Property and Contract in #Economics: The Case for Economic Democracy by David Ellerman
This book makes 2 arguments.
The employment contract is the core of the #capitalism rather than private property
The employment contract is invalid because it violates #WorkersRights to #democracy in the firm. All firms should be structured as worker #coops for economic justice
Just wanted to give a shout-out of love to my instance at social.coop for simply introducing me to some great tools for collective organising, governance, and financial tools like Open Collective and Loomio.
I've already started looking into these tools for organising a collective locally and it's just brilliant to have the resources and examples of how to use them well.
February is Black History Month! If you are looking for a special gift to celebrate, this stunning royal blue Zulu African Beaded Necklace will turn heads at your next event!
You can shop for this gorgeous piece created by TribalTess on Artisans Cooperative Marketplace: https://buff.ly/4947xFf
The profit motive drives ecological exploitation and the externalization of costs onto the environment. Consumer coops respond to the voice of the community.
For-profit companies abandon their customers and close their doors when there isn't a way to monetize. Consumer coops work with their customers to ensure their needs are met
The stock market is a source of economic instability, market crashes, and, in worst-case scenarios, worldwide economic depressions. Coops don't participate in the stock market and are robust to economic instabilities.
With the simple change of encouraging and incentivizing cooperatives as a business model, we can solve the vast majority of the dystopian-level economic problems we are currently experiencing.
Great reporting by the @coloradosun on how Glenwood Springs mobile home park residents bought the park themselves, rather than letting it fall into the hands of a corporation with a reputation of being a shitty landlord.
500-700 mil euros por um apartamento em Odivelas sem piscina, nem jardins, nem courts de ténis? Lo Ritual de lo Habitual neste país onde o imobiliário é a galinha dos ovos de ouros de toda a economia - sem falar no turismo. Bolas, mas por esse preço mais vale comprar uma casa numa cidade francesa de média dimensão da costa atlântica ou então um apartamento confortável numa cidade costeira da Califórnia. Definitivamente os promotores imobiliários não se tocam em relação ao nível de qualidade de vida deste país. Enquanto isso em Viena de Áustria:
#Housing#Coops#Vienna#Austria: "Gleis 21 is an award-winning, intergenerational co-housing project in Vienna that the residents own, operate and manage collectively. Plant-filled terraces encircle the four-storey building, built almost entirely from wood apart from four central concrete pillars. Unlike a 1970s commune, residents have their own separate apartments as well as access to the communal spaces on the 700 sq m rooftop. There are 38 units in all, including a two-bedroom guest apartment that can be booked for visiting friends and family.
The residents, who range in age from 27 to 72, came up with the concept, raised the money and oversaw the construction of the building. The core group was formed in 2015. By 2017, they had the architect’s plans and the funding in place. The building was completed in 2019 and they all moved in shortly before lockdown. The total cost of the project was almost €10mn. The group found €2mn themselves, the rest came from the bank in the form of a 30-year mortgage and they also received subsidies and a loan from City Hall.
One of the reasons Vienna is repeatedly voted one of the most liveable cities in the world is because its urban planning is centred on the question “is this good for children?” as opposed to “is this good for property developers?"
@blaise YES, those are great advancements and well worth bringing attention to. However, the Basque priest you refer to, José María Arizmendiarrieta, did not invent #coops.
The modern cooperative movement is generally thought to have begun with the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers in 1844, who came up with the 7 Cooperative Principles that many co-ops now adopt. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asYtw8_CfBw
Arguably, of course, the notion of equitable partnership in enterprise is as old as humanity itself.