Posted by dan jefferies on August 19, 2008 at 10:49:23:
In Reply to: Re: cooperativism posted by Maxwell on August 18, 2008 at 15:44:50:
I found this very interesting. Having never heard of "Cooperativism" nor its political party, it sounds much like People For A New Society's model.... except its end-of-statement additions which sound less savory: democracy that involves only "most decisions" and cooperation except for "some private businesses & small farms"? These qualifiers leave me confused and I have to be hobnest, wondering about the depth of committment to 'cooperation', which can only function within real democracy. Like pregnancy,can you be'sort of a democracy'? And can you be 'cooperativist' but not in all social interactions? People For A New Society proposes a model that is much simpler:
the social realm (workplace and community) would be simply cooperatively run and managed. The private life we all treasure, however, would be our own to create: choosing how we spend our time and our time labor credits (representing our contribution to the social family thru our time at work)will be our own affair: art,gardening,sports,family outings-what we now would like to call 'our leisure time pursuits'if we only had the chance to really pursue them! With a '2-day work week' where we contribute our time & attention to the social needs that have been determined cooperatively thru our councils & meetings & internet discussions & votes....the 'charm' of privately running 'small farms & businesses for private profit" would be an odd anachronism, but growing things & being inventive wouldn't be! Exploiting others is not the real 'engine of invention & joy', but challenge & the desire to create, IS. It comes to mind: So Who would 'own' the land? Who would prevent me from growing food? I'd say no one. Much like co-ops & condos today, I imagine we would create user-friendly solutions and agreements-even if the 'land' or 'community center' or 'music studio' or 'pottery shed' were collectively 'owned'. Hope you'll say more about 'collectivist thought'. I'm intrigued and certainly interested in what you write!