Events

Apr
1
Tue
How I made $1,000,000 in Chicago real estate: I $tole it from you! @ Henry George School suite 1207
Apr 1 @ 11:00 pm – Apr 2 @ 1:15 am
Aren't we all entitled to a piece of America?
Aren’t we all entitled to a piece of America? (Henry George School photo)

Successful land speculation (also known as “real estate investment”) is really a matter of taking for yourself the gains that belong to the community. George Menninger is one of the many who have done it, but he’s exceptional in his understanding of what he did, as well as his sympathy for his victims. He’ll explain how the bad public policy he exploited not only made him rich, but led to continued poverty, unemployment, and even the recent economic meltdown.

Menninger is a Henry George School volunteer instructor, and this stand-alone session also serves as the introduction to his modern version of Progress & Poverty.  After his talk, you may, if you wish, sign up for the five-session course.

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.

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,

Nov
29
Tue
America’s #1 Problem: LOW WAGES @ Overflow Coffee Bar
Nov 29 @ 6:15 pm – 8:15 pm

Between 1948 and 1973, Americans’ real wages rose almost as fast as their productivity. After 1973, productivity grew 147% but wages rose only 19%. This raises two questions:

(1) If workers getting less, who is getting more?

(2) Is there a way to restore the balance?

To solve the problem of poverty, and the many other problems that follow from it, ordinary workers need higher wages. George Menninger describes how to raise wages without interfering in the free market and without taking anyone’s earnings.

George Menninger is an instructor at the Henry George School of Chicago, and attendees at this free program will have the opportunity to sign up for his Progress & Poverty course.

You can sign up for this free event thru Eventbrite, or RSVP directly by email.

 

Mar
1
Wed
America’s #1 Problem: LOW WAGES @ Green Briar Park
Mar 1 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Between 1948 and 1973, Americans’ real wages rose almost as fast as their productivity. After 1973, productivity grew 147% but wages rose only 19%. This raises two questions:

(1) If workers getting less, who is getting more?

(2) Is there a way to restore the balance?

To solve the problem of poverty, and the many other problems that follow from it, ordinary workers need higher wages. George Menninger describes how to raise wages without interfering in the free market and without taking anyone’s earnings.

George Menninger is an instructor at the Henry George School of Chicago, and attendees at this free program will have the opportunity to sign up for his Progress & Poverty course.

No  reservation is required, but you can let us know  by email that you’re coming.

Mar
14
Tue
America’s #1 Problem: LOW WAGES @ Overflow Coffee Bar
Mar 14 @ 6:15 pm – 8:15 pm

Between 1948 and 1973, Americans’ real wages rose almost as fast as their productivity. After 1973, productivity grew 147% but wages rose only 19%. This raises two questions:

(1) If workers getting less, who is getting more?

(2) Is there a way to restore the balance?

To solve the problem of poverty, and the many other problems that follow from it, ordinary workers need higher wages. George Menninger describes how to raise wages without interfering in the free market and without taking anyone’s earnings.

George Menninger is an instructor at the Henry George School of Chicago, and attendees at this free program will have the opportunity to sign up for his Progress & Poverty course.

No  reservation is required, but you can let us know  by email that you’re coming.