4 ms·

There are a number of cooperatives that are very successful. Not in a capitalist way but providing the workers a honest and good life with much more freedom the

There are a number of cooperatives that are very successful. Not in a capitalist way but providing the workers a honest and good life with much more freedom them usual companies. There is a good example in Brazil https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344119511_Flasko_A_Worker-run_Factory https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344119511_Flasko_A_...

cholantesh 4y ago
Unfortunately they have to compete under the conditions of capitalism, which don't favour workers or enterprises that make worker happiness a priority, making long-term sustainability a huge challenge.
- seanw444 4y ago
  No system makes worker happiness a priority. At least none that can actually exist for a meaningful amount of time in the real world.
  - cholantesh 4y ago
    The 'real world' is not immutable, and even the current system has not existed for a particularly meaningful amount of time.
  - TheCoelacanth 4y ago
    This idea, sometimes called "capitalist realism", that there is no feasible alternative to capitalism is completely unsupported by evidence. It is an ideological position, not an immutable fact of nature.
- brnaftr361 4y ago
  I always bring up Mondragon corporation. They've been up and running in some capacity since 1956, 66 years. There are some criticism lodged against their operations, in that some employees are not worker-owners, but simply workers. I'd call this "slack", and I'd suggest "slack" is largely an artifact of a lack of other cooperatives. There is of course the fact that buy-in does cost money, which I would argue would necessarily set a floor for "tenure" in many cases. Having said that, they have evinced a certain special robustness in the face of crises - in the 80's (iirc) for example, rather than laying people off, they sent them into their education programs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaJ1hfVPUe8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaJ1hfVPUe8 https://vimeo.com/161252994 https://vimeo.com/161252994
  - cholantesh 4y ago
    Mondragon is a great and promising example; I tend to feel that, considering all the headwinds, for any alternative structure - statewise, organization-wise, etc, to succeed in even a small way is to be celebrated - and studied.

cholantesh 4y ago

Unfortunately they have to compete under the conditions of capitalism, which don't favour workers or enterprises that make worker happiness a priority, making long-term sustainability a huge challenge.

seanw444 4y ago
No system makes worker happiness a priority. At least none that can actually exist for a meaningful amount of time in the real world.
- cholantesh 4y ago
  The 'real world' is not immutable, and even the current system has not existed for a particularly meaningful amount of time.
- TheCoelacanth 4y ago
  This idea, sometimes called "capitalist realism", that there is no feasible alternative to capitalism is completely unsupported by evidence. It is an ideological position, not an immutable fact of nature.
brnaftr361 4y ago
I always bring up Mondragon corporation. They've been up and running in some capacity since 1956, 66 years. There are some criticism lodged against their operations, in that some employees are not worker-owners, but simply workers. I'd call this "slack", and I'd suggest "slack" is largely an artifact of a lack of other cooperatives. There is of course the fact that buy-in does cost money, which I would argue would necessarily set a floor for "tenure" in many cases. Having said that, they have evinced a certain special robustness in the face of crises - in the 80's (iirc) for example, rather than laying people off, they sent them into their education programs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaJ1hfVPUe8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaJ1hfVPUe8 https://vimeo.com/161252994 https://vimeo.com/161252994
- cholantesh 4y ago
  Mondragon is a great and promising example; I tend to feel that, considering all the headwinds, for any alternative structure - statewise, organization-wise, etc, to succeed in even a small way is to be celebrated - and studied.