Over the years I have been involved in many social issues and projects and have given hundreds of talks. Those who listened have responded repeatedly that I have a way of coming to the core of the issues and foreseeing long-range consequences of current actions or plans that others do not see. Undoubtedly, my studies in the humanities and in philosophy, especially logic (the science of correct reasoning), criteriology (discernment of truth), and ontology (the study of being and reality) have helped me to recognize the cause-and-effect relationships that eventually become evident to all. With the encouragement of others cconcerned about the extent of worldwide injustice and poverty , I decided to write the book I had been searching for. Four more years of intensive research and study produced Land Lords of the World. With this book I enter a highly complex territory where the acknowledged "angels of economics" fear to tread, and I offer insights and logical solutions that only a few of them have dared to suggest. I have also been encouraged by this quotation from Robert T. Kennedy: "Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope. Those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest wall of oppression and resistance. This work is an act of love for God, our country, and all humankind, especially the billions in need of love and compassion, throughout the world. May this tiny ripple of love be multiplied millions of times with your assistance and added to that torrent of hope Robert Kennedy wished to see.

As seen through the eyes of a peer




Rev.Dr. John Linna

The author, Father Joseph Gondek, my friend for the past twenty- eight years, has spent a lifetime serving the poor and needy of out society. He knows how to work within the existing structures to make things happen.

In our county he initiated a County Housing Commission, serving as its chairman for fourteen years. In that role he succeeded in bringing in $6 million of housing for low-income and elderly people. He pushed for and supported a St Vincent de Paul center in town, to which I send all those looking for short-term help. He inspired his parish to sponsor both Vietnamese and Cuban famlies His rectory was the first place that anyone looking for help went.

But even as he gave his life to serving, he was driven by a feeling that there was something that was wrong that could not be corrected by doing business as usual. So he studied. Not just a book or two on economics but a mountain of books. His prolonged study led him to a vision of how things might be corrected and this book is the result of that vision.

The book itself is not a condemnation of economic systems but a well-thought-out description of a very real problem and a practical, possible solution It has the potential to change the world and there aren't many books about which one can make that claim.
Rev Dr.John Linna
Pastor, United Lutheran Church
Crystal Falls, MI April 3, 1996