Café Inquiry Grand Rapids – IN PERSON – Public Choice

Join us in our new venue!! We’re now meeting in the choir room on the second floor of Fountain Street Church! See below for further information.

New year, new venue! Join us for our first Café Inquiry of 2025! Phil Gleason will be leading a discussion of public choice theory, which applies economics to the study of political science and government decision-making and how self-interest influences decisions. In the course of the discussion we’ll examine voting systems and the incentives that exist in political institutions. For background to the discussion, we provide the following links: This introductory, medium-length essay from the Library of Economics and Liberty covering the basic position of public choice theory; this short, non-technical and realistic history of public choice; this link to the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s program to study voting methods and voting systems – an important part of public choice theory; this explanation of voting systems from the advocacy group Fair Vote, and links to information about the different types of voting systems (you can pick and choose according to your interest); this short video introduction to public choice from the Fraser Institute; and last but not least, this longer (30-ish minute) video from the Center for the Study of Public Choice showing how incentives can be used to explain the behavior of politicians and voters. We’re excited about this meaty topic AND about our new, more spacious and fully accessible venue! Hope to see you there!

Café Inquiry starts with a short introduction of the day’s topic, followed by casual discussion.

This event is free and open to the public. Donations appreciated, but not expected.

Attendees are able to future propose topics which would align with Michigan Humanist’s purpose: from atheism, agnosticism, humanism, secularism, and freethinking to broader subjects in science and humanities, such as religion, philosophy, social issues, politics, evolution, morality, ethics, and psychology.

To access the choir room enter the building via the Fountain Street entrance. (There may be scaffolding in place due to construction, but you can walk under it). Take the elevator or stairs to the second floor, and follow the Michigan Humanist signs. Or ask directions from someone. The choir room is located on the left at the south end of the west hallway.

Parking information – Street parking, if you can find it, is free on Sunday. The nearby GRCC Parking structure is free until 3 PM on Sunday, although this is not advertised. You will need to take a ticket to enter the structure but the exit gate will be open if you leave before 3 PM. Parking is also available free for up to 2 hours in the Public Library lot for patrons. You will need to have your ticket validated in the library. If walking for any distance is a problem for you, please contact us and we’ll see what can be arranged.

Café Inquiry (Grand Rapids) meets each month IN PERSON on the second Sunday and ONLINE on the fourth Sunday.

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Michigan Humanists values the participation of all guests — requests for reasonable accommodation may be made by contacting the event host at least three days prior to the event.

Michigan Humanists expects all guests to engage in respectful discussion. Critiques on views and claims based on merit are allowed, but not attacks on individuals who hold other perspectives.

Any person engaging in disruptive behavior or harassment will be asked to leave, and may be banned from future events pending the severity of the action. Please speak to the event host or contact info@michiganhumanists.org if you feel these expectations are being violated.