Socialism 101. Real life examples.

[white_wolf]

Some people have asked me for examples of socialism working, so I decided to provide some examples of successful worker owned companies, since worker control of the means of production is the most basic precept of socialism. These are smaller examples,but the goal of socialism is to create these kinds of conditions for all workers everywhere.

One of the most successful is the Arizemendi Bakery in California. This is a completely worker owned co-op where every worker does their share of the work and gets the same pay based on how well the business is doing. All decisions are voted on by the workers and made democratically. In this system the workers provide a higher quality product since they have a direct stake in their work and are not alienated from their work.

Another example is the Alvardo Street Bakery that was featured in Micheal Moore's Capitalism a Love Story. The average worker salary at this bakery ranges from 57,000-63,000 a year.

One final example is the Mondragon Corporation which is a federation of co-ops based in the Basque region of Spain. It currently employs 85,066 people.

These are just a few examples of successful implementation of socialist practices on a small-scale. The goal of socialism is to see these pratices become the standard in all forms of business so that the workers get their rightful share of their labor.

[Drale]

1. How about REI which is a Co-Op Outdoor recreation company

Anyone who becomes a member gets a dividend every year, and anything you buy has a life time no questions asked return policy. They are a little expensive but the return policy is well worth the extra money alone.

[Exilednight]

2. Best example I know of Native Americans before the arrival of Europeans. n/t

[I Drink Water]

3. Yugoslavia was mildy successful until Reagan got scared and crushed them with the IMF

[white_wolf]

4. Really? I didn't know that. I'd be interested in reading about it.

[I Drink Water]

7. Yes, Yugoslav companies were socially owned and managed with workers' self-management

Yugoslavia's implosion was in part due to U.S. machinations. Despite Belgrade's non-alignment and its extensive trading relations with the European Community and the U.S., the Reagan administration targeted the Yugoslav economy in a "Secret Sensitive" 1984 National Security Decision Directive (NSDD 133), "United States Policy toward Yugoslavia." A censored version declassified in 1990 largely elaborated on NSDD 54 on Eastern Europe, issued in 1982. The latter advocated "expanded efforts to promote a 'quiet revolution' to overthrow Communist governments and parties" while reintegrating the countries of Eastern Europe into a market-oriented economy.

The U.S. had earlier joined Belgrade's other international creditors in imposing a first round of macroeconomic reform in 1980, shortly before the death of Marshall Tito. Successive IMF- sponsored programs since then continued the disintegration of the industrial sector and the piecemeal dismantling of the Yugoslav welfare state. Debt restructuring agreements increased foreign debt, and a mandated currency devaluation also hit hard at Yugoslavs' standard of living.

This initial round of restructuring set the pattern. Throughout the 1980s, the IMF prescribed further doses of its bitter economic medicine periodically as the Yugoslav economy slowly lapsed into a coma. Industrial production declined to a negative 10 percent growth rate by 1990 -- with all its predictable social consequences.

http://www.albionmonitor.com/9904a/yugodismantle.html

[Arctic Dave]

9. I did not know this. Thank you for the information.

[PeaceNikki]

5. Milwaukee. Here you go

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/PeaceNikki/32

[white_wolf]

6. Oh and here is an interesting study that is simlar to this topic.

End of Communism cheered, but now with more reservations: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1396/european-opinion-two-decades-after-berlin-wall-fall-communism

[socialist_n_TN]

8. You know there's a communist country that you ...........

don't hear much of (or at all) in these threads that I'm kind of curious about and that's Vietnam. Apparently even though the wars in the 50s/60s/70s tore the country up, they've recovered nicely. It's not actually held up as a socialist success OR failure. Which probably means it's been pretty successful, considering the plethora of capitalist propaganda.

[white_wolf]

10. So who dares me to post this on Free Republic?