Mar 9 Sat 2 PM Movie: The Molly Maguires

Sean Connery stars as a leader of the Molly Maguires, a secret society of Irish mineworkers in Pennsylvania in the 1870s, who battle their exploitation by mine owners with violence. This 1970 American film, based on a 1969 novel by Arthur H. Lewis, also stars Richard Harris and Samantha Eggar.  Set just a decade prior …

Jan 30 Wed. 6 PM: How I made $1,000,000 in Chicago Real Estate: I $tole it from You!

What George Menninger did was completely legal. He stole over a million dollars.  Many people do it, perhaps including some of your neighbors, so if George hadn’t then someone else would have. You and fellow Chicagoans have already paid George so he is far beyond the need to earn a living. Now he volunteers some …

Jan 30 Wed. 6 PM: How I made $1,000,000 in Chicago Real Estate: I $tole it from You!

What George Menninger did was completely legal. He stole over a million dollars.  Many people do it, perhaps including some of your neighbors, so if George hadn’t then someone else would have. You and fellow Chicagoans have already paid George so he is far beyond the need to earn a living, so now he volunteers …

Jan 23 Wed 6 PM: Political Economy Book Club discusses the Menace of Privilege

We gather to talk about one of Henry George, Jr.’s important works,    The Menace of Privilege.  From the Preface: What is the cause of the grave changes that are coming over the American Republic — the extraordinary inequality in the distribution of wealth manifested on every hand; the rise of class feeling; the growth …

Wed Dec 5 at 6 PM: The Invisible Cost of Imaginary Property

New kinds of privilege are extracting wealth from people who produce. Historically, owners of land extracted tribute in exchange for the resource everyone needs to produce or even live. But more recently, imaginary property “rights,” really just the power to levy a toll on production, and which were well-understood by Henry George, have taken an …

Thurs Nov 8 6 PM: Political Economy Book Club discusses The Communist Manifesto

The Communist Manifesto (Das Kommunistische Manifest), originally titled Manifesto of the Communist Party is a short 1848 publication written by the political theorists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It has since been recognized as one of the world’s most influential political manuscripts. Commissioned by the Communist League, it laid out the League’s purposes and program. …

Oct 13 Sat 2 PM Movie: The Killing Floor

This 1984 feature by Bill Duke “tells the little-known true story of the struggle to build an interracial labor union in the Chicago Stockyards” nearly a century ago. Find the above-quoted University of Chicago review here, links to some published reviews here. 118 minutes. Not to be confused with the 2007 Israeli movie of the …

June 23, Sat, Economic (bi)Cycle Tour

Ride with HGS insiders Bob Jene and Bob Matter thru the Museum Campus and Central Station development areas.  Your guides will discuss various appropriate and inappropriate land uses, public amenities that enhance land values, some underused and prematurely developed spaces. Bring your own bike, and be ready to cycle 10-15 miles over two hours. Meet …