Events

Apr
5
Tue
Introductory course begins: History of Labor in America @ Henry George School #1207
Apr 5 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Based on Henry George’s Social Problems and additional resources, this course is open to all interested adults.  You’re welcome to sit in on the first session free, after which a $25 registration fee applies. Course meets Tuesdays, April 5 thru June 7. Course description is here. It is helpful if you pre-register.

Apr
15
Fri
Introduction to Progress & Poverty @ Henry George School #1207
Apr 15 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

In commemoration of “tax day,” the hypothetical due date for Federal and State personal income tax returns, we’ll discuss a sensible proposal by a man who understood the danger of an income tax: Henry George.  In this free introductory session, we’ll review the problems George saw in his time, and discuss how they persist today.  We’ll outline what he proposed to do about them, how his recommendations apply today, and provide an overview of the Progress & Poverty course.

The course continues on Friday afternoons thru May 20. Should  you choose to enroll, there will be a $25 registration fee.

May
3
Tue
Defective by Design: International Day Against DRM @ Henry George School
May 3 @ 5:00 pm – 8:30 pm

[Please note: There is no need to stay the full 3½ hours of this event.  Come when you’d like and leave when you wish. ]

How much stuff do you think you “own,” but really only have a limited license to use in specific ways? You may be surprised to learn who is restricting your freedom to innovate and share information.  As software-driven products become more common, how can you be sure that your possessions aren’t working against you?  Is that the price we have to pay to live in an advanced economy?  It need not be.

Find out how software freedom fits into the “liberty means justice” political economy that we teach, why and how we use open source software wherever possible (and it almost always is).  Discussion and videos presented in cooperation with the Free Software Foundation.

Meanwhile, to learn more about DRM and why it might be a bad thing, visit Defective by Design.

May
16
Mon
HGS Board Meeting 5-16-2016
May 16 @ 6:15 pm – 8:30 pm
Jun
1
Wed
Political Economy Book Club: Resurrection @ Henry George School
Jun 1 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Tolstoï_-_Résurrection,_trad._anonymeResurrection (1899)
By Leo Tolstoy

This late 19th-century novel about nobleman Dmitri Ivanovich Nekhlyudov’s efforts at redemption after a life of sin is Tolstoy’s last major novel before his death in 1910. The readers will have a complex relationship with the tormented protagonist and his desperate attempts at redemption and forgiveness, since Nekhlyudov’s misguided decisions and youthful errors are often not so dissimilar from our own. Resurrection is a scathing exposition of the myriad prejudices of the man-made justice system and the hypocrisy of the establishment, while it also explores the economic philosophy of Georgism – of which Tolstoy had become a strong advocate toward the end of his life.  [from the Culture Trip]

Political Economy Book Club discussions are open to everyone interested, without charge, and the text (in English translation) is available free from various sources including archive.org, who also offer a free audiobook. There is also a more recent translation by Anthony Briggs, which can be purchased or licensed in various formats and is available in some public libraries.  Any questions about the PEBC may be directed to Convenor Bob Matter,

Jul
13
Wed
No Farms No Food @ Henry George School suite 1207
Jul 13 @ 6:00 pm
House construction on farmland Sheboygan Co credit: Brett VA
House construction on farmland Sheboygan Co — credit: Brett VA

As farmland yields to “higher-value” uses, how (and how well and how inexpensively) will we eat? Bob Jene reviews data from a leading agricultural preservation organization, the American Farmland Trust (AFT). Among other things they buy development rights from landowners to insure continued farming use, and attempt to facilitate community supported agriculture which makes family farms more viable. A Georgist fiscal reform encourages more conservative and productive use of all land and reduces sprawl, thus preventing encroachment on farmland.  An alliance with AFT would benefit us both.

Jul
27
Wed
High Cost of Government Revenue @ Henry George School suite 1207
Jul 27 @ 6:00 pm

 

"Chuck on Tax Day" Credit: Chuck Holton cc-licensed
“Chuck on Tax Day” Credit: Chuck Holton cc-licensed

Do we need to suffer like this (and/or pay someone else) in order to fund government?  In this presentation, HGS instructor Bob Jene looks at what it costs to collect income taxes.  The direct cost to the government of operating the Internal Revenue Service is only a small part, as the burden put on the taxpayer, and the diversion of effort from productive uses, should also be considered.

Aug
8
Mon
Join with the Public Revenue Education Council in educating public officials @ McCormick Place
Aug 8 – Aug 11 all-day

Once again this year, our colleagues from the Public Revenue Education Council will have a booth at the annual conference of the National Council of State Legislators.  PREC travel to the host city each year, and in 2016 they’re at McCormick Place in Chicago.

PREC will want assistance from local people who have completed one or more courses at the Henry George School and understand the fundamentals of political economy, especially land value taxation and the “two-rate” or “split rate” tax. If you might like to help out, contact Chuck Metalitz for more details.  Because this conference of public officials is closed to the public, this might be you only way to get into the exhibit hall, and requires pre-arrangement.  Only a limited number of these volunteer positions is available.

Sep
5
Mon
Henry George Day
Sep 5 @ 3:00 pm – 7:15 pm
Peace
Another of the vignettes created for the School in the 1990s by the late Evanston artist Bill Judson

We’ll gather in a rustic south Evanston back yard [you get the exact address when you RSVP] to commemorate Henry George’s 177th birthday (actually he was born September 2, but that’s inconvenient for most working folks).  This year, we’re also celebrating, we hope, the School’s new location (yet to be determined at this writing).

Thanks to the generosity of HGS supporters past and present, everyone who’s completed any HGS course, ever, is welcome to attend without charge. Bring a significant other, or a friend who might find HGS of interest, also no charge.  And of course no charge for your minor dependents. We hope to see people who might have taken a course years ago and almost lost touch with us. Come by, meet some of the new students and graduates, as well as the volunteer staff.

There will be food, drink, a lot of conversation and maybe some productive discussion about how to help our community understand how the economy works, the fundamental principles which can be harnessed to bring prosperity and freedom.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let us know by Friday September 2 whether you’ll be coming.  It would be great, but not required, if you can bring something to share.  Monetary donations are also extremely welcome, and can be made here, or by check to the School, or at the event.

Sep
13
Tue
Meeting of the board of directors September 13, 2016
Sep 13 @ 6:15 pm – 8:30 pm