Events

America in the 1870s faced increasing poverty, rising unemployment, rule by an elite and their corporations– many of the same problems we’re experiencing today.  Henry George described the cause of these problems and proposed a remedy which is even more applicable today than it was in his time. His book Progress & Poverty, perhaps the best-selling nonfiction book of the 19th century, presented his analysis and solution.

This “modern” version of the course uses Bob Drake’s “abridgement for modern readers” of Henry George’s original text.  You’ll gain a new understanding of how the economy works, which public policies promote liberty and prosperity, and which don’t.

Class meets every Thursday, beginning 6PM on February 11,  ending March 17.  Even if you don’t sign up for the course, you’ll find this free introductory session insightful.  More information about the course is here and here.

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

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.

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.

[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.

Resurrection (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,

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.

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.

Progress & Poverty, classic version, meets weekly for ten Thursdays thru November 17.  First session free, but if you choose to register we request $25 to help with expenses. Optional preregistration.  More about the course.

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.