Richard Wolff: We Can Do Better Than Capitalism

[marmar]

&list=PLGiaCwrwSkT9u5o3fr6BFmn0_hZpYLcIh

[navarth]

1. excellent. time for my monthly dose of Wolff.

Last month I noticed a number of attendees that were laughing like it was a comedy event. This troubles me.

Wolff does indeed have an inherent comedic ability, but what he's talking about is as serious as death. The comprehension level of the audience worries me.

[antigop]

2. thanks. K&R. nt

[canoeist52]

3. No economist explains this better. He brings ecomics home and makes it personal.

[niyad]

4. off to greatest for this brilliant man

[geretogo]

5. Just like John the Baptist speaking truth to Roman power . The truth got him beheaded .

[Spitfire of ATJ]

6. This country didn't call itself "Capitalist" until after WWII.

[Curmudgeoness]

7. Democratic workplaces. Great idea.

But what do we do with all the self-important egomaniacs who are at the top now? I am thinking of most of the bosses I have ever had, and there is no way that they would take orders from someone else. Hell, they were not even open to suggestions from others.

[deutsey]

11. The guillotine might make a comeback under such circumstances

[srican69]

8. silliest idea ever... if you have used your life savings and two loans

To open a business ... The best you can do is to take suggestions from your employers and their well being into consideration... You don't turn over core decisions over to a crowd.

Secondly, assume you did that... What if every employee decided to give themselves a big bonus rather than invest in a machine that could help turn out more widgets ...

Most importantly .. You invest in a stock so that it provides a return ( either through growth or dividends)..

What should happen instead is have employee representative at the board of directors ..this is typical in countries like Germany where the Union gets a vote in the Board of directors. Secondly there should be a law that requires that a portion of overall profits be shared equitably. Right now it is now .. Bonuses heavily go to the top.

[PotatoChip]

12. Often, how these co-ops begin here in the US is with a decision

on the part of the owner to sell, or end the business (or business'). This is when the employees who want to begin a co-op step forward as a group to buy it, with everyone equally contributing toward the cost. That could be by way of loans that they, either individually, or as a group raise to purchase the already established business.

So obviously, with every person putting forth their own capital, they are then given 1 vote each for working out the particulars of running the business. As in how much each person is to be paid, what their business plan is going forward, ect.

Regarding the board of directors issue you raised, I've copy/pasted (below) a good description of how it works. (At least in this case).

This is from an article in my local newspaper highlighting the experiences of 45 longtime employees who bought their employer's 3 stores from him, because he wanted to retire. The article is from last summer, but as far as I know, these 3 business' are still going strong using the co-op model.

Each member of the cooperative now has one share in the businesses and one vote in how they are governed. The members elect a board, which appoints managers to various positions. The managers will make decisions about the day-to-day operations of the store, but bigger issues such as capital improvement projects or changes in financing will be decided by membership votes.

http://bangordailynews.com/2014/06/18/business/stonington-employees-buy-3-stores-creating-largest-worker-co-op-in-maine/

It doesn't have to be an already existing business, though. Sometimes groups of people will raise enough money for a start-up business. They do this in the way I've described above.

I hope this helps in explaining how it's done.

[srican69]

13. its a nice model .. but why isn't it more prevalent?

The thing is for a coop business (either employee owned or User owned) to take root and effectively compete with regular businesses require a confluence of many factors.. The MOST important of which is the vision and drive of an individual who makes things happen for a common good.

Even in the examples you cite there must have been a natural leader who must have inspired trust and rallied others towards this goal. It takes a lot steer everyone towards a common goal especially given that people are happiest doing what they are comfortable with and suspicious when a new order arises around them.

I would love a coop grocery store in my town that would if nothing, give a bloody nose to the slave wage paying, customer gouging chain that is currently in place. But who is going to make it happen?

[PotatoChip]

14. Here is a list of worker cooperatives in the US... (the ones that we know of):

(There very well may be many more).

Agaric, LLC (Natick, MA)
AK Press (Oakland, CA[1])
Alvarado Street Bakery (Petaluma, CA)
Arizmendi Bakery Coöperative (San Francisco Bay Area, CA)
Arizmendi Development and Support Collective (CA)
Artichoke Food Co-operative (Worcester, MA)
At-Hand Apps, LLC (Newton, MA)
Black Bear Bakery (St. Louis, MO)]
Black Coffee Co-op(Seattle, WA)
Boston TechCollective (Somerville, MA)
Brattleboro Tech Collective (Brattleboro, VT[2])
Bread And Roses Food Cooperative (Tallahassee, FL)
Breitenbush Hot Springs (Detroit, OR[3])
C4 Tech & Design (New Orleans, LA[4])
Casa Nueva Restaurant, Cantina & Bodega (Athens, OH[5])
Cheese Board Collective (Berkeley, CA)
Chicago Technology Cooperative (Chicago, IL)
Circle of Life Caregiver Cooperative (Bellingham, WA)
Citybikes Workers' Cooperative (Portland, OR)
Civilization Systems (Baltimore, MD)
Collective Copies (Several locations near Amherst, MA[6])
Community Builders Cooperative (Somerville, MA)
Cooperative Home Care Associates (Bronx, NY), estb. 1985. [7][8] the USA's largest worker owned co-op [9]
Co-Soap Cooperative (Oakland, CA)
Data Systems Inc (Burlington, VT)
Design Action Collective (Oakland, CA)
Dollars and Sense (Boston, MA[10])
Ecomundo Cleaning (New York, NY)
Electric Embers (San Francisco, CA)
Equal Exchange (West Bridgewater, MA[11])
Evergreen Cooperatives (Cleveland, OH)
Flywheel Tech Collective (Cleveland, OH)
Food for Thought Books (Amherst, MA)
Free Geek (Portland, OR)
GAIA Host Collective
Glut (est. 1969) (Mt Rainier, MD)
Gotham City Drupal (Brooklyn, NY)
Great Sky Solar (Boston, MA)
Green Worker Cooperatives (The Bronx, NY)
Hard Times Café (Minneapolis, MN)
Heartwood Cooperative Woodshop (Berkeley, CA)
Hoedads Reforestation Cooperative (Eugene, OR)
The Hub Bike Co-op (Minneapolis, MN)
Inkworks Press (Berkeley, CA[12])
Isthmus Engineering and Manufacturing (Madison, WI)
Little Grill Collective (Harrisonburg, VA)
Lucy Parsons Center (Boston, MA)[13]
Lusty Lady (Seattle, WA and San Francisco, CA[14])
Mariposa Food Co-op (Philadelphia, PA)
Mintwood Media Collective P.R. Firm [5] (Washington, DC[15])
Nabolom Bakery (Berkeley, CA)
Namaste Solar (Boulder/Denver, CO)
New Era Windows (Chicago, IL)[16]
New Moon Cooperative
Olympia Food Co-op
Other Avenues Food Store
Pedal Express
Pedal People Cooperative (Northampton, MA[17])
Pelham Auto Parts (Belchertown MA[18])
Puget Sound Consumer Co-Op
Pioneer Valley Photovoltaics (Greenfield, MA and New Britain CT[19])
Radical Designs Cooperative (Oakland, CA)
Radical Press Coffee Collective (Gainesville, FL)
Rainbow Grocery Cooperative
Red and Black Cafe (Portland, OR)
Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse (Baltimore, MD[20])
Red Sun Press (Boston, MA)
René Pujol Restaurant Cooperative
Ronin Tech Collective (Brattleboro, VT
Seward Community Cafe (Minneapolis, MN)
Sunshine Propane
Shot In The Dark Cafe (Tucson, AZ)
South Mountain Company
TechCollective
TeamWorks
Toolbox for Education & Social Action (Northampton, MA)
Twin Ports Commonwealth (Twin Ports)[21]
Union Cab of Madison Cooperative
Union Technology Cooperative (Madison, WI)
Valley Green Feast Collective (Northampton, MA)
Web Collective, Inc.
WebSkillet (Burlington, VT)
Woodshanti Cooperative

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_worker_cooperatives#United_States

Regarding the point you made about getting people to conquer their fear of the unknown by establishing a worker owned co-op, there is help out there for that. Many, if not most states have independent cooperative consulting groups that exist for that very reason. They answer questions and provide support and advice to people interested in starting their own co-op.

Here is an example:

In 2013, the stores’ employees and the Seiles began consulting with the Maine-based Independent Retailers Shared Services Cooperative and the Massachusetts-based nonprofit Cooperative Development Institute to see if details and logistics for the employees buying the stores could be worked out. Nearly a year later, that goal has been realized.
http://bangordailynews.com/2014/06/18/business/stonington-employees-buy-3-stores-creating-largest-worker-co-op-in-maine/

[srican69]

15. which is great ... but I bet will be dwarfed by the number of

For profit entities.

Which just serves to illustrate my point.

[PotatoChip]

16. What point? Honest question. I'm not sure what you mean.

Just guessing here... are you saying that co-ops are not a good idea because there are currently more traditionally structured businesses?

Please elaborate.

[srican69]

17. when did I ever say that they aren't a good idea?

I just suggested they are they more uncommon than for profit entities for the reason I mentioned.

[PotatoChip]

18. Ok, so what then was the point illustrated in your post #15?

You said in that post that your point had been illustrated. I'm asking what point that was.

Eta: You keep talking about non-profit businesses. Co-ops are (generally speaking) profit driven like any other. They differ only in that they are worker owned... Not sure if this has anything to do with the point you were trying to make. Just thought I'd throw that out there...

[DeSwiss]

20. !

''Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.''

~Abraham Lincoln

[JEB]

9. K&R

[onethatcares]

10. and it looks like

we are in a period when it (capitalism) is dying for the masses. Concentrated wealth is killing the United States of America.

[blackspade]

19. K&R

Anyone have a link to his whole speech?