What Happened in Poland

History, as they say, is written by the victors.  The problem with history-as-she-is-taught these days is that what passes for history sadly seems to fit that rather glib aphorism, especially when the subject is politics and religion, which pretty much sums up virtually the whole of history.

The REAL Story of the First Social Encyclical

In the previous posting on this subject, we looked at how a social encyclical should be read.  That, however, was not the point we set out to make, but an introduction to the main point.  We just wanted to be sure that our faithful readers understood that when we talk about a “social encyclical,” they know what we are talking about: a document on a natural law teaching that, while it may be expressed in religious terms, applies to the whole of society, not just Catholics.

Mazurek Dąbrowskiego, VII: How the Poles Can Own Poland

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In the previous postings we’ve covered how ordinary Poles can own machinery and other forms of man-made capital, but what about the country itself?  Is there a way the people of Poland can actually own Poland?

Mazurek Dąbrowskiego, VI: Credit Vouchers, NOT Share Vouchers

The word “voucher” is pretty much a dirty word in Central and Eastern Europe when connected with “privatization.”  It gets almost the same kneejerk reaction as “school voucher” does in certain circles in the United States.  This writer recalls when he was in Moscow (Russia, not Idaho), he was told that just mentioning “voucher” in a barroom was as provocative as wearing an orange ribbon in certain areas of Chicago or Boston on March 17^th.

Mazurek Dąbrowskiego, V: The Ownership Advantage

Question: When poor workers compete with rich owners for financing out of existing savings, who comes out on top?  Answer: Who cares?  Worker ownership can be financed better out of future savings than past savings.  In any event, worker-owned companies (well, those with Justice-Based Management features) tend to be more profitable than other companies.

Mazurek Dąbrowskiego, IV: Expanded Capital Ownership

As we saw in yesterday’s posting, the goal is to get capital ownership into the hands not just of ordinary workers, but everybody.  The question is, then, ownership of what?  Doesn’t everything already have an owner?

Mazurek Dąbrowskiego, III: A Different Look at Finance

In yesterday’s posting, we noted that the key to maintaining a just economy is to focus on the future.  What can exist is always much more than what does exist.  That being the case, why waste your time on what you can’t change anyway?

Mazurek Dąbrowskiego, II: Focus on the Future

Last week we mentioned that “John Smith,” a Polish journalist, thought he might be able to introduce the Just Third Way and Capital Homesteading into Poland.  This is an interesting prospect, because this writer’s first published article (in a now-defunct magazine) was on the original proposal to privatize State-owned companies.  Everything we predicted in the article came to pass — unfortunately.

Mazurek Dąbrowskiego, I: Poland is Not Yet Lost

The national anthem of Poland is Mazurek Dąbrowskiego, which translates as “Poland is Not Yet Lost.”  This is appropriate, for the country currently has the opportunity to implement a program of expanded capital ownership that will put it out far ahead of any competition in Europe.