Articles written by Michael Greaney

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About me - Michael Greaney

Mr. Greaney, a Certified Public Accountant, is CESJ's Secretary, volunteer Director of Research, and a member of the executive committee. He has audited profit and non-profit organizations throughout the world, with the American Red Cross, Georgetown University

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Society & Lifestyle > Social Values & Norms Homeless shelters are not the answer to the homelessness issue: 1 of 62
Homeless shelters to the homeless are like whiskey to an alcoholic. They may help someone get through one more day, but they do nothing to address the root causes of homelessness. In a very real sense, by enabling the homeless - making life "easier" - shelters make the problem worse by removing the most immediate incentive to... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Energy Issues Should Americans be forced to use public transportation?: 1 of 30
Coerced public transportation calls an image of ants scurrying around, directed not by their own personal wills, but by the demands of the collective.Not surprisingly, in his novel, "The Once and Future King," the basis for the musical play and film "Camelot" and the Disney animated production "The Sword in the Stone," Theodo... More..
Arts & Humanities > Philosophical Concepts Is the concept of freedom overrated?: 1 of 27
The concept of freedom can only properly be understood within the overall framework of rights and duties, especially natural rights, such as life, liberty ("freedom"), and access to the means of acquiring and possessing property. Without this essential understanding, the exercise of any right - especially liberty - can and wi... More..
Arts & Humanities > Colonial & Early American History Was America founded as a Christian nation?: 2 of 44
Whether or not the United States was founded as a Christian nation is a question that concerns people probably more than it should. It's not that the question is unimportant, but the asking of it demonstrates a lack of understanding of the basis of western civilization: the Aristotelian understanding of the natural law. In th... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Economic News Is the US economy in a recession?: 1 of 19
A bad joke once defined a recession as you not having a job, while a depression is me not having one. There is, unfortunately, a great deal of truth in this rather flip quip.As the American economy is currently structured - largely capitalist supported with socialist welfare systems amounting to two-thirds of the Federal budg... More..
Arts & Humanities > Meaning of Life Finding the meaning of life: 5 of 88
The meaning of life is self-evident: to become more fully human, that is, conform yourself as completely as possible to human nature, with what it means to be human. Having said that, however, the "meaning of the meaning" is as open to as many interpretations and opinions as there are human beings.The approach of Aristotle, t... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Political & Economic Theory Could a single global currency work?: 1 of 17
The idea of a single global currency is not only feasible in our day and age, it has been effectively implemented a number of times in the past. Any numismatist - "coin collector" - can rattle off examples of currencies that functioned as global media of exchange without batting an eye.The Athenian "owls" (Drachma) either cir... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Government & Policies Commentary: Doing away with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS): 1 of 15
Proposals to eliminate taxation should be viewed with great suspicion. The fact is that most Americans lack significant private property in the means of production. They therefore lack the political power that inevitably accompanies ownership of capital. The income tax is thus the only means the great majority of people have ... More..
Politics, News & Issues > US Elections (Other) Parents should be allowed to cast as many votes as they have children: 1 of 14
"Power," as Massachusetts statesman Daniel Webster pointed out in the Commonwealth's 1820 Constitutional Convention, "naturally and necessarily follows property." Virginia's Benjamin Watkins Leigh echoed the sentiment that same year when he declared that power and property could be separated, but not divorced. Either those wi... More..
Personal Finance > Retirement Should Social Security be reformed to include personal retirement accounts?: 1 of 13
Social Security was instituted in 1935 as a way of caring for Americans who, due to the Stock Market Crash of 1929 or the effects of the following Great Depression, had either seen their savings wiped out or depleted, or lacked the capacity to accumulate any savings in the first place.Social Security was originally intended a... More..