Welcome to The Economic Justice and Progress Newsletter
Introductory Pilot Article
Greetings, and welcome to the Economic Justice and Progress Newsletter, where I write about economic news, theory, and history for all audiences interested in (or even skeptical of) progressing towards a more just economy.
I want to keep my articles free to read for everyone, so please consider subscribing and supporting independent progressive journalism if you are able to do so. You can also sign up for free to have my articles emailed to your inbox as soon as they are published. Thank you for taking the time to listen to my thoughts on how we can all work together to create a better world for ourselves and future generations.
About Me
I am an accountant, the owner and sole proprietor of a small business, an educator, and a concerned citizen of the United States who wants to begin a dialogue with other concerned citizens. While it may be a monologue for some time, until I can find some folks interested in reading my ramblings, I hope some of the topics I plan to discuss interest you as much as they interest me. I’ve never worked as a professional writer before, but I always had a knack for writing essays, so I wanted to combine that ability with some of the topics I’ve researched over the years in order to help better inform my fellow Americans.
Although I am not an economist, I have a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Accounting from the University of California; I also earned an A.S. in general studies while attending community college which, among other subjects, allowed me to take several writing and philosophy courses. My coursework gave me a solid foundation for understanding economic theory and research, and since graduating, I have spent a great deal of my spare time learning more about economic history and current events. Whether I wanted to know more about the Green New Deal or the recent antitrust investigation into the big tech companies, the underlying concepts were economic policies. I am writing this newsletter to share some of my findings with you and – hopefully – to also learn something new myself.
Economic Justice and Progressive Policies
Although to most Americans the need for progress at this critical inflection point in our nation’s history is self-evident – especially during a year as horrific as 2020 has been – others remain unconvinced that the status quo which delivered this reality is insufficient for a brighter future. Far too many Americans cling to a mythical past which blinds them to both the realities of the present as well as the possibilities of the future. I write this newsletter to inform my fellow Americans, and anyone else interested in creating a better world, about progressive policies that would benefit us all by establishing a more just economy.
Economic justice is a concept involving the pursuit of more equitable distribution of resources. Just as the inequality of the 1920s precipitated the Great Depression, so too is disparity during the 21st century exacerbating the problems currently plaguing our economy. My current research suggests that progressive policies are frequently the best solutions to these problems amongst other alternatives.
Although my personal politics are rather nuanced, and are also subject to (usually slight) modifications when new information becomes available, the vast majority of my research points towards progressive solutions as the best choices amongst available alternatives. My goal is not to dwell on the minutia of my own personal politics, but to instead focus on the facts underlying progressive policies; hopefully you’ll find the arguments connecting the facts to the policies as persuasive as I have.
Why a Newsletter?
While there are several amazing economists out there who regularly put out great content, many people also inadvertently spread misinformation or deliberately sow disinformation in the marketplace of ideas. We also have generations of American citizens traumatized by the Red Scare era who are neither able to accurately distinguish between capitalism and socialism, nor able to make a cogent argument for or against one system or the other without relying on reactionary appeals to emotion. I intend to demystify some of these distinctions in a way that people without an economics background can understand.
If nothing else, I want to help elevate the voices of the experts I follow, even if my voice does not end up resonating with today’s voters. I certainly hope to resonate with at least a few of you who had some of the same questions I had when I began my journey through the rabbit hole that is economics, but if not, I can certainly recommend some economists or other experts whose writing I found to be compelling. Some works are more difficult than others to parse without some familiarity of economic theory, but I want to try and make even the complicated texts more accessible to the general public in future articles.
Support Independent Journalism
I don’t intend to charge for access to my writing because I want to reach and inform as many people as I can. However, I encourage you to subscribe and/or donate if you enjoy my writing and have the means to do so. Ultimately, I hope to strike a delicate balance between keeping most of my articles free to access while also rewarding the generosity of paying subscribers.
I would use any proceeds to further access high quality information, such as purchasing new books or subscribing to reputable news sources. If I reach a critical mass of support, I could even make writing these articles more of a full-time endeavor. At that point, I could possibly cover a broader variety of topics or do more detailed explanations of certain important but complicated subjects. I could also attempt Q&A sessions or other more direct forms of interaction with a community of readers, such as subscriber-only discussion threads, if this generates enough interest.
In maintaining such a balance, I plan to write articles like this free sample as subscriber-only articles. Such articles would likely be tangentially related to economic justice and progress, since I would want to keep core articles free to read for everyone. Subscriber-only articles may cover a variety of topics, such as D-Day Reflections covering political history and assaults on democracy. Still, preserving democracy is essential to economic justice and progress, because without a functioning democracy, the people won’t necessarily have any say in government policy. While I may make some similar articles free for everyone to read, writing this type of subscriber-only article is how I plan to reward the generosity of paying subscribers, and I would be happy to hear your feedback on other subscriber-only benefits.
Refer to the Support My Writing article for more details about paid subscriptions and donations, and I thank you for considering to support independent journalism.
Feedback
I welcome constructive feedback and suggestions for future topics. I will even consider topics unrelated to economics or politics, under the right circumstances, but I want to focus on topics from which the general public would benefit. This could include topics discussed by the America’s various talking heads, whether they are politicians, candidates, or pundits, but I will generally avoid topics outside my area of expertise. I would, however, be happy to give advice on how I would begin researching certain topics, or point you in the direction of experts I’m familiar with in the relevant field.
I will do my best to cite my sources and make them easily accessible. Most of the work I reference in the Economic Justice and Progress Newsletter will be referenced for journalistic or educational purposes, or to offer criticism – I’ll try to remain constructive! – and is therefore protected by Fair Use provisions under Section 107 of the Copyright Act. If I misattribute anything to an incorrect source, forget to provide a hyperlink to something I reference, or otherwise fail to follow best practices in any way, please let me know and I will do my best to correct any mistakes.
I plan to begin this writing endeavor on my own, without an editor or any employees – the same way I started and learned how to operate my other business – so even nonmonetary support such as constructive criticism and feedback from readers is invaluable. While my independence grants me flexibility and the freedom to speak my mind, one of the biggest challenges I face currently is tracking down the best sources on various topics I’ve researched over the years, because I only recently began actively cataloguing bookmarks to articles and websites organized by subject for future use as references in my own articles.
Because of this, when reading most linked pages in my articles that aren’t specifically referring to a certain author or article, the link should be treated as just one example of extra reading for readers less familiar with the topic. You can treat these links as essentially saying, “See, for example, this article or website for more information on the subject, because you shouldn’t have to simply take my word for it.” Although other authors might treat certain topics as being generally known information that does not warrant a specific reference as proof, I want to help my readers research the topics I discuss. I might end up changing some of these links in the future if I find a better article on the subject or write a more detailed article of my own, with its own set of references, but I will prepare transparent changelogs to inform readers of any changes.
I appreciate your patience as I navigate this new environment and look forward to reading constructive feedback. I eagerly await learning alongside my readers.
Disclaimers
Unless otherwise stated, these articles are purely for educational and editorial purposes only. None of these articles should be taken as legal, accounting, tax, or financial advice. Cited works not created by me are being used in accordance with “Fair Use” provisions under U.S. Code Title 17 § 107.
I also periodically use images from Wikimedia Commons which are part of the public domain. Use of such images is not restricted by exclusive intellectual property rights, but I still attribute the source and link to the website on which I originally accessed the image.
Share the Economic Justice and Progress Newsletter
Please share this with anyone you think might be interested in these topics, or who might benefit from seeing a different perspective on these important subjects. Also, if you enjoy my work, if you learned something, if you were able to help inform someone you know by sharing my work, or you just want to support an independent writer who will not compromise his principles in the pursuit of profit, then please consider subscribing!
Thank you for reading my newsletter and taking the effort to learn about making the world a better place. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on how we can make progress towards a more just economy.
-JJ
Updated 9/27/2021 - Removed update date from top of the article
Updated 6/28/2021 - Added banner
Updated 6/11/2021 - Added disclaimer about public domain images
Updated 6/1/2021 - Added, removed and fixed a few links.
Updated 3/13/2021 - Added Disclaimers section.
Updated 2/10/2021 - Integrated changes from and linked to the Support My Writing article outlining how to subscribe and donate.