An Introduction to Reason and Logic

We’ve repeated this so many times on this blog that most of our readers should have this memorized by now, but we’ll do it again anyway, if only for old times’ sake.  The “first principle of reason” can be stated in two ways, one positive and one negative.  The positive statement of the first principle of reason is called the law or principle of identity.  It can be stated, “That which is true is as true, and is true in the same way, as everything else that is true.”

JTW Podcast: The Great Conversation, VIII

Our podcast today is Episode Eight of “the Great Conversation” on the Great Books Program, asking “Who are the Gods?”  Obviously, we’re still on the Iliad:

News from the Network, Vol. 16, No. 34

Well, we lost the bet.  We were sure he’d drop off a balcony, fall down some stairs, or shoot his entire family after doing away with himself.  And in other news, all the so-called experts are still jumping up and down about situations that could probably either be ameliorated or solved simply by adopting the Economic Democracy Act:, which is outlined in The Greater Reset which you can get in any quantity for $5 a copy until the end of August, available from TAN Books, an imprint of Saint Benedict Press:

Some Thoughts on Hyperinflation

Over on Medium, we’ve been working on a series of articles on the dangers of reparations and inflation as they related to the rise of Adolf Hitler.  Unfortunately, as is the case with many things about the Just Third Way, people see a word used in an unexpected or unfamiliar way and immediately assume they Know All About It . . . especially when they know little or nothing.  They bring their own baggage to the discussion and nothing on Earth is going to shake them loose from their preconceptions, especially not empirical evidence, or logical consistency.

JTW Podcast: The Great Conversation, VII

Our podcast today is Episode Seven of “the Great Conversation” on the Great Books Program, on a turning point in the Iliad:

News from the Network, Vol. 16, No. 33

The REAL news this week is that you can get The Greater Reset in any quantity for $5 a copy until the end of August, available from TAN Books, an imprint of Saint Benedict Press.  Just sayin’.  The rest of the news is All About Inflation That Isn’t There Except When It Is.  In other words, another spate of reasons for adopting the Economic Democracy Act:

“A Decent Place to Live”

In the United States, people are witnessing cities and states carving out spaces separate from the federal government.  Some cities reaffirm their commitment as sanctuaries and develop policies to direct local officials to defuse irrational and unjust conflicts, but that’s just the beginning.

JTW Podcast: The Great Conversation, VI

Our podcast today is Episode Six of “the Great Conversation” on the Great Books Program, asking the question whether we’re just pawns in the hands of the gods:

News from the Network, Vol. 16, No. 32

The news items this week are anything but new.  Rather than pre-depress you, however, let’s just add to the reasons for adopting the Economic Democracy Act:

“Just, Thriving, and Sustainable Communities”

The objectives of the “Heart of America” project are to eradicate the economic roots of poverty, war, and racism.  This can be done by promoting justice and democratization of ownership for every person through equal access to private property rights in productive capital. In the words of R. Buckminster Fuller, the goal is “[t]o make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time, through spontaneous cooperation, without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone.”

JTW Podcast: The Great Conversation, V

Our podcast today is Episode Five of “the Great Conversation” on the Great Books Program, on the subject of the Great Books not being quite as easy to read as you might have thought:

News from the Network, Vol. 16, No. 31

 

The big economic news this week is the Federal Reserve raising interest rates and many of the experts rushing to say why it’s such a bad idea.  Other experts, no doubt seeing the writing on the wall, are starting to declare that a recession is inevitable or necessary.  None of them are saying that it’s possible to get off the whole boom-and-bust treadmill completely by adopting the Economic Democracy Act:

A City Divided, Part II

In the previousposting on this subject, we noted that despite whatever efforts had been made, St. Louis, Missouri is a city divided along economic, cultural, and racial lines, and it’s not accidental.  “There are two reasons St. Louis looks the way it does today,” noted Michael Allen, director of the Preservation Research Office. “There’s been this perpetual, successive fight of whites and middle-class people from the core of the city, and the same relationships tended to reconstitute themselves across a wide swath of geography.”

JTW Podcast: The Great Conversation, IV

Our podcast today is Episode Four of “the Great Conversation” on the Great Books Program:

News from the Network, Vol. 16, No. 30

 

Again, most of the news items this week are about inflation, deflation, and other monetary myths.  By insisting that money must exist prior to economic activity, the so-called experts bind people into a losing paradigm and ensure that everyone, even ultimately the presumed winners, loses.  Of course, adopting the Economic Democracy Act could straighten people out on that, so maybe it’s time to get busy with it:

A City Divided, Part I

Why did Eugene Gordon choose St. Louis for the Heart of America Project?  Apart from being a resident, it can be argued — as Gene does — that no place needs it more.  In St. Louis, segregation, whether geographic, cultural, or economic, is normal. The typical descendant of American slaves lives in a neighborhood that is 45 percent black, 35 percent white, 15 percent Hispanic and 4 percent Asian.

JTW Podcast: Return to the Great Conversation

Today we continue the series of podcasts on “the Great Books,” this one on the disappearing liberal education.  Of course, we know that simply reading them or, worse, just knowing about them, isn’t going to do a “gosh darned” thing.  You have to understand them and think about them . . . which is the hard part . . . net to putting them into action to become virtuous, which is the whole point of it:

News from the Network, Vol. 16, No. 29

Not surprisingly, most of the news items this week are about inflation, deflation, and other monetary myths.  By insisting that money must exist prior to economic activity, the so-called experts bind people into a losing paradigm and ensure that everyone, even ultimately the presumed winners, loses.  Of course, adopting the Economic Democracy Act could straighten people out on that, so maybe it’s time to get busy with it:

A Breakthrough for Democracy

On Friday, July 1, 2022, the Republican Governor of Missouri, Michael Parson signed a bill that is designed ultimately to reduce poverty, racism, and a host of other problems in an area encompassing some of the most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods in St. Louis.  The initial phase is to form a commission funded by the state of Missouri to study the problem and develop recommendations for implementing what Eugene Gordon of the Descendants of American Slaves for Economic and Social Justice calls “the Heart of America Project.”

JTW Podcast: The Front Line with Joe and Joe

Today we have an episode of The Front Line with Joe and Joe on the subject of  “Economic Personalism,” which is the principles of natural law applied to the economic common good with the human person the central focus of economic and all other activity: