Attendance: Chris, Tom, Tancrede, Ellie Lots of interest in marxist/theory. Tom suggests having two different book clubs. Chris will get updates from Andrew about reading group. One idea is to have 2 book clubs (approachable, theory) and 2 article reading groups (approachable, theory). Or could combine into 2 groups: approachable (book and articles) and theory […]
Readings: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/06/how-amazon-helped-kill-a-seattle-tax-on-business/562736/ https://www.currentaffairs.org/2017/10/being-held-hostage-by-rich-people https://www.npr.org/2018/06/13/619444956/seattle-repeals-tax-on-big-business-after-opposition-from-amazon-starbucks The capital strike is so powerful that it’s rare that we actually get to see it in action. Normally, the threat of a capital strike is enough to stop progressive movements dead in their tracks. A capital strike occurs when owners of large companies threaten to move their businesses elsewhere […]
Why you should read this book: Economist Ha–joon Chang takes on the prevailing wisdom of free market capitalism that encourages privatization, balanced budgets, free trade, austerity, reversal of labor market regulations, free capital flows, restrictive monetary policy, etc, from the perspective of developing countries. Chang shows how countries that have avoided the neoliberal consensus by aggressive state ownership and control […]
For the 11/17 general meeting, the education committee is the host. We had three pods: General meeting topics. Got a good idea? Want to see what we’re working on? Periodical Club, Book Club–we are hoping for these to meet quarterly The Periodical Club, also known as the Jacobin Reading Group / Current Affairs Appreciation Society […]
Readings: https://socialistproject.ca/2017/10/b1496/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/01/05/costa-rica-celebrate-70-years-no-army/977107001/ Costa Rican Socialism: Universal public healthcare system (“Caja”) The military has been abolished The police are kept to a minimum About 7,500 officers for the entire country For comparison: Chicago has over 11,000, MKE has about 6,800 Universal public education, k-college/trade school If you graduate from trade school, the government offers […]
Readings: https://blogs.findlaw.com/supreme_court/2015/10/13-worst-supreme-court-decisions-of-all-time.html https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/06/waiting-for-scotus/ https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/10/court-packing-is-necessary There has rightly been enormous outcry over the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. He was been credibly accused of sexual assault and lied about it repeatedly under oath. His right wing views will allow conservatives on the bench to inflict incredible suffering on ordinary people, unchecked for decades. While […]
Chris posted agenda without a label, so nobody was actually able to see the agenda. Sorry everyone. Discussed several topics: Tom prepared an extensive outline about socialist policies and quality of life in Costa Rica. Topic was finalized. New capital strike topic on Seattle’s “Amazon tax” was finalized Topic on Supreme Court was finalized Discussed […]
Topics people are working on: Taylor Public option for funeral/burial services 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 how federal reserve is governed Fed […]
Readings: http://peoplespolicyproject.org/2017/09/12/who-was-in-poverty-in-2016/ http://www.demos.org/blog/12/2/15/why-education-does-not-fix-poverty Today’s topic is on poverty. Poverty is actually an extremely simple issue. In the reading for today, this was shown very compellingly in graphs. If you have a smartphone handy, you can take a look. First, nearly half of all Americans had no income whatsoever. This might seem to be impossible–how can […]
Readings: https://www.peoplespolicyproject.org/2017/09/08/models-for-worker-codetermination-in-europe/ https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/08/some-illuminating-reactions-to-elizabeth-warrens-worker-rights-plan This topic had been on the schedule for today for some time, and, coincidentally Elizabeth Warren released a codetermination bill last week. Codetermination laws are very common in the developed world. A corporation is a creation of law; there’s nothing special or sacred about any of it. For example, American corporate law specifies […]