CLUB NIGHT, 22 November: Thanksgiving - thanks for what?

Whether it be questions about the president and his foreign policy, the dominance of Hollywood in our cinemas, the burgers and fries that make us all too fat, or the fact that Americans around the world just seem to talk so loud – it isn’t often these days that America is mentioned without a bit of a sneer. But America is also the 'Land of the Free' – the first great modern republic and the inspirer of revolution, a great economic power built on immigration, a dominant force in world culture and an artistic powerhouse.

This Manifesto Club Club Night was a chance to celebrate Thanksgiving – that time of the year when Americans eat turkey and mash and give thanks to God, or maybe just give thanks. But in the spirit of the Manifesto Club, it’s also a time for some critical thinking: Thanksgiving – thanks for what?

We invited a range of cultural commentators, journalists, politicos and Manifesto Club members to take part in a ‘balloon debate’. America, we say, is a great balloon that is slowly sinking to the earth. So which of its principles, its rights, its politics and culture, should we keep? And what should we throw overboard so that the great US of A can carry on its upward trajectory in the 21st century?

Speakers championed such contested American ideals as: 'the right to bear arms', 'consumer choice and mass production', 'bringing democracy to the world', 'the first amendment', 'Microsoft', 'the democracy of popular culture' and 'the separation of church and state'. The audience then had the chance to interrogate their arguments before voting on what stays and what goes.

Cost: free to members of the Manifesto Club; £5 non-members. Join the Manifesto Club.
Date: Thursday 22 November
Venue: The Queen Boadicea, 292-294 St John Street, EC1V 4PA Nearest Tube: Angel
Map: www.thequeenboadicea.com