[GJM] #852, Steve Consilvio On The "just war theory, " In Behalf of Ron Paul.

[wesburt at juno.com]

Good Day Folks,

Steve's prompt response to #851 was sincerely 
appreciated and is appended below to give my 
audience another opinion on "Just War Theory."
I have been fascinated by Catholic Social Teaching 
(CST) since Rev. John A. Ryan reviewed the subject 
in Appendix I of Richard T. Ely's 1938 Autobiography, 
"Ground Under Our Feet."  As I understand it, CST 
has two vital parts.  In that respect it is much like 
Binary Economics, a favorite topic on the GJM list 
where Steve C. posted his message on "Just War 
Theory," and left Dr. Block's other two aspects of 
CST twisting in the wind.

The first part of CST, probably older than the Roman 
Church itself, is the Catholic Principle of Subsidiarity; 
which advocates that the various functions of an 
organization should be delegated to the lowest 
level of organization able to perform the function.  
All I know about Subsidiarity I learned between 1947 
and 1955; from the General Electric Company's 
corporate decentralization program, its advanced 
engineering program, and its 1953 project to 
automate the dispatching function of electric 
power grids.  After another thirty years as an 
employee of ten different defense contractors and 
twenty-three years of studious retirement, I have
discovered that in the USA all five of our Western 
Religions; Judaism, Catholicism, Protestantism, 
Islam, and Atheism practice "Subsidiarity" in the 
same way:  The expense of public education is 
funded from the public revenue while the expense 
of subsistence and higher education is delegated 
to the family budget at the lowest level of social 
organization, with means-tested public welfare 
for those who fall into debt and poverty.  Thomas
Paine said it well in his 1792 "Rights Of Man, Part II," 
"It is from the expense of raising children that their 
poverty arises."  That is, from their investment in 
the nation's human capital.  There is no other tax 
burden that taxpayers assume without objection, 
and Subsidiarity applied to the expense of human 
development is The Wrong Policy (TWP),  a policy 
which was rejected by US corporations in the 1890s.

The second part of Catholic Social Teaching, a 
more recent addition to CST, the "Principle of 
A Family Wage," was a response to the condition 
of the working man in Europe, as documented 
in Pope Leo X III's 1891 encyclical letter, Rerum 
Novarum, and, forty years later, in Pope Pius XI's 
1931, Quadragesimo Anno.  Between the two 
World Wars, Bertrand Russell also concisely 
defined the "Family Wage" in his 1915 book, 
"Principles Of Social Reconstruction," when 
he wrote on page 128:

        "The expense of children aught to be borne 
        wholly by the community.  Their food, 
        clothing, and education aught to be provided, 
        not only to the very poor as a matter of 
        charity, but to all classes as a matter of 
        public interest."


Russell was tarred with the dirty brush of Socialism 
for voicing that opinion.  But Catholic Europe adopted 
that solution after World War II , while the English 
speaking nations continue to sink, slowly but surly, 
into debt and poverty, because they continued to 
delegate the expense of human development to the 
lowest level of human organization: the family.

We are well informed on the place of abortion in 
CST.   We have reviewed CST with regard to the 
struggle between the principle of Subsidiarity 
and the principle of A Family Wage.  Now, folks, 
please read Steve's views on "Just War Theory," 
which I wholly agree with.  Below Steve's note 
I will try again to persuade Ron Paul, the 
Libertarians, our five Western Religions, Doug 
Everingham, and our dedicated Monetary 
Reformers to adopt "The Optimum Policy" (Top); 
and there by remove the singular obstacle to the 
achievement of their several visions of Utopia.
That "singular obstacle," of course, is the one 
systemic moral defect in the otherwise nearly 
perfect Free market economy we call Capitalism.

~~~~~~~~ Forwarded Message ~~~~~~~~~~~
steve at behappyandfree.com>
To: discussion at globaljusticemovement.net
Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 15:46:46 -0500
Subject: [GJM]  #851, An Open Letter to Ron Paul 
And Lew Rockwell, In Behalf of Ron Paul.

        "For Catholics, the following points might 
        be mentioned: Ron's views are fully 
        comparable with Catholic just war theory."
       (Quote from Dr. Block's statement in #851)


The "just war" theory is an intellectual farce.  It is a 
"just war" that Osama argues in his Letter to America.  
It is a "just war" that Jefferson argues in the Declaration 
of Independence.  It is a "just war" that Hitler argued, 
as well as Stalin and Mao.  Fear, and the lust for power, 
are the continuing rational for war, and all violence is 
seen as "just" by the violent.  Even Timothy McVeigh, 
Charles Manson and the Unibomber view their violence 
as "just."  Every stone-thrower believes he is just.


Even Kucinich, the only real peace candidate, whose 
slogan is "Strength through Peace," repeats this babble 
of a "just war."  He tries to wrap himself in the same 
Constitutional hypocrisy that has governed every nation.  
The blind lead the blind.  Lincoln was "just" when he 
slaughtered Americans and Natives alike.  Always the 
might is on the side of right.


Every fascist has a gun in one hand and a piece of 
paper in the other.  The paper gives him the right to 
kill, and he either wrote it or interpreted it to say that 
his killing is "just."


What kind of justice is it that says one man should 
live and another should die?


Fear and pride rule the world.  Fear leads men to kill, 
and pride leads men to repeat their mistakes.  The 
thing that men are most proud of is their killing and 
how they "conquered" their fears.  In fact, in victory 
they fall deeper into the abyss.  Only the most 
ruthless are victorious.


Every war starts as a civil war.  The rebel and the 
tyrant are the same person.  Men battle their 
mirror and their own hypocrisy, not evil.


The world is flowing rivers of blood from "just" 
wars, and the only thing that will stop them is 
mercy and compassion; the courage not to kill.  
If men have no mercy for others, then they will 
harvest the sword.  We reap what we sow.  
We can live and die by the sword, or live and 
die by the word.  Either way, hypocrisy does 
not fit into a label.  To campaign that Ron Paul 
is as good a hypocrite as others is hardly a 
prescient argument.


peace,
Steve Consilvio
www.behappyandfree.com
~~~~~~~~ End Steve Consilvio ~~~~~~~~

Thanks again Steve.  Please send your comments 
also on the role of CST in forming US public policy.  

Now, to continue our discussion in behalf of Ron 
Paul, consider this.  In his 6 Jan 2008 reply to John 
Hermann on list ERANet, my old friend Doug 
Everingham writes, in part:

--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Doug Everingham <dnevrghm at powerup.com.au>
To: ERANet at yahoogroups.com, 
simpolicies-general at yahoogroups.com
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2008 17:22:41 +1000
Subject: Re: [ERANet] Bank interest rate increase

I think John here has put a finger on the biggest 
legal con job ever.  But most of us poor slobs in 
the street can't understand it.  We need some 
more visual image to convince each other and 
the media before governments are going to repent.

Wes Burt never tires of graphing biblical tenets 
and tithes which I've striven to relate to practical 
policy guidelines and failed. How's this for a 
summary of what to do?

Unorthodox monetary systems (including Channel 
Islands experiences and non-autistic economics 
theories) cry out for a popular documentary TV 
coverage.

~~~~~~ Snip Five Revisions to Capitalism ~~~~~~~~


I have not clarified in my mind the difference between 
deposits, reserves, government securities and other 
terms. Maybe I'll try again later.

        –        Doug
~~~~~~~~~~~~ End Doug Everingham ~~~~~~~~~

About a year ago I replied to an article on Subsidiarity 
by Paul Weyrich, as follows:  

"All of our five major religions have agreed that 
the great majority of US families could adequately 
provide for the subsistence of their own children 
in accordance with the principle of Subsidiarity. 
The few exceptions could be covered by means-
tested public welfare.  But our religions failed to 
notice that the resulting shortage of purchasing 
power is very nearly equal to our national DOD 
budget.  A dividend, only for children, would 
balance the economy and restore a "free market," 
which we have not enjoyed in the USA since the 
frontier closed in the 1890s
~~~~ End excerpt from 27 Dec, 2006 note ~~~~.

Of the seventeen figures drawn since 1969 [to 
explain "The Optimum Policy" (TOP) which is SOP 
for corporations in our private sector], only one  
presents a clear visual image of the systemic defect 
in public policy which has brought the USA to its 
present condition.  That one figure is inserted 
below and also attached, in case you want to print it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Insert Figure 8i.gif ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ End Figure 8i.gif ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This Micro Model profiles C. H. Douglas' "A" flow 
of purchasing power to the work force.  Along the 
horizontal scale of the model are located the entire 
population (300 Million) of the US, according to 
the value their activity adds to, or subtracts from, 
the GDP.  Notice that members of the House 
and Senate, together with other government 
employees and contractors, would be located 
under the bell curve on the left end of the 
horizontal axis, because their product is not 
offered for sale in the local market.  Bill Gates 
and other private sector executives would be 
located way out on the right axis, because their 
day jobs deliver value for sale in the market.  The 
rest of "us poor slobs in the street" are included 
under the right hand bell curve, unless by chance 
we become wards of the government on the left side 
of the model.  I am not sure where to locate hedge 
fund managers and other folks on Wall Street, 
because I am not acquainted with any of them.

As Doug said. "We need some more visual image 
to convince each other and the media before 
governments are going to repent."  Certainly the 
only excuse for establishing any government is to 
preserve liberty and justice for all of its citizens. 
So lets look again at the micro model and see how 
many of us can recognize "the one systemic 
moral defect in our otherwise nearly perfect 
Free market economy."

Notice the individual bell curves on the left 
of the model, The one missing would be labeled: 
subsistence and higher education for children.  
The 1942 G.I. Bill supplied tuition and $65/month 
for a few of my generation, so it is not a new idea. 
The annual amount of that human development 
investment is about 4% of GDP, or $520 Billion/year, 
and it appears on the right side of the model 
as a per head subtraction from earned income, 
which acts in the same direction as an increase 
in taxes and an increase in interest rates..

If we follow Adam Smith's first maxim of taxation:
"that the expense of government is like the expense 
of management," and agree that the flow of money 
(M1c-A) revolving twenty six times per year to produce 
the GDP is Adam Smith's "Great Wheel of Commerce," 
then it is obvious that this profile presented by Figure 
8i.gif represents the product lines of many corporations 
as well as it represents the citizens of many local 
governments.  And from this view point, we can visualize, 
discuss, and analyze most of the surface symptoms of 
the one systemic moral defect in our otherwise nearly 
perfect free market economy.

This malpractice of the Catholic Principle of Subsidiarity 
has been a vital part of US public policy, at least since 
the Reconstruction of the Confederate States.  It was 
the critical part of Old World public policy since Rehoboam 
proclaimed the "Divine Right Of Kings" in B.C. 975, and 
not abandoned in Europe until after World War II.  Perhaps 
a World War III, fought on US soil would help us abandon 
this thirty centuries old curse.

Kind regards,

Wes Burt

   TOP and TWP are cognoscible by sixth graders from
         Fig. 7-9.gif on Dr. W. Curtiss Priest's web site:
          <http://www.epie.org/cyber-soc/default.htm>
 TOP = 100% Capitalism --- TWP = 0 to 50% Capitalism








 
 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://globaljusticemovement.net/pipermail/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net/attachments/20080107/be9bc1ea/attachment-0001.html 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 10456 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://globaljusticemovement.net/pipermail/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net/attachments/20080107/be9bc1ea/attachment-0002.gif 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 10456 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://globaljusticemovement.net/pipermail/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net/attachments/20080107/be9bc1ea/attachment-0003.gif