Category Archives: Uncategorized

Dr. Paul Street presents: “Trumped? How the United States Became a “Banana Republic.”

Join Open University of the Left on Saturday December 16 at 2:30 pm at the Lincoln Park Public Library 1150 W. Fullerton Ave. Chicago (at Racine), free parking, wheelchair accessible, (Red Line: Fullerton)

Dr. Paul Street presents: “Trumped? How the United States Became a “Banana Republic.”

Open University of the Left welcomes back Dr. Paul Street who will discuss the radical disconnect between majority progressive public opinion and government policy in the United States today. While much of “the left” focuses obsessively on the obvious evil and madness of Donald Trump, Paul will argue that Trump is the symptom of an authoritarian capitalist system whose richly bipartisan “trumping” of the populace is a longstanding problem. Street will discuss the inner un- and anti-democratic, oligarchic workings of a political system that is falsely sold as an unmatched model of popular self rule.

Along the way, Paul will review the most significant developments of the horrific Trump presidency and examine the failure of “the left” to mount an effective “resistance.” He will also point to some hopeful signs and suggest lessons for progressive and democratic resurgence going forward.

Currently, Paul is an independent radical-democratic policy researcher, journalist, historian and speaker based in Iowa City, Iowa and Chicago, Illinois. He is a regular political commentator who has been seen in numerous radio and television interviews. He has authored seven books to date and his essays, articles, reviews and commentaries have appeared in a wide variety of media venues.

All Open University of the Left events are free of charge and open to all.

Join the OUL low traffic email announcement list (yahoo group) at:
[email protected]

View prior videos of OUL programs on our YouTube page. https://www.youtube.com/user/OpenUnivoftheLeft

Earl Silbar presents: How Can We Rebuild the Anti-War Movement in the Era of Trump and Bannon?

Join Open University of the Left on Saturday November 18, at 2:30 pm at the Lincoln Park Public Library 1150 W. Fullerton Ave. Chicago, (at Damen) free parking, wheelchair accessible, (Red Line: Fullerton)

Earl Silbar presents: How Can We Rebuild the Anti-War Movement in the Era of Trump and Bannon?

Open University of the Left welcomes back Earl Silbar. What must we do to rebuild the anti-war movement? What is the connection between deteriorating economic and social conditions here in the US for most Americans and the US War Machine with its never ending wars? Who gains and who loses if we expose the targets of this War Machine as the enemy of oppressed people everywhere as well as the American people themselves?

Earl Silbar is a veteran of 50 years activity organizing as a lifelong socialist- first in the 1960’s in the Civil Rights Movement then as a full-time organizer in two Chicago area SDS chapters to end the war in Vietnam, as well as labor solidarity and anti-racist activism. In the 1980’s he was active with Central American and South African solidarity committees. From the 1980’s until his retirement from teaching in 2006, his main activity was helping to organize adult educators into a labor union.

All Open University of the Left event are free of charge and open to all.

Join the OUL low traffic email announcement list (yahoo group) at:
[email protected]

View prior videos of OUL programs on our YouTube page. https://www.youtube.com/user/OpenUnivoftheLeft

Now Up on YouTube, Andy Thayer: “Why Chicago Leaders Hate the Homeless”

The YouTube video of Saturday, October 21, 2017, is now available for viewing on the YouTube channel of the Open University of the Left.

All prior video programs are viewable on our YouTube page. https://www.youtube.com/user/OpenUnivoftheLeft

All Open University of the Left event are free of charge and open to all.

Join the low traffic email announcement list (yahoo group) at:
[email protected]

Andy Thayer Presents: Why Chicago Leaders Hate the Homeless

Join Open University of the Left on Saturday October 21 at 2:30 pm at the Lincoln Park Public Library 1150 W. Fullerton Ave. (at Damen) Chicago, free parking, wheelchair accessible, (Red Line: Fullerton)

In recent weeks City leaders have dramatically escalated their ongoing battle against Chicago’s homeless population, repeatedly evicting Uptown’s Tent City — the most visible symbol of the city’s failure to house its own residents. The evictions are an attempt to set new precedents in guaranteeing even fewer rights to those who already have the least in our city.

The goal of guaranteeing profits for the real estate industry has long dominated decision-making in city politics. It determines City Hall policies towards the homeless, the near-homeless, and housing for all the other residents who also do the work that makes Chicago work.

However, lack of affordable housing and homelessness cannot be properly understood if viewed in isolation from other issues. Policies on policing, race, jobs, education, transportation and healthcare are all inextricably linked to housing policies. Homelessness is but one of the more brutal aspects of an ongoing war vs. the non-wealthy by those who run our city.

Join long-time activist Andy Thayer of Uptown Tent City Organizers as he examines how homelessness relates to other issues, why homelessness is a human-manufactured crisis, and what we can do to solve it. Andy Thayer has also worked on such other issues as 1st Amendment rights and ending U.S. wars. A protest organizer, Andy is a co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network, a multi-issue LGBT rights direct action group which helped win equal marriage rights in Illinois. He’s been arrested in various protests, not only locally, but twice in Moscow, Russia for protesting against the government’s bans on gay rights demonstrations.

All Open University of the Left event are free of charge and open to all.

All prior video programs are viewable on our YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/user/OpenUnivoftheLeft

Join the low traffic email announcement list (yahoo group) at:
[email protected]

Dr. William Pelz: “People’s History: a Lens to understand the Past…and the Future.”

Join Open University of the Left on Saturday September 16 at 2:30 pm at the Lincoln Park Public Library 1150 W. Fullerton Ave. (at Damen) Chicago, free parking, wheelchair accessible, (Red Line: Fullerton)

Dr. William Pelz presents: “People’s History: a Lens to understand the Past…and the Future.”

This debunks some commonly held myths about the history of the last century by looking through the lens of people’s history. Did the average German cheer for war in 1914? Was Hitler ever freely elected by a majority of Germans? Did most American workers support Donald Trump?

William Pelz is the Director of the Institute of Working Class History in Chicago and a Professor of History at Elgin Community College. His recent books include: A People’s History of Modern Europe (Pluto Press, 2016), Wilhelm Liebknecht and German Social Democracy (Haymarket Books, 2016), Karl Marx: A World to Win (Pearson, 2012 and Against Capitalism: The European Left on the March (Peter Lang Publishing, 2007).

Join the OUL low traffic email announcement list (yahoo group) at: [email protected]

Watch previous OUL presentations at our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpenUnivoftheLeft

All OUL presentations are free of charge and open to all.

Jerry Harris presents Trump: An American Fascist?

Join Open University of the Left on Saturday August 19 at 2:30 pm at the Lincoln Park Public Library 1150 W. Fullerton Ave. (at Damen) Chicago, free parking, Wheelchair accessible, (Red Line: Fullerton).

Jerry Harris presents Trump: An American Fascist?

Is Donald Trump a Fascist? Even more important are questions about the social, political, and economic forces around Trump. Are they Fascist as well? And why has the crisis in neoliberal hegemony produced a hard-right turn in US politics? Has there been the construction of a new fascist hegemonic bloc that goes beyond typical right-wing capitalism? And what should the left do? Form a broad united front that defends civil liberties and bourgeois democracy, or go beyond to push for revolutionary changes? Furthermore, how does Trump and the social forces that support him compare to classic forms of fascism? These questions will be analyzed and discussed based on a paper
recently co-authored by Jerry Harris, Carl Davidson, Bill Fletcher Jr. and Paul Harris.

Join the low traffic email announcement list (yahoo group) at:
[email protected]

Watch previous OUL presentations at our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpenUnivoftheLeft

All OUL presentations are free of charge and open to all.