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• September RET Book Club

  • When
    09/14/2025
  •  
    4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
  • Location
    Zoom

  Ricardo’s Dream: How Economists Forgot the Real World and Led Us Astray

  Nat Dyer

  From the workings of financial markets to our response to the ecological crisis, economic theory shapes the world. But where do these ideas come from? Ricardo’s Dream tells the fascinating story of David Ricardo, Adam Smith’s only real rival as the ‘founder of economics’. The wealthiest stock trader of his day, Ricardo introduced the study of abstract models to economics. He also developed the theory of trade that underpinned globalization and hides, behind its mathematical facade, a history of power, empire, and slavery. Brimming with fresh ideas and stories, Ricardo’s Dream shows how too many economists, from Ricardo’s day to our own, have turned away from observing the real world and led us astray. 352 pages.

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• September Third Sunday Zoom

  • When
    09/21/2025
  •  
    10:30 AM - 12:30 PM

  Member Aaron Tyrrell will be presenting on: MAGA Cults and reconverting those in one. 

  Cult dynamics aren't just for weird religious communes! Before the Internet, you had to isolate people from the civilization and bombard them your recorded sermons on a loudspeaker until they gave you all of their possessions. Now, you can bombard them with social media feeds and text message notifications, let them isolate themselves in their basements, and convince them to spend all their money on online coaching courses and natural health supplements.

  
  The biggest and most successful of these new online cults is the cult of Trump, which has indoctrinated nearly a third of voting age adults. People who are used to thinking critically and fact-based debates often feel helpless when trying to persuade their coworkers, friends, and family that they are being lied to. The more fact-checks and expert research you cite, the more they cling to their beliefs. Are there experts we can consult that can tell us how to get through to people trapped in their cult beliefs?
  
  

  Stephen Hassan is one of the world's leading experts on cult behavior and deprogramming. A former Moonie, he escaped the cult and went on to publish his thesis on the BITE model of Authoritarian Control that has served as the standard for assessing high-control groups. BITE stands for Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotion, each of which can be deployed to subvert someone's will. Hassan also wrote the book "The Cult of Trump" which outlines the methods used by Trump and MAGA to control the Behavior, Information, Thoughts, and Emotions of his followers. He also offers advice based on his years of deprogramming experience on the best approach to persuading MAGA cult members that bypasses their defenses and lets you actually get through to them.

  
  

  Bring your own coffee and snacks. 

  The Zoom link will be provided to  members in the newsletter and event announcements.

  
  
  

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• September RET Reflections

  • When
    09/28/2025
  •  
    4:30 PM - 6:00 PM
  • Location
    Zoom

  Are You Ready for the Fall?

  This has been a busy year to date, with the hot weather, wars, and on again off again politics.  Are you looking forward to the Fall for some calm and maybe some cooler weather outdoors?  Did your garden work out?  Did you calm down about world events and just accept that it's going to be a rough ride for a while?  Find a new hobby?

  Join us for a chill discussion about your plans and hopes for the winddown to Winter and preparations for the upcoming holidays.  Not that far away!

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