Notes from 5/22/2018 committee meeting – Education Committee of the Milwaukee Democratic Socialists of America

Topics for the next general meetings:

Topics ready to go:

Topics people are working on:

Andrew
- Electoral college and gerrymandering
- YIMBYs and gentrification. Building more housing units does not put downward pressure on prices
Tom
- Public control over finance, directing investment towards projects/firms with the greatest benefit which may not be most profitable
Chris
- Poverty
- Race to the bottom
- Housing/predatory lending
- Housing/redlining
- Nationalizing companies
- Meidner plan
- How the public sector funds vast majority of R&D
- Full employment
McCarthyism–Ian
Antiwar–Nick
Foxconn–Mary (with race-to-the-bottom policies/Chris)

Future ideas for topics. Anyone interested in any of these?

A few topics filed under “selling socialism to small businesses”
- Lobster licenses in Maine
  - Legally, only small businesses can apply for license to harvest lobsters, so all Maine lobster firms are small family-run businesses. Democratic socialism means democratic control over the economy; if we value small enterprises, then a our economic system should be set up to accordingly. Strengths and weaknesses of encouraging small businesses in this way.
- Entrepreneurship in the Nordic countries
  - http://www.demos.org/blog/2/19/16/david-brooks-incorrect-about-northern-europe
  - http://www.demos.org/blog/3/16/16/nordic-innovation-arguments-never-die
- Social welfare and entrepreneurship
  - https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/03/welfare-makes-america-more-entrepreneurial/388598/
US at will employment law contrasted with employment law in other countries
Professional sports lockouts
Long term unemployment
- https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/04/the-terrifying-reality-of-long-term-unemployment/274957/
A closer look at poverty, unemployment, underemployment, and cost of living.

Next meeting: