By Leon J Williams
Back in early March last year I wrote about ‘Worker cooperatives‘ explaining briefly what they are and how they work.
With the current ‘economic crisis’ that seems to never end in Europe and with the UK and US on the verge of a triple-dip recession I thought I would revisit the topic.
Sometimes in life it can feel that we are all helpless, unable to control our own lives and destiny while governments and the corporate world dictate how things are going to be, businesses are going into administration at what seems an unprecedented rate and job security seems like a distant dream.
It would seem that this is the perfect time for worker cooperatives to thrive, people banding together to secure their own futures without any dependence on the state or an employer.
Why aren’t they?
Have people forgotten what a worker cooperative is?
Do people not know enough like-minded individuals?
Two reasons come to mind:
1) People are so full of fear about their current plight that they have become paralysed, on one side they have a job that could go any day or they are unemployed with precious little money to risk and on the other there is the unknown with a society that’s screaming just take what you have and be grateful!
2) People have become so accustomed to the capitalist way of thinking that they would rather keep their jobs in the hope of maybe one day earning lots of money than they would set up a co-op with other people are share their profits.
Maybe cooperatives are booming but are hidden away with the media not wishing to cover or have we become so selfish that we would chance it to make lots over stability shared?
For additional information on setting up a cooperative click on the appropriate link below:
ACA The Underground 