Who belongs here? It's time for another "Chew On This," a special dinner and discussion at Pints&union on Tuesday, September 24.

Next Tuesday's conversation over a meal and libations takes place all across the state of Indiana. This will be our second such event at Pints&union, and seats are available for $25 (plus fee) at the
Eventbrite link

Local sponsors are ArtSeed and Pints&union. Here's the overview, courtesy of ArtSeed.

Join ArtSeed for “Chew On This: Who Belongs Here?” to share a meal and fun yet in-depth conversation with other curious Hoosiers. Chew On This: Who Belongs Here? is presented as part of Indiana Humanities’ INseparable initiative.

Your ticket price includes your meal and unforgettably rich experience. The menu will be a traditional English Dinner. Scotch eggs, bangers and mash, and chocolate mousse.

In literature and pop culture, Midwesterners are sometimes depicted as friendly and hospitable, while at other times we’re seen as closed-minded and suspicious of newcomers and immigrants. To put it another way, sometimes we’re Leslie Knope, rolling out the welcome wagon, and sometimes we’re the townspeople in Hoosiers, turning a cold shoulder to the new guy and skeptical of his new ideas.

What’s the reality of the community where you live—are you more of a Pawnee or a Hickory? How welcoming is your community to people who come from somewhere else, whether another country or just over the county line? What do we mean when we say someone is or isn’t part of a community? Who decides? Why does openness matter—and how can your community be more welcoming?

"Reaganomics killed America's middle class," and "the old deal that held US society together started to unwind."

Photo credit.

Following are two topics raised during the Tuesday "Chew On This" discussion about what divides Americans.

Tuesday night, we chewed on THAT.

Starting the conversation here.

A return to Piketty: "Reaganomics killed America's middle class."

There’s nothing “normal” about having a middle class. Having a middle class is a choice that a society has to make, and it’s a choice we need to make again in this generation, if we want to stop the destruction of the remnants of the last generation’s middle class ...

... Capitalism is not an economic system that produces a middle class. In fact, if left to its own devices, capitalism tends towards vast levels of inequality and monopoly. The natural and most stable state of capitalism actually looks a lot like the Victorian England depicted in Charles Dickens’ novels.

Continuing it here.

Decline and fall: how American society unravelled, by George Packer (The Guardian)

Thirty Forty years ago, the old deal that held US society together started to unwind, with social cohesion sacrificed to greed. Was it an inevitable process – or was it engineered by self-interested elites?

 ... The large currents of the past generation – deindustrialisation, the flattening of average wages, the financialisation of the economy, income inequality, the growth of information technology, the flood of money into Washington, the rise of the political right – all had their origins in the late 70s. The US became more entrepreneurial and less bureaucratic, more individualistic and less communitarian, more free and less equal, more tolerant and less fair. Banking and technology, concentrated on the coasts, turned into engines of wealth, replacing the world of stuff with the world of bits, but without creating broad prosperity, while the heartland hollowed out. The institutions that had been the foundation of middle-class democracy, from public schools and secure jobs to flourishing newspapers and functioning legislatures, were set on the course of a long decline. It as a period that I call the Unwinding.

In one view, the Unwinding is just a return to the normal state of American life. By this deterministic analysis, the US has always been a wide-open, free-wheeling country, with a high tolerance for big winners and big losers as the price of equal opportunity in a dynamic society. If the US brand of capitalism has rougher edges than that of other democracies, it is worth the trade-off for growth and mobility. There is nothing unusual about the six surviving heirs to the Walmart fortune possessing between them the same wealth as the bottom 42% of Americans – that's the country's default setting. Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates are the reincarnation of Henry Ford and Andrew Carnegie, Steven Cohen is another JP Morgan, Jay-Z is Jay Gatsby.

The rules and regulations of the Roosevelt Republic were aberrations brought on by accidents of history – depression, world war, the cold war – that induced Americans to surrender a degree of freedom in exchange for security. There would have been no Glass-Steagall Act, separating commercial from investment banking, without the bank failures of 1933; no great middle-class boom if the US economy had not been the only one left standing after the second world war; no bargain between business, labour and government without a shared sense of national interest in the face of foreign enemies; no social solidarity without the door to immigrants remaining closed through the middle of the century.

Once American pre-eminence was challenged by international competitors, and the economy hit rough seas in the 70s, and the sense of existential threat from abroad subsided, the deal was off. Globalisation, technology and immigration hurried the Unwinding along, as inexorable as winds and tides. It is sentimental at best, if not ahistorical, to imagine that the social contract could ever have survived – like wanting to hang on to a world of nuclear families and manual typewriters ...

Tuesday night, we chewed on THAT.

Photo courtesy of Indiana Humanities.

When Julie Schweitzer first mentioned her wonderful idea to stage Chew On This, and I saw Indiana Humanities at the organizational pyramid's peak, it all combined to remind me of this column from May of 2017.

ON THE AVENUES: Are dissidents born or made? A humanities major examines his life and locale.

... You know, if dastardly parasitic humanities majors like me didn’t combat the angst with alcohol and stick around places like Nawbany, confident that any reasonable definition of leadership includes transparency, the ability to hear opposing viewpoints, to weigh available options and to filter the incessant bilge before charging across open ground toward the machine gun nest – tell me, would anyone bother challenging Wendy Dant Chesser and Bob Caesar when they begin spinning those “our way or the highway” whoppers?

That’s okay. You needn't answer. It’s my conscience, and it’s not for sale. However, I’m not going anywhere, and you can buy me a beer any time you like.

The dinner went very well, and hats off to the newspaper for sending Brooke to report it.

New Albany event discusses how to connect across boundaries, by Brooke McAfee (News and Tribune)

NEW ALBANY — The theme of the evening was "division."

But as attendees exchanged thoughts over drinks and a three-course meal at Pints & Union in New Albany, they were united in their goal to build connections between community members of different backgrounds, identities and opinions.

The event, called "Chew on This: What Divides Us?" was one of 10 simultaneous conversations that occurred at restaurants throughout Indiana on Tuesday to explore issues of polarization. The series is part of Indiana Humanities' new INseparable initiative, which aims to connect Hoosiers across dividing lines.

ArtSeed in New Albany was the host of the event, and Roger Baylor, local blogger and beer programmer at Pints & Union, served as the conversation's facilitator. The divisions identified in the conversation included differences of values and political opinions, along with differences between rural, suburban and urban communities.

The dinners took place in Bargersville, Batesville, Carmel, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis (where there were two separate dinners), New Albany, Rensselaer, South Bend and Warsaw ...

PINTS & UNION PORTFOLIO: Check out these upcoming beer events, from St. Patrick's Day until Derby Festival time.

I've put together a few events at Pints&union between now and the end of April, and a couple other special occasions have popped up.

Before we take a look at these, be aware that brunch is being served each week at Pints&union on Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Also know that there'll be the requisite St. Patrick's Day merriment on both Saturday and Sunday, March 16 and 17 (poster above). Brunch will proceed as planned, with fish and chips in the evening. In addition to "the Guinness" and Slane Irish Whiskey samples, there'll be draft Smithwick's and Harp.

You'll notice references to Pints&union Historical Society + Beer, which I'm hoping will serve as umbrella for numerous future ideas like these. Here we go, in chronological order.

BOCK of AGES: A GERMAN-AMERICAN BREWING TRADITION
Saturday, March 23 at 2:00 p.m.
My good friend Kevin Gibson, who you know as a writer, musician and beer, joins us for a refresher course on Bock. In the heyday of pre-Prohibition brewing in Louisville, the annual spring Bock beer release was a beloved seasonal event in the German-American community. I'll have a keg of Paulaner Salvator Doppelbock on tap, and if we get lucky, there'll be a glassware giveaway.

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CENTRAL STATE BREWING NIGHT
Thursday, April 4 at 7:00 p.m.
Special Central State cans will be available all week (we serve Garden and Table year round), and then on Thursday the Central State crew takes over the upstairs room for a conspiratorial evening with draft Barrel Aged Bashi Farmhouse Barleywine, a selection of Smoked Goose meats, local artisan cheese and an homage to Underberg.

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INDIAN CURRY AND COMPLIMENTARY COCKTAIL WITH PINTS&UNION STAFF
Friday, April 5 at 7:00 p.m. at Mesa, A Collaborative Kitchen

This one's at Mesa, located about 100 yards away on Pearl Street: "Join us at MESA to meet the talented staff behind our beloved neighborhood old world public house, Pints and Union. Owner Joe Phillips will bring his talented team to serve up 3 courses; featuring Indian Curry and a unique drink to pair! Detailed menu coming soon ... "

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JOUETT MEEKIN : NEW ALBANY’S 19th-CENTURY BASEBALL STAR
Saturday, April 20 at 2:00 p.m.
New Albany native Jouett Meekin (1867-1944) was our city's most renowned big league pitcher predating baseball's "modern" era. Local attorney and tireless Little League supporter Justin Endres has done research on 19th-century baseball in New Albany, and he'll chat about his findings while I introduce attendees to another old-school topic: Kentucky Common, our area's most popular beer during Meekin's prime (it's Louisville's only recognized, indigenous style. Thanks to Falls City Brewing Company for its support.

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CHEW ON THIS
Tuesday, April 23 at 6:30 p.m.
This is a meal and a conversation, with appreciation to Julie Schweitzer of the New Albany's ArtSeed collaborative. Julie spotted the opportunity and thought of us, and we love the idea. I'll be moderating the discussion. The meal costs $25 (alcohol extra) and is being organized by Indiana Humanities. Seating is limited to 15, so go here for ticket information and read more:

"Chew On This" -- a special dinner and discussion at Pints&union on Tuesday, April 23.

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Of course by April 23 it's Derby Festival season -- and that's a whole other story. Stay tuned.

"Chew On This" -- a special dinner and discussion at Pints&union on Tuesday, April 23.

It's going to be a unique April evening.

So what’s true? Are we more divided than ever before? If so, why is that? What, exactly, divides us? We’ll dig into these and similar questions on Tuesday, April 23 during a special INseparable-themed Chew On This. Sign up for one of 6 locations around the state, where you’ll share a meal (two courses, dessert and non-alcoholic drinks) and civil yet fun in-depth conversation with other curious Hoosiers. Each table will be led by an expert facilitator, someone who brings special insight into why we do or don’t manage to get along with one another. Your ticket price includes meal and an unforgettably rich experience.

Thanks to Julie Schweitzer and her ArtSeed art collaborative (the evening's host organization), Pints & Union will be one of only seven statewide venues (so far) for Chew On This, an Indiana Humanities dinner and discussion on Tuesday, April 23.

While some might question my expertise, I'll be the discussion facilitator and am looking forward to the experience. We'll be upstairs at the pub, where event seating is limited to 15 persons. You can learn more and purchase your $25 (plus fee) ticket at the Eventbrite link, and although it's a long way off, my guess is these seats will go quickly.