Consume this Movie!
Thursday, June 10
7:00 PM
Mercury Cafe
2199 California St, Denver
$5 suggested donation

Are Americans too materialistic? Are we willfully trashing the planetary ecology in order to serve the desires and drives of the ego? And what, or who could be driving this powerful force of seduction? Consume This Movie takes a critical look at social injustice, peak oil, resource depletion and our deep need to feel connected to each other through what we choose to consume. This 80 minute documentary also examines the frenzied pace of fast-lane materialism that is beggining to burn us out. We Americans are just now beginning to yearn for a simpler life, but is it too late? Have we set in motion a runaway train that threatens to undermine the ecological, social and spiritual cornerstones that make the pursuit of happiness possible in the first place?

Requiem for Detroit
Thursday, June 24
7:00 PM
Mercury Cafe
2199 California St, Denver
$5 suggested donation

a vivid evocation of an apocalyptic vision: a slow-motion Katrina that has had many more victims. Detroit was once America’s fourth largest city.

Built by the car for the car, with its groundbreaking suburbs, freeways and shopping centres, it was the embodiment of the American dream.

But its intense race riots brought the army into the city. With violent union struggles against the fierce resistance of Henry Ford and the Big Three, it was also the scene of American nightmares.

Now it is truly a dystopic post-industrial city, in which 40 per cent of the land in the centre is returning to prairie. Greenery grows up through abandoned office blocks, houses and collapsing car plants, and swallows up street lights.

Police stations and post offices have been left with papers on the desks like the Marie Celeste. There is no more rush hour on what were the first freeways in America. Crime, vandalism, arson and dog fighting are the main activities in once the largest building in North America. But it’s also a source of hope.

Streets are being turned to art. Farming is coming back to the centre of the city. Young people are flocking to help. The burgeoning urban agricultural movement is the fastest growing movement in the US. Detroit leads the way again but in a very different direction.

If you want to understand the global economic system this film is a must see. It specifically deals with the work that women do and how it is measured (or not measured) in the present day economic system. In examining this issue Marilyn Waring also gives us a critical look into the distorted logic that drives the world today.

The End of Poverty?
Thursday, February 11
7:00 PM
Mercury Cafe
2199 California St, Denver
$10 suggested donation

Global poverty did not just happen. It began with military conquest, slavery and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals and forced labor. Today, the problem persists because of unfair debt, trade and tax policies — in other words, wealthy countries taking advantage of poor, developing countries.

Renowned actor and activist, Martin Sheen, narrates The End of Poverty?, a feature-length documentary directed by award-winning director, Philippe Diaz, which explains how today’s financial crisis is a direct consequence of these unchallenged policies that have lasted centuries. Consider that 20% of the planet’s population uses 80% of its resources and consumes 30% more than the planet can regenerate. At this rate, to maintain our lifestyle means more and more people will sink below the poverty line.

Filmed in the slums of Africa and the barrios of Latin America, The End of Poverty? features expert insights from: Nobel prize winners in Economics, Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz; acclaimed authors Susan George, Eric Toussaint, John Perkins, Chalmers Johnson; university professors William Easterly and Michael Watts; government ministers such as Bolivia’s Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera and the leaders of social movements in Brazil, Venezuela, Kenya and Tanzania . It is produced by Cinema Libre Studio in collaboration with the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation.

Can we really end poverty within our current economic system? Think again.

In another great talk gathered by the Women’s International News Gathering Service (W.I.N.G.S.), Catherine Austin Fitts discusses her local, alternative model called Solari.

I’m turned off by her praise of productivity. I believe that most of what is praised as productive is actually destructive. I also question her endorsement of capitalism, which, by design, blindly serves capital over all else. If your goal is sustainability, human rights, and social justice, I believe that capitalism in any form is doomed to failure.

Nevertheless, I still think her perspective is crucial.

ArgusFest 6th Annual
Fair Trade Holiday Bazaar
w/ Art, Music, & Culture to
Help End Poverty
Sunday, December 6
1:00 to 4:30 PM
Mercury Cafe
2199 California St, Denver

Do your holiday shopping with a clean conscience. Join ArgusFest at our 6th Annual Fair Trade Holiday Bazaar.

The event will feature vendors offering fair trade gifts, many of which whose sales help support organizations working to reduce conditions of poverty. Throughout the day we will feature live music, film, poetry, and education about poverty issues.

Vendors include:

- Cruelty Free World

- Emergency USA

- People of Hope Crafts

- Ladies Sewing Circle

- Bread and Roses Workers’ Cultural Center

- Bead for Life

- Pachyderm Power

- and more…

If you are interested in becoming a vendor please contact Jason Bosch at 303-669-7286.

More details coming soon…

Complementary Currency
presentation by Jason Bosch
Thursday, October 1
7:00 PM
Mercury Cafe
2199 California St, Denver
$5 suggested donation or 1 hour volunteer

How is money created? How does its structure shape our world for better or worse? What are some alternatives?

In addressing social and environmental problems we typically only focus on the immediate issues at hand such as the victims of war or the environmental damage done by agribusiness but we rarely look at the larger economic system which, in its design rewards certain behaviors while punishing others. Imagine playing a game where the rules were written by your opponent. Our money system was created by people in the past who do not share our same values and yet we continue to play by those rules. In this presentation will give a brief overview of money structures both historical and present and share the good news about how complementary currencies offer opportunities for a more just and sustainable future.

The Shock Doctrine
Thursday, September 24
7:00 PM
Mercury Cafe
2199 California St, Denver
$5 suggested donation or 1 hour volunteer

The Shock Doctrine is the latest documentary from acclaimed director Michael Winterbottom (The Road to Guantanamo), co-directed by Mat Whitecross. Based on Naomi Klein’s bestselling book, The Shock Doctrine argues that America’s ‘free market’ policies have come to dominate the world through the exploitation of disaster-shocked people and countries.

Both the film and the book argue that governments all over the world exploit natural disasters, economic crises and wars to push through radical free market policies. Klein calls this ‘disaster capitalism’ and in her view, disaster capitalism is as effective as psychiatric shock therapy at wiping our collective memory.

The film concludes that the result is often catastrophic for ordinary people and hugely beneficial to big corporations. The documentary also adds to Klein’s thesis - which was written before the recent market turmoil - and includes an analysis of how the financial world got into its current troubled state.

Addicted to Plastic
Thursday, August 13
7:00 PM
Mercury Cafe
2199 California St, Denver
$5 suggested donation or 1 hour volunteer

Reveals the history and worldwide scope of plastics pollution, investigates its toxicity and explores solutions.

From styrofoam cups to artificial organs, plastics are perhaps the most ubiquitous and versatile material ever invented. No invention in the past 100 years has had more influence and presence than synthetics. But such progress has had a cost.

For better and for worse, no ecosystem or segment of human activity has escaped the shrink-wrapped grasp of plastic. Addicted To Plastic is a global journey to investigate what we really know about the material of a thousand uses and why there’s so darn much of it. On the way we discover a toxic legacy, and the men and women dedicated to cleaning it up.

Morristown
In the Air and Sun
co-sponsored by
Denver Justice
and Peace Commitee
Thursday, June 18
7:00 PM
Mercury Cafe
2199 California St, Denver
$5 suggested donation or 1 hour volunter

In this hour-long documentary, director Anne Lewis chronicles nearly a decade of change in Morristown, Tennessee, through interviews with displaced or low-wage Southern workers, Mexican immigrants, and workers and families impacted by globalization.

The film shows how working-class people in Mexico and eastern Tennessee are caught in the throes of massive economic change, challenging their assumptions about work, family, nation and community.

“..brings the complex issue of globalization down to its human level — where workers on both sides of the border, men and women, struggle to survive. In the film, the workers speak from the heart, whether in Spanish or English, and while there is poignancy in their stories, there is also inspiration as they challenge corporate power in cross-cultural solidarity.” - Howard Zinn author of A People’s History of the United States