by Norman G. Kurland
1972
Editor’s Note – June 2012, updated May 2024
“How to Win a Revolution…and Enjoy It” was written by Norman G. Kurland in 1972; much of the original text has been left unchanged in this edition to preserve its historical flavor. As the reader will see, there have been many advances over these initial successes in expanded capital ownership.
Some of the terminology in this document, however, has been updated and revised to strengthen its semantic underpinnings. For example, in recognizing the polarizing impact and negative connotations that the word “capitalism” has held for many people since its inception, the term “universal capitalism” has been replaced by “expanded capital ownership.”
Along these lines, Louis Kelso’s “Second Income Plan” referred to in this document was rebranded by the Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ) as the “Capital Homestead Act,” and later (to appeal to a more global audience), as the “Economic Democracy Act.”
Today, CESJ has assumed the role that the original Institute for the Study of Economic Systems (ISES) formerly had served for disseminating these ideas, which have incorporated a personalist understanding of “Social Justice” with Louis Kelso and Mortimer Adler’s definition and systems construct of “Economic Justice.” What is referred to in this paper as “The Third Movement for Expanded Capital Ownership”, or “The Third Movement,” is now called “The Just Third Way,” to distinguish this socio-economic paradigm from that of “capitalism” and “socialism/communism.”
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this paper was written prior to the author’s exposure to the profound writings of Rev. William Ferree on Social Justice and the Act of Social Justice (see Ferree’s “Introduction to Social Justice”). Ferree, a co-founder of CESJ and scholar in the social encyclicals of Pius XI, points out that no individual acting alone can effectively change the system to correct defective or inadequate institutions which have become barriers to human development.
The Act of Social Justice goes beyond isolated and individualistic efforts to right the wrongs of society. Indeed, it involves a moral imperative for people to work together in an organized way for the common good of every member of society.
It is in that spirit of organizing for the common good that “How to Win a Revolution” was written. We believe that even in today’s 21st Century world – it offers some useful ideas and a spur to action for those committed to building economic and social justice for every person.