Edward J. Dodson
June 2010 |
Over the last few years, I have developed a series of educational
presentations using Powerpoint software covering a widening range of
subjects. The School of Cooperative Individualism website contains a
full set of Powerpoint versions of the course "Understanding our
Political Economy" I developed and have been teaching at the
Philadelphia extension of the Henry George School of Social Science
and at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Temple University.
Readings for the above course are taken from Henry George's book,
Progress and Poverty. Therefore, it made sense to explain to
students who Henry George was and why his text -- written in 1879 --
was still relevant to a modern audience studing political economy. The
course begins with a lecture on the life and work of Henry George.
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The Life and Legacy of the 19th
Century’s Foremost Political Economist Henry George
(1839-1897)
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Subsequently, I developed biographical presentations on other
important figures in the history of socio-political philosophy and
political economy. These presentations have been brought together into
an additional course titled "Champions of Liberty." To date,
the course covers Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson,
Henry George and Winston S. Churchill.
Additional presentations included in this project address the nature
and origins of the business cycle and the causes of the current
financial meltdown in the United States. Narrated versions of all
these lectures are now available to be viewed and even downloaded
(without any charge) at AUTHORSTEAM.COM.
At the home page, click on BROWSE, then enter "edward dodson"
in the search line. This will take you to the full list of available
materials.
Another project of which I am particularly proud is titled The
Poverty Paradox which, in around thirty minutes, explains how the
establishment of permanent settlements led to the establishment of
hierarchy and privilege in all societies, to the detriment of the
majority. This presentation then takes the viewer into the nineteenth
century and the beginnings of Progressivism, Socialism and Liberalism
even as Henry George emerged on the world stage to challenge the
status quo and offer his own path to achieve both individual liberty
and an end to the privileges that so impoverished the world's peoples.
How
The Poverty Paradox
Came to be Written
Another page on the SCI website alerts visitors to the new
documentary film,
The End of Poverty? Think Again, partially funded by the
Robert Schalkenbach Foundation. I was dismayed that the Director of
this film was making a case based on a very selective interpretation
of the history of human societal development. The same dynamics he
attributed to the modern European nation-states and the colonial
empires they ruled over can be found in all the ancient empires.
Moreover, over time every tribal (i.e., communitarian) society
succumbs to the establishment of hierarchy and entrenched privilege,
codified and sanctioned by law. This is a great commonality of our
history that occurs across time and space.
Rather than stand by and let viewers conclude that the story line of
The End of Poverty? Think Again was consistent with my own
analysis of what causes poverty, I began to work on a presentation in
Powerpoint that would tell the story differently; and, from my
perspective, more completely. The result is The Poverty
Paradox, a narrated version of which can be viewed at
AUTHORSTEAM.COM.
Alternatively, a second version of
The Poverty Paradox
is available on the School of Cooperative Individualism website with
the text appearing on each slide.
NOTE: EACH POWERPOINT
PRESENTATION INCLUDES MY LECTURE NOTES; HOWEVER, IN ORDER TO
READ THE NOTES, YOU MUST SAVE THE FILE TO YOUR COMPUTER, THEN
USE POWERPOINT SOFTWARE TO OPEN THE PRESENTATION IN "NOTES
VIEW."
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On the Economy
Philosophy
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