COOPERATIVES should be more popular

[Rosa Luxemburg]

The idea that workers own their own business, housing, healthcare, banks, stores is appealing. Sharing the profits. Cooperatives can compete in the economy and help disadvantaged communities. They should be more popular in the USA. Read this:

http://party.coop/

[RKP5637]

1. I agree, especially with grocery stores. The prices here are outrageous and they just keep going

up. Some of my friends that are professional buyers in the grocery business tell me the markup and profits and really outrageous. Consumers are cheated a fair price as are employees for wages.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

2. both workers and consumers could have their say

[beerdragon]

11. Good call

It could also assist in supporting the local economy that it services! It would also likely provide superior goods and services, as in produce, for instance. Most home gardens yield more crops with less resources and conversely provide approximately 7 times the nutritional value. These could be sold at local farmers markets rather than relying so heavily on grocers.

[arcane1]

4. Community gardens are getting more popular, at least in places where they're possible

We need more of that!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

6. It's a great idea!

I think in very poor areas growing together to provide food is a way to overcome starvation especially for children. Many of my students do not get a meal when they get home.

[arcane1]

10. And it is a way to JOIN!

[RKP5637]

7. We really do! We need to look at how to make core necessities for life

more sustainable and equitable. Right now, there is so much price gouging going on.

[arcane1]

3. AGREED! It's funny, sometimes I will bring up this concept and get blank stares in return.

It's so alien to what day-to-day life is like for most people, which is either a literal mom-and-pop operation or working for The Man.

Sadly, our culture does such a good job of keeping us separated from each other, these ideas are hard to take root.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

5. I shop at Coop stores when I am in the UK

It's a good experience.

[99th_Monkey]

8. Abso-fucking-lutely ...AND Worker-owned Co-ops ARE in Bernie's Economic Platform.

Co-op have been thriving in Vermont for some time.

AND co-ops need to diversify to ALL sectors of economic life.

Child care, grocery stores, banks, manufacturing, electronics, computers, etc.

There's a massive demonstration of this multi-sectored worker-owned economy called
Mondragon Corporation in Basque region of Spain. . "At the end of 2013, it employed
74,061 people in 257 companies and organizations in four areas of activity: finance,
industry, retail and knowledge." It was founded by a Catholic Priest decades ago. I
studied this stuff back in the late 80s and it was going full-steam back then.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondragon_Corporation

[Rosa Luxemburg]

17. I used to use the Cooperative Bank

I used to use the Cooperative bank in the UK. I guess credit unions in the US are similar?

http://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/

[99th_Monkey]

18. Yep.

I have a credit union, which I trust much more than any bank.

[brush]

9. A good example of this is the Montdragon system in the Basque region of Spain.

Pls google it.

[mopinko]

12. co-op grocery stores growing in chi town.

there are a couple very successful ones up and running in and around chicago. there is a group, of which i am a member, trying to bring one to my neighborhood.
they are focused on filling the marketing gap for urban and small farmers. in addition to being an outlet, they are looking to provide small grants for things like seed for something that the members want to carry, or equipment like hoop houses, hydroponic systems, etc.

i am told there is a non-profit whose sole goal is to support food co-ops.

[PosterChild]

13. In Hyde Park , back in the day . ..

.... I belonged to several coops, including a grocery store and the seminary book store. It goes with the "college town" zeitgeist.

[mopinko]

14. chicago's other "people's republic"

the new stores are different in that anyone can shop there. the advantage to being an owner is that you get to vote on what the store will carry and what aid is given to farmers.
no work requirement like back in the day, either. just a regular store, but run by the people.

the ropa one will allow owners to buy preferred stock when the project gets to that point. planning to put some of my retirement funds into that.

for chitown folks who are interested-
http://www.rogersparkfoodcoop.com

[PosterChild]

16. All right - Rogers Park...

.... my spouse's "home town" !

The coops I belonged to were, to all apperiances, regular retail outlets where the general public could and did shop. If you were a member/owner you gave them your membership number at checkout and received a periodic credit based on your purchases. It was similar to today's "shoppers club" supermarket loyalty programs, but I don't recall an immediate discount.

In addition to the "dividend", members could participate in governance (I didn't ) and I think they had a more traditional coop "bulk purchase" program also.

[PosterChild]

15. I've heard in the past that SAIC...

... is employee owned, so I googled it.

Had Beyster kept 100% of SAIC, hed be worth nearly $2 billion today.

Instead he owns just 1.5%, cashable for about $27 million. Most of the rest belongs to employees at all levels. How does Beyster feel about leaving so much money on the table? Pretty good. How much money can you spend anyway? asks the nuclear physicist, who carries work home in brown paper bags.

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/1997/1201/6012154a.html

http://www.fed.org