Penny Justice

Key Texts for Social Justice

2010-09-18T20:00:23Z

Links to the Vatican translations of the social encyclicals and major modern Church documents on social justice, all on one page. more »

Chesterton: A real vote or a lord's jest?

2008-09-20T12:28:16Z

The democracy has a right to answer questions, but it has no right to ask them. more »

Chesterton: Pacifism and the Right Kind of War

2008-07-29T16:10:23Z

...he defends the only sort of war I thoroughly despise, the bullying of small states for their oil or gold; and he despises the only sort of war that I really defend, a war of civilisations and religions, to determine the moral destiny of mankind. more »

Chesterton: On Fighting from Fear and Patriotic Criticism

2008-07-08T20:46:33Z

The atmospheric ugliness that surrounds our scientific war is an emanation from that evil panic which is at the heart of it. more »

Changelog

2008-06-07T16:58:00Z

As you can see, I've changed the site a bit! more »

Current Backmatter for Penny Justice

2008-06-07T16:57:59Z

Revised 2008 Jun 07, 12:57 Sat more »

Distributism Defined

2008-06-07T03:30:00Z

How did the Distributist League define "Distributism"? more »

Reprint Information

2008-06-07T01:27:00Z

Information on how to share what you read in Penny Justice. more »

Pius XII: Avoiding the Twin Rocks of Shipwreck

2008-06-06T16:00:00Z

Accordingly, twin rocks of shipwreck must be carefully avoided. For, as one is wrecked upon, or comes close to, what is known as "individualism" by denying or minimizing the social and public character of the right of property, so by rejecting or minimizing the private and individual character of this same right, one inevitably runs into "collectivism" or at least closely approaches its tenets. more »

Poor People Have No Business Starting a Business (Right?)

2008-05-21T16:00:00Z

New business owners "experience considerably greater pride and happiness in their work." But they would make more money if they worked in a factory. What are they thinking? more »

Let's Print Our Own Money

2008-04-28T16:00:00Z

Did you know it's legal to print your own money? You can't print money that looks like government money, of course, but as long as it looks different, you're clear. Why would anyone do this? Just ask the hundreds of communites all over the world that print their own local currency.

At first sight, local currencies are just plain fun. Anyone that's ever played Monopoly remembers the thrill of handling those colorful little dollars. Imagine being able to make your own money! Now you find that grownups are actually doing just that. more »

If Cars Ran on Grass (part 2)

2008-03-31T16:00:00Z

The human body at walking speed is really quite different from the human body at thirty or sixty miles an hour, encased in two tons of steel. You can't interact with people driving in cars. Drivers aren't even supposed to interact all that much with their passengers. (I'm one of those annoying shotgun riders who steadfastly ignores driver eye contact. We're in a careening transport pod, and one of us, in theory, is steering.) more »

If Cars Ran on Grass (part 1)

2008-03-07T17:00:00Z

The most obvious problem with cars is that they kill people. Somehow, we've accepted this as a fact of life, but let's look at the actual death toll. more »

Building Catholic Communities: New Lecture Series

2008-03-07T16:12:00Z

Apologies for the long absence. I've been moving, but now I'm settled in and ready to get back to work.

I've just found out about a new group, Building Catholic Communities, that's put together an exciting lecture series in Washington D.C. The series began February 11, but it's running until April 30, so if you're anywhere near D.C., check it out.

Topics range from John Sharpe of IHS Press on Our Birthright of Responsibility: Real Property and its Restoration Today to Milton Grenfell on Beguinage: Cohousing in Medieval Flanders.

Greening the Desert

2008-01-28T17:46:00Z

Click the arrow in the middle of the screen to begin.

This is why I like permaculture.

Here are the people who produced this video. And here's a transcript.

On the Word "Distributism"

2008-01-26T17:00:00Z

People sometimes say that if Distributism has so much in common with Catholic social teaching, why don't any encyclicals mention it? It's true. They don't. But they do mention another word: distributive, as in: distributive justice. more »

Relocalization in Tompkins County, NY

2008-01-13T01:21:00Z

Surely you've heard of peak oil. In the next couple of years (or maybe yesterday), we will peak in our global production of oil. Oil will get more and more expensive as it it becomes more and more apparent that there's less and less left. It doesn't take much imagination to see how gas at 30 bucks a gallon might make life tricky. more »

Local Food Is Easier Than You Think: Farmers' Markets and CSAs

2008-01-12T17:00:00Z

Imagine getting a full bin of fresh fruits and vegetables every week, all summer long.

The freshest possible carrots, of course, are yanked from your own garden. I do think everyone who can move ought to have a garden, but that's not the same as gardening _all_ your own produce. We don't all have the land, skills, or desire for that little project. (Yet.) So how can we get fresh produce if we don't grow our own? more »

Our Peculiar Light

2007-12-26T17:00:00Z

But we have a peculiar light: our tremendous power of choice. When Elizabethan England began to import sugar and rum from the new tropical plantations, did everyone know these new products were made by slaves? Perhaps. But normal people had pretty much one option: don't buy them. They couldn't hop on the Internet and order from a worker-owned sugar co-op. Nor could they research a mountain of medical evidence and find out _on their own_ that the new corporate products happened to be refined to the point of poison anyhow.

We can. You can. On this very screen you're staring at. more »

Watch those last-minute ornaments.

2007-12-24T17:04:00Z

Heading out for last-minute Christmas gifts? Me too. But if you're in the market for Christmas ornaments, and you're eyeing those cheap MADE IN CHINA specials, think again.
more »

Contact Penny Justice

2007-12-12T14:30:00Z

You can email me any time:

editor@pennyjustice.com

Or, if you prefer writing:

Bill Powell
PO Box 594
Lafayette, IN
47901

I love hearing what folks think, so don't be bashful. I'll assume your comments are _private_, unless you let me know you'd like me to share them. Thanks!

Grocery Store Wars: The Organic Rebellion

2007-12-12T14:00:00Z

If you only watch one Star Wars parody this week, make it this one. You'll never see factory farm eggs the same way again.

If Flash is a problem, you can download the movie directly:

Quicktime: Small (3MB) | Large (8MB)

Windows Media Player: Small (5MB) | Large (8MB)

Subscribe (or Unsubscribe) to Penny Justice!

2007-12-12T14:00:00Z

Manage your subscription to Penny Justice. more »

Unsubscribing from Penny Justice

2007-12-12T14:00:00Z

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2007-12-12T14:00:00Z

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About Penny Justice

2007-12-12T14:00:00Z

Penny Justice is a free bimonthly ezine featuring thoughts, news, resources, and concrete ideas on how to live justice right now, one penny and one moment at a time. more »

Changing the Structure

2007-12-12T13:00:00Z

We don't control great fortunes, but we do control our pennies. We don't control our years, but we do control this moment. Billionare or beggar, we live one instant at a time. more »

Welcome to Penny Justice!

2007-12-12T12:00:00Z

Welcome to Penny Justice, a new bimonthly ezine featuring thoughts, news, resources, and concrete ideas on how to live justice in your real life, not some alternate universe where you transmogrify into Mother Teresa. In the feature article of our first issue, you'll hear our simple (but not easy!) strategy on how to turn our ordinary lives into successful struggles for justice.

If you're in a hurry, here's an even quicker introduction to what we're about. And if you like what you see, you're welcome to subscribe. Thanks for taking a look!

Bill Powell, Editor
editor@pennyjustice.com