Screenshot%202024-01-26%20at%2011.24.55%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="954" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyIQqHBfyeWnE0HR0zME-vkrKVQyKisu-9cKRwK1rgbb2wuHGMFIXZBb_a4wx9LSZue2TRFCbkpFxq1u3oPFKC3Cx52Fsm9IqX9fCb5MC6PLmJXXMrApt7nfEnsrHjR-PUd7wjj9iiD5TYpBfFMTuxz1NMO0hy6hZQK08iyRtg5htDoAAyivLxabAQODPa/s320/Screenshot%202024-01-26%20at%2011.24.55%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• The New Cave Persons</b>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the headline declares <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/california-homeless-found-living-furnished-165119411.html">some
homeless in California are living in “furnished caves,”</a> don’t think
Flintstones here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Evidently, most of the
furnishings consist of trash and drugs, at least according to the article.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One would think in the alleged California
paradise there would be a better solution to homelessness, but that is not the
way the current powers-that-be think. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something like the <a href="https://www.cesj.org/resources/articles-index/hecs-saving-homes-building-resident-equity/">Homeowners
Equity Corporation (HEC)</a> could help alleviate the immediate problem, but a
long term solution would have to be something along the lines of <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a> so people can generate their own income and afford
adequate housing instead of relying on public assistance.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV3qJRiPYJHUuKESIh2Q-QvnulHwedgP0xP_EgeR1zxuBY1B4Kd0s4GjyRU-o__3QfeausPSYKlVCkNyGJBMHZpzaVjZgsBRIZKhUv816ivJSvhUCW5kMQ0WcNS5WBcXilYXLd9de5TXvbhLPXiDJ3LH8XFSNhOipDu85XMPDPbZTaNK1lHG8lWwFNLcm1/s994/Screenshot%202024-01-26%20at%2011.25.51%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="792" data-original-width="994" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV3qJRiPYJHUuKESIh2Q-QvnulHwedgP0xP_EgeR1zxuBY1B4Kd0s4GjyRU-o__3QfeausPSYKlVCkNyGJBMHZpzaVjZgsBRIZKhUv816ivJSvhUCW5kMQ0WcNS5WBcXilYXLd9de5TXvbhLPXiDJ3LH8XFSNhOipDu85XMPDPbZTaNK1lHG8lWwFNLcm1/s320/Screenshot%202024-01-26%20at%2011.25.51%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• The Consumer Debt Economy</b>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/consumers-propping-us-economy-theyre-130046349.html">As
Americans deplete savings and rack up records amount of consumer debt</a>,
experts are touting the usual line that the party is soon over, and the
bailouts will have to begin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That, of
course, assumes the “economic dilemma”: if people consume and spend money on
food, clothing, and shelter, there is a demand for new capital to meet the
demand, but no savings to finance it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
people save their money for investment, there is plenty of money for new
capital, but no demand for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s
the answer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Harold Moulton noted in <i>The
Formation of Capital</i> (1935) following the American Civil War, savings were
being depleted at an astounding rate to repay debt incurred during the war and
to fund massive consumer spending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At
the same time, the United States was experiencing a period of the greatest
industrial and commercial expansion in history . . . at a time when there were
no savings?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where did the money come
from?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From Europe?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A small amount, but not enough to account for
the massive expansion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On investigation,
Moulton discovered the financing came from the extension of commercial bank
credit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the basis of financing
proposed in <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a> that has the potential to free people from debt
slavery and make them able to be full participants in economic — and therefore
political and social — life.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6s5iJdPT6I6x_VhLYssi8RF6pbO1-01gdx96QYqz1Ah7igF0HKKtPQ7lDWcQqqcDktPMQsCjOLspejQ6oqAwUtV0N5lnu_EfXWqZiktGPpiPVAWFGM70ftBg7oYnfHNTzW6N_upqZgdV2BIap7F9OArHmvP-Z0BOpcS5bzvblqFaBGh-tXsSyM-s7-2qE/s780/Screenshot%202024-01-26%20at%2011.27.18%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="732" data-original-width="780" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6s5iJdPT6I6x_VhLYssi8RF6pbO1-01gdx96QYqz1Ah7igF0HKKtPQ7lDWcQqqcDktPMQsCjOLspejQ6oqAwUtV0N5lnu_EfXWqZiktGPpiPVAWFGM70ftBg7oYnfHNTzW6N_upqZgdV2BIap7F9OArHmvP-Z0BOpcS5bzvblqFaBGh-tXsSyM-s7-2qE/s320/Screenshot%202024-01-26%20at%2011.27.18%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Or why not make it solvent?<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Defiant America</b>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to the experts, <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/america-economy-keeps-defying-expectations-110018903.html?.tsrc=fp_deeplink">America
is defying expectations and the economy remains strong</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, that depends on how you define “economy,”
“strong,” and a few other terms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
fact is, much of the growth they speak of is pure illusion, brought on by
massive money creation by government and the private sector and poured into the
speculative secondary market for debt and equity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t mean anything . . . until the
crash comes and the experts declare there isn’t enough money for real
productive investment and consumption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The solution, of course, is to reorient the economy and finance away
from speculation and to real investment in which actual people can participate,
and that means adopting <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Greater Reset “Book Trailers”.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are two versions of the videos, one <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L57ndWkGrvU">for “general audiences”</a>
and the other <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnJ6N8dD5Eo">for
“Catholic audiences”</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take your
pick. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• The Greater Reset</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CESJ’s new book by members of CESJ’s core
group, <i>The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Law</i>
is, of course, available from the publisher, <a href="https://tanbooks.com/contemporary-issues/social-issues/the-greater-reset-reclaiming-human-sovereignty-under-natural-law/">TAN
Books, an imprint of Saint Benedict Press</a>, and has already gotten a top
review on that website.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It can also be
obtained from <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/greater-reset-michael-d-greaney/1140792581?ean=9781505122596">Barnes
and Noble</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Greater-Reset-Reclaiming-Personal-Sovereignty/dp/1505122597/ref=sr_1_1?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=29&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=9&qid=1647607715&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-1&unfiltered=1">Amazon</a>,
or by special order from your local “bricks and mortar” bookstore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>The Greater Reset</i> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It describes reality,
rather than a Keynesian fantasy world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Please note that <i>The Greater Reset</i> is <b><i><u>NOT</u></i></b> a
CESJ publication as such, and enquiries about <a href="https://tanbooks.com/booklets-bulk-pricing/">quantity discounts</a> and <a href="https://tanbooks.com/business-terms-for-resellers-and-distributors/">wholesale
orders for resale</a> must be sent to the publisher, Saint Benedict Press, <b><i><u>NOT</u></i></b>
to CESJ.<b></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">• <i>Economic Personalism</i> Landing Page</span></b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A landing page for CESJ’s latest publication,
</span><a href="https://www.cesj.org/economic-personalism-book/"><i><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">Economic
Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person</span></i></a><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">, has been
created and can be accessed by clicking on this link.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone is encouraged to visit the page and
send the link out to their networks.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">• <i>Economic Personalism</i></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you purchase a copy of <i>Economic
Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person</i>, be sure you post
a review after you’ve read it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
available on both </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Economic-Personalism-Property-Justice-Person/dp/0944997139/ref=sr_1_3?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=35&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=13&dchild=1&qid=1606486838&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-3&unfiltered=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Amazon</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> and </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/economic-personalism-michael-d-greaney/1138274999?ean=9780944997130"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Barnes and Noble</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> at the cover price of $10 per copy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can also download </span><a href="https://www.cesj.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/C-EconPersonalism_Web-NOblanks.pdf"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">the free copy in .pdf available from the CESJ
website</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’d like to order in bulk (<i>i.e.</i>,
ten or more copies) at the wholesale price, send an email to </span><a href="mailto:publications@cesj.org"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">publications@cesj.org</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> for details.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>CESJ members get a $2 rebate per copy on submission of proof of
purchase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wholesale case lots of 52
copies are available at $350, plus shipping (whole case lots ONLY).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prices are in U.S. dollars.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;"><b>• Sensus Fidelium Videos, Update</b>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CESJ’s series of videos for <i>Sensus
Fidelium</i> are doing very well, with over 155,000 total views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latest <i>Sensus Fidelium</i> video is “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPACvt9tSdU&list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2&index=10&t=3s">The
Five Levers of Change</a>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The video is
part of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2">the
series on the book, <i>Economic Personalism</i></a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latest completed series on “the Great
Reset” can be found on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLSUmtLxsrFmTDAuB3aVohsj">the
“Playlist” for the series</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
previous series of sixteen videos on socialism is available by clicking on the
link: “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLQjsSptAWXV11wANtdge4kK">Socialism,
Modernism, and the New Age</a>,” along with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRYLLB9qD2lLB-56PO8vrUB">some
book reviews and other selected topics</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For “interfaith” presentations to a Catholic audience they’ve proved to
be popular, edging up to <b><u>150,000</u></b> views to date.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They aren’t really “Just Third Way videos,”
but they do incorporate a Just Third Way perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can access the playlist for the entire
series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;">Those are the happenings for this
week, at least those that we know about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>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.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Due to imprudent and
intemperate language on the part of some commentators, we removed temptation
and disabled comments.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt;">#30#</p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-63503125770084525902024-01-24T06:00:00.016-05:002024-01-24T11:54:53.449-05:00Five Levers of Change: Politics<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW23x7Q955woAqzcYwScKHcdd0cpwBEeQvE8K6hy64vB_gyBCUF87PftnRGONlQbM0QAqX0u_32fqxGK4m2k0fdAJg0tMTqnaHT-wptYuuUjIbMldzuVBguosED0VgcdTzxKEdj6KBjTbVK_xSDmMUdxjGCTzlZpctf43Jz03GUj80tQf4cE-cJ8jqPgsu/s950/Aristotle%20copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="950" data-original-width="724" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW23x7Q955woAqzcYwScKHcdd0cpwBEeQvE8K6hy64vB_gyBCUF87PftnRGONlQbM0QAqX0u_32fqxGK4m2k0fdAJg0tMTqnaHT-wptYuuUjIbMldzuVBguosED0VgcdTzxKEdj6KBjTbVK_xSDmMUdxjGCTzlZpctf43Jz03GUj80tQf4cE-cJ8jqPgsu/w153-h200/Aristotle%20copy.jpg" width="153" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aristotle</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Today’s
blog posting is adapted from the book, <i>Economic Personalism</i>, which you
can get </span></b><a href="https://www.cesj.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/C-EconPersonalism_Web-NOblanks.pdf"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">free from the CESJ
website</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">, or from </span></b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Economic-Personalism-Property-Justice-Person/dp/0944997139/ref=sr_1_5?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=46&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=10&qid=1697042184&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-5&unfiltered=1"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Amazon</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> or </span></b><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/economic-personalism-michael-d-greaney/1138274999?ean=9780944997130"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Barnes and Noble</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">.</span></b>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Despite what “politics”
means to most people, it is not something to avoid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Aristotelian, philosophical sense,
politics refers to the behavior of human beings as “political animals” having
both individual and social aspects. In this broad sense, politics refers to the
art of securing and maintaining fundamental human rights</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of all persons without harm to other
individuals, groups, or the common good</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>as a whole. Social justice</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is the particular virtue</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>directed to the common good by means of which
this social order</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is structured, reformed, and maintained.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In the narrower
sense, politics refers to the relations between the human person</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and the State, the State being the organized
group or institution having a delegated responsibility for the common good</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">. Politics in this sense consists
of those organized actions that require both servant leaders and a critical
mass of educated and committed people to develop the formal political system. Generally,
this is done by enacting good laws that will maintain good institutions</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, or reform flawed institutions.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU2sC73gDkySowg5MmCQqXFxIE0aLPpNlOEniAKz94J-LrhBsSVsZkMeFC8-hMwkAZrQ2G0BmdlngP8_yFxui8bxr5vgsL3a7h0DKWo8-JRv1ySv9CuMRECKqxqQzxxZMQSCF6zafIA-oChq12WOhL9vTbTizT-oHrGnayP7SrAbxARE4uHagwRyP-7q3U/s466/Kurland.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="355" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU2sC73gDkySowg5MmCQqXFxIE0aLPpNlOEniAKz94J-LrhBsSVsZkMeFC8-hMwkAZrQ2G0BmdlngP8_yFxui8bxr5vgsL3a7h0DKWo8-JRv1ySv9CuMRECKqxqQzxxZMQSCF6zafIA-oChq12WOhL9vTbTizT-oHrGnayP7SrAbxARE4uHagwRyP-7q3U/w153-h200/Kurland.png" width="153" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Norman G. Kurland<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It is when laws
and institutions</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>are unjust or flawed that the political nature
of social justice</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and its role in establishing and maintaining
the Just Third Way</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of Economic Personalism</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>becomes essential. This is especially the case
when leaders fail to act in correcting, or even acknowledging, defects in the
system.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">One of the goals
of education should be the formation of a critical mass of change agents. This
should start with a core of highly committed, disciplined, and articulate
people who have internalized the principles of personalism</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and economic justice</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">. These change agents should be
organized into local groups all directed to the same general objective of the restructuring
of the social order</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">. (<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Norman G. Kurland, “How to Win a Revolution . . . And
Enjoy It,” CESJ occasional paper, 1989 (revised), 13.</span>)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHvarLeopGoMuF_fXOo1-A_AwKVpO5lfKekZbJZkUoHoDiwWY1qLFHZdAGvMX8Ke2PU8F1Ms9WGSaZa_RNWVTu3jgO3TWIhoXzkPs_iF50yR5eYgtFQyRwq7dzpjU_WqVDuGU4UhLXfJ859RvJTorYsmJsB_Ce6AVHEIB790kjcbWUajIWVIlFCmpmpgpb/s478/PopePiusXI03%20copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="362" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHvarLeopGoMuF_fXOo1-A_AwKVpO5lfKekZbJZkUoHoDiwWY1qLFHZdAGvMX8Ke2PU8F1Ms9WGSaZa_RNWVTu3jgO3TWIhoXzkPs_iF50yR5eYgtFQyRwq7dzpjU_WqVDuGU4UhLXfJ859RvJTorYsmJsB_Ce6AVHEIB790kjcbWUajIWVIlFCmpmpgpb/w151-h200/PopePiusXI03%20copy.jpg" width="151" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pope Pius XI<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">This was Pope Pius
XI</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">’s program for reformed Catholic
Action</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">. Although specifically not
political in the limited, modern sense, <span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">this was primarily an effort to forestall interference from Mussolini’s
government. Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, although ostensibly organized to
the point few other societies have achieved, permitted few institutions or
activities not under the direct control of the State. This, as George Sabine
noted, left the individual utterly unprotected from abusive State power. In general,
and explaining why it is always the first natural right to be undermined, this
degree of State power is only possible when private property has been eroded or
abolished. </span>(<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">George H.
Sabine, <i>A History of Political Theory, Third Edition</i>. New York: Holt,
Rinehart and Winston, 1961, 915-921.</span>)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Catholic Action
was intended to be quintessentially political in the much broader, Aristotelian
sense. It also seems evident, given Pius XI</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">’s universal outlook, that he
envisioned Catholic Action as the model for organized social action by
Catholics as well as a model and prototype organization for those of other
faiths and philosophies.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Well-organized
groups should be formed in which the members have internalized the fundamental
principles that define the group (solidarity</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">), in order to develop and organize
to implement an effective personalist</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>program as an alternative to the disorder seen
today in every sphere of life. This can have an effect far greater than the
relatively small size of those groups might suggest, particularly when they
focus on influencing key people in other groups, especially Academia</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and lawmakers. (<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Kurland, “How to Win a Revolution,” <i>op. cit</i>.,
13-14.</span>)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Servant leadership
plays an important role in the Just Third Way</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">. As individuals, persons are
particularly or directly responsible for becoming virtuous. Organized into
groups, persons <i>as members of groups</i> are particularly or directly
responsible for the virtue</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of the institutions</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>within which they subside. All persons,
whether as individuals or members of groups, have a general or indirect
responsibility for the whole of the common good</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-uoySAp2lBnaBN3h3duPqj4g6dplj3nnsRqGYYPACgdnnhC2n93J-zygT95FcBY2tZH2cCxP5aXLA2Qb9dSfWR0uWGvakis8I-ugdVadRIKO0RsInsBpUfUk_eVBU5mcx7g6KB4qfBgtJxtYoRypC2U7VYkFOsSSlK-aJIdINLURJyfRRP2v8mR5trb3O/s1066/Screenshot%202024-01-24%20at%2011.54.10%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="1066" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-uoySAp2lBnaBN3h3duPqj4g6dplj3nnsRqGYYPACgdnnhC2n93J-zygT95FcBY2tZH2cCxP5aXLA2Qb9dSfWR0uWGvakis8I-ugdVadRIKO0RsInsBpUfUk_eVBU5mcx7g6KB4qfBgtJxtYoRypC2U7VYkFOsSSlK-aJIdINLURJyfRRP2v8mR5trb3O/s320/Screenshot%202024-01-24%20at%2011.54.10%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Martin Luther King, Jr.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Charged with
particular or direct care of the common good</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, servant leaders are those
individuals chosen by others to exercise authority to carry out this
responsibility. Whether they lead particular institutions</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>within the State or of the State itself,
servant leaders guide the institution or State and the people in becoming
virtuous within the structured environment of the common good.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">As guided by the
spirit of personalism</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in the teachings of Martin Luther King</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">, Jr., the 1960s civil rights</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>movement in the United States provides a good
example of how people without power</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>can organize for peaceful social change to be
embodied later in law. Although the movement limited its economic goals to jobs
and welfare (rather than equal citizen access to money power and capital
ownership opportunities), its application of peaceful “People Power” to achieve
the political goal of “one person, one vote” demonstrated the strength of
personalist principles and effectiveness of acts of social justice</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">#30#</span></p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-79057324258403590202024-01-22T06:00:00.003-05:002024-01-22T10:33:18.961-05:00JTW Podcast: The Great Conversation, XXXVIIIToday we continue
Herodotus with the FALL of Cyrus the Great . . . after what we assume was
a great Summer . . . right?
<span><a name='more'></a></span><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18.0pt;">CLICK ON THE LINKS, NOT THE PHOTO</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjItKd1wkKPckuZTmL6Ol4T_OjYEYAlJiRCv8SUCPzK_gLOPl17Xorkdwrn-_5nCF5Guun_wAk2tPBb7MUGFn0AdLoGD_agkbrf8VKZKOfHmqulHrHhGf7f7ebdRY_0l_SjDFs2hkuALXCQ0MYIBnSkU9npzizo1tMvn9nm1v3xrLfhHZ5COW67mViCKwo1/s1876/Screenshot%202024-01-22%20at%2010.31.04%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1876" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjItKd1wkKPckuZTmL6Ol4T_OjYEYAlJiRCv8SUCPzK_gLOPl17Xorkdwrn-_5nCF5Guun_wAk2tPBb7MUGFn0AdLoGD_agkbrf8VKZKOfHmqulHrHhGf7f7ebdRY_0l_SjDFs2hkuALXCQ0MYIBnSkU9npzizo1tMvn9nm1v3xrLfhHZ5COW67mViCKwo1/w400-h228/Screenshot%202024-01-22%20at%2010.31.04%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />You must click on the link below to get to the video,
not on the photo.<p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzW7n0Tx4bQ">The Fall of Cyrus the Great</a></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b>(The links right above are what you're supposed to
click on.)</b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b>And if you want the playlists for previous videos:</b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRmICNv3FlpF_zyV1mzG6bd"><b><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;">The Greater Reset</span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"> Interviews</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 20.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Economic Personalism (The Book)</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b> </b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLSUmtLxsrFmTDAuB3aVohsj"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Economic Personalism v. The
Great Reset</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRYLLB9qD2lLB-56PO8vrUB"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Book Reviews and Other Things</span></b></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: .25in;"> </p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLQjsSptAWXV11wANtdge4kK"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;">Socialism, Modernism and the New
Age</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: .25in;">#30#</p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408458047341825581.post-30368181839421359702024-01-19T06:00:00.009-05:002024-01-19T10:14:27.487-05:00News from the Network, Vol. 17, No. 03Once again, we have a depressingly
similar roundup of news items.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of
course, that makes our commentary very simple: adopt <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a> . . . so if people want to see something new in this
report, get Congress to act . . .
<span><a name='more'></a></span><span><!--more--></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZKPpLdKiYnzfC-iviY3vAy8n1UFaBgQIVUFt1JaOLNuJn5qTOdqacVI-EL_VxugSUs-u9P-5xD5Vo5ti-ZtlmFvDrDNXM3ZURYqdCXFBK_hKofFXPAb_8qARPf0T7eH97LFMsAWP1flt3ZU7Gqh4K3jpLc27j0n-SiziNn4tKTJ3FFtu-sjbkV92UyN6c/s720/Screenshot%202024-01-19%20at%2010.08.05%20AM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="720" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZKPpLdKiYnzfC-iviY3vAy8n1UFaBgQIVUFt1JaOLNuJn5qTOdqacVI-EL_VxugSUs-u9P-5xD5Vo5ti-ZtlmFvDrDNXM3ZURYqdCXFBK_hKofFXPAb_8qARPf0T7eH97LFMsAWP1flt3ZU7Gqh4K3jpLc27j0n-SiziNn4tKTJ3FFtu-sjbkV92UyN6c/w200-h143/Screenshot%202024-01-19%20at%2010.08.05%20AM.png" width="200" /></a></b></div><b><br />• Keep Inflation Burning!</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consistent with the bizarre Keynesian theory
that high prices mean economic growth and general prosperity, <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/us-economy-set-another-cash-140000830.html">the
experts are predicting a great inflow of cash that will bring wealth to
everyone</a>!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, they never
seem to realize that the more cash floating around, the less it is worth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Printing money does not create wealth,
although you can’t seem to convince politicians and economists of that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is the real answer to establishing and
maintaining prosperity?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adopt <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgihmzPB4_slUsOQj2G_vC4Kuvb7F6KS9JCGYMb7O8r-N8h2Hhaag7nmDrMjFgA2OMQI965qNX9He4GIGHmJ3S4a-Aab4IyB1Wq1lKsLDCuhtxETSITpSehee_W5xWJnSFyC3xAkm6b5cFwk51Kn_C_BeZk5WDxJ0fnYGZnwf2zSVgnoOFUcFdSfe3FnnXi/s1022/Screenshot%202024-01-19%20at%2010.09.15%20AM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="484" data-original-width="1022" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgihmzPB4_slUsOQj2G_vC4Kuvb7F6KS9JCGYMb7O8r-N8h2Hhaag7nmDrMjFgA2OMQI965qNX9He4GIGHmJ3S4a-Aab4IyB1Wq1lKsLDCuhtxETSITpSehee_W5xWJnSFyC3xAkm6b5cFwk51Kn_C_BeZk5WDxJ0fnYGZnwf2zSVgnoOFUcFdSfe3FnnXi/s320/Screenshot%202024-01-19%20at%2010.09.15%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />• Consumer Debt Defaults</b>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The economy is booming, driven by greater than
ever consumer spending!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Huzzah!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The world is saved!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But wait, there’s more!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The flip side to Americans spending more than
ever before is that <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/americans-missing-credit-card-payments-232949226.html">more
Americans are missing credit card payments</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Oops. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems that the consumer
credit on which Keynesian economics relies to keep things going may soon be
tapped out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does that mean the end is
near?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, not if Congress adopts <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ordinary
people could then purchase assets on credit that pay for themselves out of
their own future earnings and thereafter provide a stream of income that can be
used for consumption . . . eliminating in many cases the need for consumer
credit on such a vast scale.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmJTVwhWMZ1YYrbQxMXONdL7jUQq7FlN-7rVfonP_C4m_tfWW-aMZuX-WvTfQE-31zNfhoVn7Zxqu4aZc56e5LH2Ojd94DKzcaCPfKi8KgrnmCsBwwUsKNEtmvY_Os4ShXzA3Pq5YWHtWlQ00HT_8MP4mMBN0u6YvQXvTa8KEyg3Zw_9AzuSHCbbQM7F44/s1092/Screenshot%202024-01-19%20at%2010.13.03%20AM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="482" data-original-width="1092" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmJTVwhWMZ1YYrbQxMXONdL7jUQq7FlN-7rVfonP_C4m_tfWW-aMZuX-WvTfQE-31zNfhoVn7Zxqu4aZc56e5LH2Ojd94DKzcaCPfKi8KgrnmCsBwwUsKNEtmvY_Os4ShXzA3Pq5YWHtWlQ00HT_8MP4mMBN0u6YvQXvTa8KEyg3Zw_9AzuSHCbbQM7F44/s320/Screenshot%202024-01-19%20at%2010.13.03%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />• The Great Wealth and Debt
Transfer. </b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Heirs of the Boomer
generation are licking their lips anticipating the greatest wealth transfer in
history as their parents and grandparents start to die off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Along with that, however, also comes <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/a-rolling-debt-transfer-is-coming-debt-does-not-miraculously-disappear-204435307.html">the
greatest debt transfer in history</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
lot of people don’t realize that what matters is not the amount of stuff
somebody has, but whether they actually own it free and clear . . . which many
people don’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if the parents and
grandparents do own their wealth unencumbered, their prospect heirs have been
wracking up debt at an incredible rate and can look forward to realizing
little, if any, net gain from any inheritance they might get . . . if they don’t
fritter that away, too, and end up worse than before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The solution?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Stop people from trying to walk around on dead men’s legs and pass <a href="https://www.cesj.org/learn/economic-democracy-act/plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/">the
Economic Democracy Act</a> so people can generate their own income instead of relying
on what other people earned and might not have, anyway.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;"><b>• Greater Reset “Book Trailers”.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are two versions of the videos, one <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L57ndWkGrvU">for “general audiences”</a>
and the other <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnJ6N8dD5Eo">for
“Catholic audiences”</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take your
pick. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;"><b>• The Greater Reset</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CESJ’s new book by members of CESJ’s core
group, <i>The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Law</i>
is, of course, available from the publisher, <a href="https://tanbooks.com/contemporary-issues/social-issues/the-greater-reset-reclaiming-human-sovereignty-under-natural-law/">TAN
Books, an imprint of Saint Benedict Press</a>, and has already gotten a top
review on that website.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It can also be
obtained from <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/greater-reset-michael-d-greaney/1140792581?ean=9781505122596">Barnes
and Noble</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Greater-Reset-Reclaiming-Personal-Sovereignty/dp/1505122597/ref=sr_1_1?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=29&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=9&qid=1647607715&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-1&unfiltered=1">Amazon</a>,
or by special order from your local “bricks and mortar” bookstore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>The Greater Reset</i> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It describes reality,
rather than a Keynesian fantasy world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Please note that <i>The Greater Reset</i> is <b><i><u>NOT</u></i></b> a
CESJ publication as such, and enquiries about <a href="https://tanbooks.com/booklets-bulk-pricing/">quantity discounts</a> and <a href="https://tanbooks.com/business-terms-for-resellers-and-distributors/">wholesale
orders for resale</a> must be sent to the publisher, Saint Benedict Press, <b><i><u>NOT</u></i></b>
to CESJ.<b></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">• <i>Economic Personalism</i> Landing Page</span></b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A landing page for CESJ’s latest publication,
</span><a href="https://www.cesj.org/economic-personalism-book/"><i><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">Economic
Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person</span></i></a><span style="font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">, has been
created and can be accessed by clicking on this link.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone is encouraged to visit the page and
send the link out to their networks.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">• <i>Economic Personalism</i></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you purchase a copy of <i>Economic
Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person</i>, be sure you post
a review after you’ve read it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
available on both </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Economic-Personalism-Property-Justice-Person/dp/0944997139/ref=sr_1_3?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=35&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=13&dchild=1&qid=1606486838&refinements=p_27%3AMichael+D.+Greaney&s=books&sr=1-3&unfiltered=1"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Amazon</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> and </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/economic-personalism-michael-d-greaney/1138274999?ean=9780944997130"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Barnes and Noble</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> at the cover price of $10 per copy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can also download </span><a href="https://www.cesj.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/C-EconPersonalism_Web-NOblanks.pdf"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">the free copy in .pdf available from the CESJ
website</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’d like to order in bulk (<i>i.e.</i>,
ten or more copies) at the wholesale price, send an email to </span><a href="mailto:publications@cesj.org"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">publications@cesj.org</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> for details.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>CESJ members get a $2 rebate per copy on submission of proof of
purchase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wholesale case lots of 52
copies are available at $350, plus shipping (whole case lots ONLY).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prices are in U.S. dollars.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;"><b>• Sensus Fidelium Videos, Update</b>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CESJ’s series of videos for <i>Sensus
Fidelium</i> are doing very well, with over 155,000 total views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latest <i>Sensus Fidelium</i> video is “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPACvt9tSdU&list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2&index=10&t=3s">The
Five Levers of Change</a>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The video is
part of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLTzhv5bk_W70Ene5ihSmVW2">the
series on the book, <i>Economic Personalism</i></a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latest completed series on “the Great
Reset” can be found on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLSUmtLxsrFmTDAuB3aVohsj">the
“Playlist” for the series</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
previous series of sixteen videos on socialism is available by clicking on the
link: “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLQjsSptAWXV11wANtdge4kK">Socialism,
Modernism, and the New Age</a>,” along with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQLC7N3mtmLRYLLB9qD2lLB-56PO8vrUB">some
book reviews and other selected topics</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For “interfaith” presentations to a Catholic audience they’ve proved to
be popular, edging up to <b><u>150,000</u></b> views to date.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They aren’t really “Just Third Way videos,”
but they do incorporate a Just Third Way perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can access the playlist for the entire
series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;">Those are the happenings for this
week, at least those that we know about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>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.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Due to imprudent and
intemperate language on the part of some commentators, we removed temptation
and disabled comments.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt;">#30#</p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Michael D. Greaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04845375895430004242noreply@blogger.com