Public Affairs, Current Events, and Politics   

This course leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to explore America's most contentious issues with balance and nuance. Participants will learn how to use AI as an effective "fact averager" that can reveal underlying truths behind persistent social conflicts and identify biases in our opinions.

We’ll cover getting started with a large language model, so that class members can employ it at home to prepare weekly analyses of controversial topics. Each week we’ll share findings and seek common understanding. AI-generated summaries often reveal surprising areas of potential agreement between seemingly irreconcilable viewpoints.

As an experiment in machine-assisted conflict resolution, this course welcomes participants who have strong opinions. All we need are people who are curious, willing to do a little homework, and who are happy to consider topics from diverse viewpoints.

As we will discuss during Session 1, participants will benefit most by subscribing by Session 2 to the AI services Perplexity Pro and Claude Pro, each $20/month.  Free versions of these and other AI services are available for those who need to economize.

China is very much in the news these days. President Trump has initiated a tariff program on China in an attempt to address the current very negative trade balance. This process is upending the economies of both countries. Taiwan is in play also with both nations trying to anticipate the actions of the other. Meanwhile President Xi has many critical domestic issues, any one of which would be considered a primary focal point for any other countries. Steve Swenerton will review all of this in depth presenting much new information and perspectives. The people, the domestic economy, China`s international economy, the military and a report card on President Xi will all be included in this class.

All civilizations eventually collapse. Historically, the average lifetime of civilizations is about 250 years, the age of the United States. The life cycle of civilizations follows a similar pattern of 7 stages, with common factors contributing to eventual collapse. From climate change to economic turmoil to the rise of authoritarianism, current circumstances indicate that the US and much of the world are now in the crisis and decline stage, with collapse on the horizon.

In this course we will address the seven stages of civilizations, current trends that point to civilization collapse, the grief cycle as a model of the personal experience of collapse, practical steps you can take to survive and adapt to collapse, indigenous cultures as a model for sustainable communities, and how to be content and resilient in the face of collapse.

This course will address contemporary political, economic, social and cultural issues that are topical at the time the course is offered. It is anticipated that international, national and local issues will be discussed. Generally, each class will address two of these issues per week, with the class participants being heavily involved in the selection of issues. Participants should expect @ 20-25 minutes of reading(s) prior to each class on the topics for that week. Likely subjects are: K-12 education, college education, Colorado’s state budget, local and state elections, global warming, trade and tariffs, artificial intelligence, housing policy, technology, healthcare, US Supreme Court decisions, and others.

New and engaging topics are continually emerging as our world is constantly in flux; economics, politics, environment, gender, and racial divides, wars and aggressions, health care issues, etc.

The class time is divided into two sections each week.

During the first section, we will discuss current events suggested by class members. In addition, participants will receive two or three emailed articles per week in advance of class, drawing from sources like the New York Times, Washington Post, The Economist, National Public Radio, Wall Street Journal, etc. We will discuss one or more of these articles in the second section of the class.

The objective of the course is an informative, engaging sharing of ideas, life experiences, and viewpoints in a civil and safe dialogue. Please bring an open mind, tolerance of differences, your best manners of discourse, and a sense of humor.

We will discuss the prior week’s news in the first hour. In the second hour, a topic that has been determined by the facilitators and articles that have been sent out prior to the class will be discussed. The facilitators of this class express a progressive point of view on American politics. They welcome conservative or other points of view and encourage discussion as part of our learning experience.

This class will be a non-partisan discussion of current events that values diverse points of view. The first hour will be a look at the news of the week, with an eye towards independent/alternative news sources. Hour two will be a deeper examination of a single topic, chosen by the facilitator with input from the group. The class will be provided background information on the topic prior to the session which could include articles, videos, or podcasts.

What if you were assigned to a national, state or local panel tasked with making recommendations on a number of the most important issues of our time including: schools, policing, national leadership, election reform or mass shootings? Each week in this course class members will review multiple proposals on a critical topic and deliberate on the strengths and weaknesses of each "solution." The class will then try to discern any common ground and consider recommending a path forward. Critical but open minds will be an asset to this work. (Note: New topics will be addressed this term).

The Fall Documentary Film class will cover a wide variety of films. Each film will be shown in class and will be followed by a discussion of the film. Class members are expected to stay for the discussion. The Facilitator likes to remain flexible as to what films to show due to availability, the arrival of new films, or events that would make a film topical.

Since films are of varying length, class may end at 2:45 or extend past 3 pm. The class will be informed in advance when a longer film will require class to go past 3 pm.

Great Decisions is a program of the Foreign Policy Association, which presents new topics each year. The class is expected to read a chapter from the Briefing Book before each class, will then view a video of background information and relevant interviews with world leaders and scholars during class, and discuss the topic.

Required Book: Great Decisions 2025 Briefing Book, available from the Foreign Policy Association.  Registered members, please order. www.fpa.org/great_decisions

GREAT DECISIONS 2025 TOPICS

• 1. AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY AT A CROSSROADS
• 2. U.S. CHANGING LEADERSHIP OF THE WORLD ECONOMY
• 3. U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS
• 4. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ON CLIMATE CHANGE
• 5. THE FUTURE OF NATO AND EUROPEAN SECURITY
• 6. AI AND AMERICAN NATIONAL SECURITY
• 7. INDIA: BETWEEN CHINA, THE WEST, AND THE GLOBAL SOUTH
• 8. AFTER GAZA: AMERICAN POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

The new book When We Walk By written by the facilitator, Don Burnes PhD, will be the center of this course. Each of the eight classes will discuss one or two of the chapters. We will explore in depth the ways we dehumanize those experiencing homelessness, the ways in which each of the relevant systems fail to meet the needs of the unhoused and the potential solutions that address our forgotten humanity and the broken systems.

At first blush Shakespeare’s famous line, “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers” seemed to disparage lawyers. But, in the context of the Henry VI play, it was a satirical remark uttered as a testament to lawyers to underscore their importance in upholding the rule of law and maintaining societal order.

Now, more than 425 years later, the Oval Office is determined to kill all the lawyers who aim to preserve justice and thwart the current tsunami of chaos and office holder’s quest for anointment. Scores of dedicated and honorable judges are an integral part of this mission.

This course will address the numerous actions the Oval Office (47) has taken to arguably throw America’s social order into disarray. There is little resistance from Congress to this movement.

However, opponents from various segments of society view the actions as antithetical to guarantees in the US Constitution, Congressional law and society’s mores. In support of this quest for societal order, dedicated lawyers and judges have fought for the adherence to justice, the rule of law and protections in our Constitution.

This course is designed to address the competing interests between the oval office and his opponents through the below-classes with the caveat that modifications of any one or more of them could be dictated by current events:

Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's influential and best-selling book "Abundance offers a provocative vision of "supply-side progressivism," focusing on how the progressive agenda created a government that has forgotten how to build solutions rather than merely redistribute money. We'll explore how these authors challenge fellow liberals by arguing that scarcity in housing, energy, and infrastructure results from political choices, not inevitabilities. We’ll consider the proposals offered by the bipartisan "Abundance Caucus" in Congress, which the book inspired, and debate America's priorities.

In the spirit of doing things in a new way, this discussion seminar will encourage participants to use AI to research background material and vet their opinions. We will include a brief introduction to chatbots that can search the Web for references. We’ll use these tools to critically examine whether streamlining government processes alone can achieve true abundance while also exploring the tension between the authors’ vision and concerns over environmental sustainability, economic inequality, and power concentration.

This course invites you to engage with one of today's most discussed political frameworks, using civilization’s latest knowledge tools, to develop your own perspective on how society might best create "enough of what we need."

 Participants will benefit most by purchasing a Kindle version of the book, so they can process it with AI, and  subscribing by Session 2 to the AI services Perplexity Pro and Claude Pro, each $20/month.  (Free versions of these and other AI services are available for those who need to economize.)  

The Focus:

*We will focus on the history and evolution of the economic, legal, theological, and philosophical systems embedded in our country’s laws and systems. We will follow the four roots as they become ever more intertwined and grow ever more deeply each decade to produce the racial disparities that we experience today.

•While there are many stories of minorities that could, and need to be told, given the eight-week timeframe, these conversations will focus on those systems and structures that have resulted in wealth disparities, mass incarceration and the unchecked killing of Black people.

Why Participate:

•“Whites created slavery, segregation, and racial discrimination. Whites have most of the political and social power to change racial discrimination and inequality now. We cannot have a truly free and democratic society until we do that.” MLK

•Our desire to be good can prevent us from doing good if we do not see the historical systems and structures we created. If we don’t see them, we cannot act to change them.

Rick will discuss legal actions facing the court system, including those brought against Donald Trump and or his administration. He will review underlying issues of the various cases and compare them with similar cases to understand whether there is merit to the actions. He will discuss if the cases could or should be criminally prosecuted. The class will be by presentation and question and answer. The hope is that classroom members will be active participants.