Restoring the Common WEALTH is a novel. However, it is more fact than fiction. It ties together persons and events that are normally regarded as isolated events.The element which unites them is money and profit. It was originally published 20 years ago as "The Disjointed Society." The novel proposes that we cannot really understand WHY events happen until we understand who makes money from the events which happen. It also looks at ongoing history, not simply isolated events. The novel also looks at history through the eyes of a Native American. In the epilogue the Native American looks at some of the contemporary events which give us hope. A more detailed analysis of the novel is available at www.workforpeace.info It was originally published as a novel entitled "The Disjointed Society." Later I wrote a factual book called Surrogate Wars. The book contained all the factual parts of the novel that I could document. One of its major emphases was that wars were often fought for economic reasons rather than the political reasons we were told caused the war. Many persons did not understand the subtlety of the title. By early 2008 both the novel and Surrrogate Wars were out of print. I still had a copy of Surrogate Wars. I was at the Notre Dame University and met George Lopez of the Krok Institute. George told me "You really need to publish this book." He even contacted some publishers and suggested a few additions to the book. I republished the book. I gave it a new title Why We Are Always Broke: things we need to know about the economy. The book appeared at a time when many people were first experiencing the effects of the disintegrating economy. The book was far more successful than Surrogate Wars. In September, 2012 I retired from active ministry as a pastor. I became involved with some local poetry groups. One message I heard frequently was: "It is not enough to point out problems. We also need to offer solutions." That inspired me to write another book: Must We Always Remain Broke? As I was finishing this book I realized that I needed to rewrite my original novel. Since doing the novel about thirty years ago I have had much contact with Native Americans. I became aware of their history and how they lost the land due to greed and other economic factors. This novel is basically a repeat of The Disjointed Society with the addition of a new character Thomas Whitney, a Native American who looks at the events of current society in the light of Native American history. The character is modeled after Whitney Vilcan (cf. dedication) and his Father Thomas Vilcan from whom Whitney took much of his vision of reality. The novel is in many ways autobiographical. It is not really fiction. It details with events and persons I have actually met or at least read about. Bob Stokely and Eloise James are both parts of me. Just after World War Two my father told me that we might be moving to Venezuela. He worked for Youngstown Sheet and Tube. They were opening a new plant in Venezuela. We did not move. I ended up studying for the priesthood, being ordained and spending over forty years in various ministries. I did not want to complicate the book by making Eloise James (the me that is) a Catholic priest so she is an Episcopal priest. Bob Stokely became a quite different person with a totally different focus than Eloise James. Still his daughter, Liz, is very much influenced by Eloise James and assumes many of her ideas. Pope Victor 1 is Pope John Paul 1. There is a common sense that he was murdered because he intended to reform the Vatican Bank. Jean Pierre is John Kennedy. Pierre and Victor 1 served at different times. They never met. Still they shared many of the same hopes and dreams. Many in the novel are from different times. They reality they helped create goes beyond their own actual life times.

This book is a response to a talk by Robert Shetterly. His presentation was Americans Who Tell The Truth. Mr. Shetterly published a book in which he painted portraits of 50 Americans who have made a significant impact on our history. Some are famous, some ordinary. Early in his presentation Mr. Shetterly alluded to the events of September 11, 2001. He said those events were a pivotal point in our history. What is most significant about the events of that date is not that they happened but that we seemed to learn so little from them and have not made appropriate responses to those events. As a response to Robert Shetterlys talk I decided to do a book on people (and movements) I have met, at least come into contact with, who have told the truth. All have made an impact. Some have not been successful in what they intended to do. But even those who were not successful in their desired effect still made an impact and were helpful in bringing about some change. Some are still trying. We do not know yet whether they will be successful or not. Again I emphasize ALL have made some impact. ALL are just ordinary people. As my response developed certain truths evolved. 1. I have met persons in my own life who exemplify the truths Mr. Shetterly seeks to highlight. 2. I have had the honor of knowing some from my earliest youth until the present day. 3. Others I have met later in life. 4. Some of them have been famous people. Most are just ordinary people struggling with life. 5. Many of them fought with some personal struggle as well as the larger social struggle. 6. They are important not simply for what they did but for who they were. 7. Every one of us probably could come up with a similar list. 8. It is important that we do so, important for ourselves and for others. In my earliest years I was inspired by my father (William Crumley), by some of my teachers (personified by my account of Sister Stanila). In my youth I was also inspired by the actions of some famous people (Pope John XXIII, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and others). Often they were not successful in what they hoped to do. Still their legacy inspired others. In the three famous persons mentioned their legacy was not really apparent until after their death. Pope John XXIII attempted to rejuvenate the Catholic Church. He was successful in part. However, some people within the institution he sought to rejuvenate did not want to be rejuvenated and many of his reforms have been abandoned. It was not until many years after his death that I realized that President John Kennedy attempted to place our money system on a more stable basis and not on debt the U.S. Government owed to the Federal Reserve Bank. That has never been realized even today. The reforms called for by Martin Luther King were not realized until after his death. Even then the reforms were not fully realized. We were only able to pass laws which helped the process to begin. The process has to evolve and to continue. This process is not going to be realized by the actions of politicians or famous people. This process will be brought about by the struggles of ordinary people. This process requires the ongoing effort of you and me and great numbers of ordinary citizens. It will require the creation of many different citizen organizations which will assist the process. That is what this book is about - not famous people but ordinary people. A few are better known than others. Some were more successful than others. All are ordinary. All continued to struggle despite many obstacles. Hopefully it will inspire you to come up with you own list maybe even your own book describing how you fit into the human struggle to make this a better world. The list is divided among people who inspired me in my early formative years and people who have inspired me in later years of ministry and service. It also includes persons who are struggling to make an impact today.

Grief happens to us all. It can come at any time. It comes in many forms.Someone we love dies. We may lose our job. We age. We become sick. Children or grandchildren may go astray. Sometimes life just seems to pass us by. When anything which causes grief happens to us, we have two choices. We may allow the grief to overwhelm, maybe over overcome, us. OR we can grow as a rsult oof the grief. We can grow by developing a deeper sende of what our life is all about. We can grow by becoming more understaning of others who experience similar grief. This calendar is an attempt to help us grow in our grief. There is no schedule to grief. Sometimes it comes with no warnings. The date the griving calendar begins was picked ou of a hat. You may begin the grieving calendar at any date. You may pick and choose the tools provided with each time frame. Hopefully, the book may inspire you to create some of your own tools. Whatever happens, KEEP ON TRUCKING.

Why do we seem to have so little money? Why is our nation 17 trillion dollars in debt? How much IS $17,000,000,000,000? If that debt were to be divided equally among every U.S. citizen we would all pay more than $45,000 in debt To whom is this debt owed? Some of it is owed to China and other nations. The majority is owed to the Federal Reserve Bank. President Kennedy and President Lincoln both attempted to place the U.S. Congress in charge of our money. Both were assassinated. We seem to make no connection between their economic policies and their assassination. The U.S. Constitution states clearly that the government is to issue our money. Why does our money come to us in the form of a Federal Reserve Note? a debt the U.S. Government owes to the Federal Reserve Bank? A large part of our debt is war related. The two major World Wars in the last 100 years resulted in huge multinational central banks that control the economy of much of the world. The book looks at the social teachings of two Popes (Leo XIII and John Paul II). They both spoke strongly against exploitation of workers and unjust economic systems. Originally the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths all outlawed usury. Today only the Muslim faith continues to ban usury. The book looks at Native American philosophy which taught that no one may own the resources of the earth, they are a common WEALTH, They exist for the benefit of all the people. It mentions Estonia and Bolivia have passed legislation which states clearly that these elements are common WEALTH and must be used for the benefit of all. The book also looks at many groups of people who are working to make the world a little better for us all. It ends with a request for more people to help make the world a little better for us all.

For almost fifty years I have been working to help make this a more just world. I have read many treatises and books. I have been involved in political activity to try and create a more just world. I have worked with many different and divergent groups. Only in the last few months have I begun to hear that any successful endeavor must include a strong spiritual element. This book is an attempt to merge the two elements of social justice and our own spirituality as humans. It begins by looking at the biblical accounts of mankind's original sin and the consequences of that sin. Much of the biblical accounts look at the reaction of God. This account centers on the actions of mankind and their consequences. The focus then shifts to some of the deeper consequences of human sin portrayed as the footprints of Adam and Eve on this earth. (See picture at the end of the book). The book ends with a poem written by the author. He attempts to illustrate that we are redeemed from original sin not by eliminating it but reaching out to those who are the greatest victims of that sin. The book starts with a prologue entitled "The Footprints of Adam and Eve." It then looks at contemporary Footprints of Adam and Eve such as widespread resistance to change, an ever increasing debt, the failure of banks, a huge corporation which owns at least 5% of almost half of the large corporations in the USA, the move to create more energy. All these symptoms are caused by greed. The final chapter is entitled "We Need A New Set of Footprints." It looks at some alternatives that ordinary people are using today to help correct our failures. The book ends with a poem composed by the author entitled "Finding the Footprints of God." A concluding picture shows the earth with human footprints on it and asks: "What Footprints Are You Leaving on Earth?"

The world we view as so complex is really just the work of God's fingers. There were no massive machines, no grandiose architectural designs. The universe is like a picture painted by God or a fabric knitted by God. One Old Testament image is God creating humans by knitting them in the womb of our mother. A creation account which appears in the book of Genesis says: "The Lord God created man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being." God uses clay of the earth to create us. We are not simply that clay, we are formed with the very breath of God. We are like God. We are also like the rest of creation formed out of the clay of the earth. God admonishes us: "cultivate and care for" his creation. It is God's creation not ours. Adam was tempted to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil: "The moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like the gods who know what is good and what is bad." "Original sin" was not an act of disobedience to God or a lack of faith. We do not believe that we are like God. We have to DO something to become like God. Original sin is a lack of faith in who we are, a failure to believe that everything (including us) is good. Letters From God are responses from God to people who are suffering from a series of emotons and actions which separate us from God. We forget we are part of a greater universe made by God. We are the very breath, the very spirit, the very life of God. We are to cultivate and care for the rest of the universe - not dominate and change it. The letters represent God's response to us in our guilt and grief. They present a reminder from God that we need to forgive ourselves and others for our own sake. In the letters God also calls us to pursue meaningful goals in our lives. The letters respond to a series of human expressions of exhaustion, fear, confusion, loneliness, guilt, and worry. We do not have to have special problems for God to care about us. One of the shortest letters reflects that point. Dear God, I have read all of your letters I could find. In reading them I realized that I did not fit into any of the categories of people who wrote to you. I guess I am just Anyone Dear Anyone, I am so glad you wrote. Please do not think you have to some problem in order to contact me. You do not have to fit into some group. If you read some of the Hebrew Scriptures, especially the psalms, you will know that you have been hand crafted by me. You do not have to have a problem. I just love you always. GOD There is an exchange of letters between God and the devil. Both are confused because George Bush and Sadaam Hussein believe the other one is possessed by the devil. Both also claim claim that God is on his side. The devil asks if God has taken sides. He also admits that he is afraid of both of them. If they have their way many will die and most of them will not enter the devil's kingdom. In response God offers a simple solution. The final part of the book is a series of letters from God in a time of economic crisis. The letters describe how we can respond postively to a loss of income. After all the letters of despair God writes a general letter to all peoples. God urges us to remember four things: 1. I love you. Nothing will ever destroy that love. 2. All I want is for you to love and respect yourself so that no external condition of your life will ever cause you to hate yourself. 3. No one can ever destroy you. 4.Please care for one another, especially in these difficult times. You will all be all right. Love, GOD P.S. I am not simply your father. I am also your mother. I am in pain for you. I am like a mother in labor. Can a mother come to the point of birth and then not let the child be born? We both suffer these pains which will allow you to be born once again. All of God's letters end with the expression "I love you always."