Events

America’s only Political Economy Book Club discusses Candide, Voltaire’s 1759 masterpiece that ridicules religion, theologians, governments, armies, philosophies and philosophers through allegory.  As Jean Starobinski notes,”The fast-paced and improbable plot—in which characters narrowly escape death repeatedly, for instance—allows for compounding tragedies to befall the same characters over and over again.”

It’s only a hundred pages or so depending on the translation and format, and is available in English translation free from Project Gutenberg  (in several formats) as well as from the Internet Archive, where there is also an audiobook. 

PEBC coordinator Bob Matter would appreciate an RSVP, if possible, from those planning to attend.

In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont were sent by the French government to study the American prison system. In his later letters Tocqueville indicates that he and Beaumont used their official business as a pretext to study American society instead. They arrived in New York City in May of that year and spent nine months traveling the United States, studying the prisons, and collecting information on American society, including its religious, political, and economic character.

— Wikipedia

Democracy in America was one of the products of this trip. It’s available in several translations, some free such as this one and this one, also free in audio format.  On March 29, the Political Economy Book Club will discuss volume 1.

PEBC meetings are free and open to everyone who has read and wishes to talk about the book under discussion. Convenor Bob Matter appreciates an RSVP if possible.

A subsequent meeting will discuss volume 2

If you want to understand the underlying causes of persistent poverty in America, you’ll benefit from this course. This is the “modern” version, based on Bob Drake’s “Abridged for Modern Readers” edit of Henry George’s original book. As always, the first class session is entirely free, but if you decide to enroll in the course we request a $25 fee to help cover costs. Veteran HGS instructor Bob Jene will help you understand not only the causes of economic stagnation, but a workable remedy.

This course will meet for six consecutive Friday’s beginning January 6.  Our space at Overflow Coffee Bar is directly served by CTA routes 62 and 29, and a reasonable walk from Red, Green, and Orange Line Roosevelt station, as well as Metra Electric’s Museum Campus and 18th Street stops.

Urban sprawl is threatening to destroy much valuable farmland. We will look at data from one of the leading national organizations trying to mitigate this damage, The American Farmland Trust (AFT). Among other things they buy development rights from farmers to insure the land’s continued use in agriculture and attempt to facilitate community supported agriculture which makes family farms more viable. The Georgist fiscal reform reduces sprawl alleviating pressure on farmland.

(image credit: Kristian Bjornard ; Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0); https://flic.kr/p/8RYWFy)