So Much Generosity

An Appreciation of the Fiction of Nicholas Cardinal Wiseman, John Henry Cardinal Newman, and Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson

Michael D. Greaney

ISBN 978-1602100022    268 pp.    $20.00 (U.S.)    £18.00 (U.K.)    $24.00 (AU)

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The late Dr. Ralph McInerny, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame du Lac, once commented that some Catholic novels are so good, they’re bad.  He meant that the heroes are so virtuous that you simply can’t believe them.  Worse, the novels try so hard to be “Catholic” that they fail to be catholic, that is, universal, or even any sort of realistic commentary on the human condition.

Worst of all are probably the novels that try to imitate the authors profiled in this appreciation of the fiction of Nicholas Cardinal Wiseman (1802-1865), John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890), and Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson (1871-1914).  Part of this is due to the fact that many people misunderstand not only why these writers wrote, but what they wrote.  Benson’s wonderfully barbed satire, for example, endeared him to Evelyn Waugh, yet it is often characterized as “prophecy”!

This collection of biographical sketches and essays by Mr. Michael D. Greaney, Director of Research at the interfaith, all-volunteer think tank, the Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ) in Arlington, Virginia, U.S.A., does much to dispel the misimpressions and misunderstandings many people might have of the novels of Wiseman, Newman, and Benson.  More than that, this compendium introduces these works to a new generation of readers, and makes it clear that the authors wrote for everyone, not just for Catholics, or even Christians.

Also Available in Kindle for $2.99

Freedom Under God

Fulton J. Sheen

ISBN: 978-0-944997-11-6    264 pp.  $20.00 (U.S.) £14.00 (U.K.)

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In 1940, on the eve of the United States entry into World War II, the late Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979) published Freedom Under God. This new, annotated “Just Third Way Edition” of a neglected classic includes an in-depth foreword, as well as a bibliography and index not included in the original.

While Freedom Under God addresses the loss of true freedom throughout the world, Sheen’s special concern was freedom of religion. This is under increasing attack today. Individual life as well as marriage and the family are also in grave danger as the State continues to expand its power to fill the vacuum left by the growing powerlessness of ordinary people.

Speaking to people of all faiths and philosophies, albeit from a “Catholic” perspective, then-Monsignor Sheen traced the rise of totalitarian State power in the first half of the 20^th century to the fact that fewer and fewer people in America and throughout the world owned capital — what Sheen called “creative wealth.” As Sheen argued, only widespread private property in capital has the capacity to restore the foundation of true freedom.

The world needs the wisdom of Fulton Sheen now more than ever. The republication of Freedom Under God helps introduce the work of this pivotal thinker to a new generation of readers and students.

The Restoration of Property: A Reexamination of a Natural Right

Michael D. Greaney

ISBN 978-0944997079   136 pp.   $10.00 (U.S.) £8.00 (U.K.)

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In 1936 Hilaire Belloc, with G. K. Chesterton revered as one of the founders of "distributism," wrote of "the restoration of property." Trapped within what Louis Kelso and Mortimer Adler called the slavery of past savings (The New Capitalists, 1961), however, Belloc's insightful analysis suffered from the lack of an effective program of implementation. The best he could do was to recommend burdening the rich with laws and regulations to keep them from using their power to prevent capital acquisition by others. A better, "Just Third Way" solution would be to remove systemic barriers in the form of flawed tax, monetary, financial and legal systems that inhibit or prevent capital acquisition by the non-rich.

At a time when most people are focused on the results of seriously flawed tax, monetary and fiscal policy, and seek government assistance to stave off the effects of generations of bad decisions, this short book by Michael D. Greaney, Director of Research for the Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ), suggests a better alternative: focus on the causes of the growing wealth gap and other problems. We need to take a hard look at our institutions, especially taxation, money and credit, and determine how these hinder access to the means of acquiring and possessing property in capital today, and what needs to be changed so they can help us rather than hinder us tomorrow.

A Plea for Peasant Proprietors: With the Outlines of a Plan for Their Establishment in Ireland

William Thomas Thornton

 

ISBN 978-0944997109  364 pp. $25.00 (U.S.)   £20.00 (U.K.)

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During the Great Famine in Ireland (1846-1852), William T. Thornton (1813-1880), an English economist, proposed that unused land be purchased by the government and sold on credit to families that would put it into production. In this way funds spent on famine relief would be turned from an expenditure into an investment, jobs would be created, and the benefits of widespread capital ownership would accrue to individuals, families and the nation. Although never adopted, later thinkers, offering a principled, growth-oriented approach for the 21st Century, refined Thornton's vision. As the global economy experiences ever-more-frequent downturns (with accelerating replacement of human labor by advanced technology, reinforced by flawed methods of finance that concentrate capital ownership in fewer and fewer hands) Thornton's book shines light on the path out of today's global dilemma. Originally published in 1848, this newly annotated and indexed edition of A Plea for Peasant Proprietors was prepared from Thornton's 1874 revision includes a foreword that examines a new framework for solving the global financial crisis, financing economic growth and enabling every citizen to become an owner of productive capital, as well as appendices explaining topical references and the political and economic environment within which Thornton worked.

Supporting Life: The Case for a Pro-Life Economic Agenda

Michael D. Greaney

ISBN 978-0944997055  122 pp.   $10.00 (U.S.)  £8.00 (U.K.)

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Starting from a pro-life perspective, Supporting Life looks unflinchingly at the moral, constitutional and tactical implications of "choice" and at the economic pressures for abortion. It then offers a principled, commonsense and achievable political strategy and economic solution that would secure for every man, woman and child a new right of citizenship: the equal opportunity to acquire and own capital assets that would provide for that citizen a direct and independent source of income. Supporting Life should be read by all leaders, policymakers and citizens who seek a life-promoting economy that can deliver prosperity, power, freedom and justice for every person and family.