November 15, 22, 29
Open - talk about your organization, a social issue or current events
Meetings # 3,844+ contact the Program Coordinator Charles Paidock if you would like to speak at (312) 842-5036, office,
(312) 714-7790 cell, or cpaidock@hotmail.com
November 1
Mao in China / Trump in US / and Centrally Planned Economies
MAGA calls for Americans to endure higher prices
Is factory work essential to the “spiritual” health of the working class?
Meeting # 3,838 - college regular Tim Bolger
Mao MAGA asks: how much freedom will we trade when a president says, ‘We set the price’ in the name of national greatness?” Or will we fail like other central planned economies.
Donald Trump’s second-term economic vision has taken on an openly nationalist and state-directed character, drawing comparisons—sometimes tongue-in-cheek, sometimes critical—to Mao Zedong’s rhetoric of sacrifice. Critics have dubbed the approach “Mao MAGA,” highlighting the blend of patriotic appeals, centralized economic control, and calls for Americans to endure higher prices for the sake of national strength. Trump has described the U.S. as a “department store” that sets prices for foreign goods, and has pledged to personally decide tariff levels with business leaders, while imposing steep duties—especially on Chinese imports—to force companies to manufacture in America. Supporters see this as bold nation-building to restore manufacturing and worker dignity; opponents see creeping authoritarian economics and politicized price-setting.
The piece underscores how this program departs from traditional free-market Republican orthodoxy by embracing tariffs as a permanent organizing principle rather than a temporary bargaining chip. It also notes the moral framing from administration figures, who describe factory work as essential to the “spiritual” health of the working class and paint nostalgic pictures of multigenerational manufacturing communities—visions critics argue don’t match modern automated industry. Whether viewed as strategic resilience or managed nationalism, “Mao MAGA” reflects a shift toward a capacity-first economic model that could reshape America’s political economy, testing how much central direction a liberal market order can bear.
November 8
A Historical Summary Comparing the Mass Displacement
of Cretan Muslims, Pontic Greeks, & Palestinians
Alexandria Keating-Sofiakis, Candidate for US Congress IL-10,
Illinois Green Party (running against Brad Schneider in 2026, write-in)
Meetings # 3,843 - video interview https://youtu.be/xrlVB-iUwZo
Campaign Information: https://www.facebook.com/people/Alexandria-Keating-Sofiakis-for-IL-10/61574599503560/
Illinois Green Party - website - https://www.ilgp.org/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ILGreenParty
prefabricated UN shelters given to each refugee family within a grid layout
