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> That's because currently most co-ops are either run by hippies, or else exist only as tax dodges. Maybe in the U.S., but there is between 1 and 2 billion peo
by mycall 9y ago
> That's because currently most co-ops are either run by hippies, or else exist only as tax dodges.
Maybe in the U.S., but there is between 1 and 2 billion people working in coops. You just don't know about it since corps don't want people to know there is another, probably better way, to run a business.
- Alex3917 9y ago> there is between 1 and 2 billion people working in coops Owner co-ops or worker co-ops? E.g. there are over a hundred million Americans who are members of co-ops, and millions of Americans who work for co-ops. But the number of Americans who actually work for worker co-ops (as opposed to owner co-ops like REI or Ace Hardware) is only a few thousand.
- mycall 9y agoI thought all worker co-ops are owner co-ops? I see "membership" used in all of the numbers I find, so I guess workers counts are much smaller -- but there are tons of them in S.E. Asia.
- Alex3917 9y agoTo give an example, ShopRite is a co-op in the sense that all the store owners make purchases together to drive down costs, but from the worker's perspective it's no different than working at any other store. This is an owner co-op, because the owners of each store are working together so that each owner benefits. A worker co-op is like what Twitter is trying to do, where they are holding a shareholder vote next month to determine if the employees can buy out the business from the owners and run it for their own benefit.