The Cooperative Economy

External ownership by customers and other stakeholder groups would be acceptable. This structure is possible through the multistakeholder cooperative structure. It grants a voice to more than one group affected by what the organization does, creating a more genuine form of democracy.

Worker self-directed nonprofits wouldn't be included, correct?

Bed-Stuy bike shop reopens as worker cooperative The bike shop has provided bike services to the community since 2021 and is now run by five people, who all have an equal share in the business.

This bike shop reopened as a worker-owned cooperative in Brooklyn, New York City. Now its workers own the store and have direct control over their schedule, compensation, and working conditions.

This kind of freedom is possible for every working person. It's called economic democracy, and it works.

Canada needs a federal community wealth building agenda Instead of another subsidy for a pasta factory, our Liberal-NDP supply and confidence government should announce its intention to support a wave of local democratization projects, including the expans...

𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘴, 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Community ownership over housing, business, and banking is the pathway towards a society where everyone can earn a thriving wage and live with dignity.

You used the words "true socialism." There is no such thing as true socialism. This is like saying something is "true art."

There are different socialisms that promote different things. Worker co-ops are compatible with several socialist philosophies.

Take your own advice.

Socialism is an umbrella term. There are different kinds. There are socialisms where the state is not at all involved. There are socialisms where workers collectively own their workplaces directly. Worker co-ops are compatible with several socialist philosophies, including cooperative socialism.

They also have a lot of social, worker, and community ownership. It seems like you're unable to address the fact that these things have been studied and are empirically viable.

In conclusion, it is inaccurate to claim that these things "never work." Make more informed statements in the future.

All of the things listed earlier exist in countries like Norway, Canada, Switzerland, Denmark, and Italy. These countries are not under single party rule.

These things have been studied and are viable.

Do you challenge the empirical evidence contained in the thousands of studies in this realm of economics?

if so, please provide empirical evidence that shows that all of these researchers and universities are wrong.

Awaiting your response!

Community land trusts and multistakeholder cooperatives are also ways to socialize/democratize the economic system and include workers and communities in economic decisions, which is the goal of the movement for economic democracy.

These things have been extensively studied and are viable.

If we define social ownership as state ownership (on behalf of the people), this exists in many countries. If we define it as public or community ownership, this also exists in many countries. A significant portion of the planet's land is under social and community ownership.

Books + Workplace Democracy = A Good Society 📚

If you're interested in structures that reduce inequalities in wealth/power, you can look into cooperatives and worker-owned firms. Studies empirically show they are better at addressing inequality. Inequalities might always exist, but certain systems are better at addressing them than others.

*We must continue the fight to get big money out of existence.

This is an individual case of a worker-owned cooperative that has actively provided better outcomes for its workers.

This is a meta-study (aggregation of individual studies) that covers worker-owned firms and productivity.

Here is a study that covers firm survival and bankruptcy rates in France and Italy.

It's important that we consider microeconomic data as well, as that will give us a clearer picture, especially when it comes to research that directly compares different economic models.

Here is a U.K. report on cooperatives.

This report details the importance of democracy at work and its associations to better outcomes across European nations.

This study found strong associations between cooperative employment and resilience of employment by region.

East Germany did not have worker/community ownership.

Countries with larger cooperative economies tend to perform better in human development, equality, and social progress. One study found that the top ten most cooperative economies make up 8 out of the top 12 spots on the social progress index.

Empirically, worker-owned (and community-owned) means of production deliver better outcomes for working people. There are many studies covering cooperatives, community-owned enterprises, and worker-owned firms that show this to be true.

And transition it into a worker co-op.

We can create a system where obscene wealth accumulation is not possible. Worker and community ownership is the path forward. As long as the system allows for plutocratic economics, there will always be the tendency towards wealth and power concentration. Economic democracy is the answer.

Once again, the point is that one can make this argument for any group. What ultimately matters in the end is what is being done in reality. In reality, many leftists are actively participating in and building the democratic economy. It would be false to claim that this is not the case.

Workplace democracy creates accountability to workers and aligns incentives so that wage theft is more difficult to engage in. Workplace democracy is also proven to create more equitable wage distributions, further contributing to dignified compensation for working people.

Relevant post:

Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers: Violations of Employment and Labor Laws in America's Cities - National Employment Law Project The sheer breadth of the wage theft crisis demands urgent attention.

Wage theft is the largest form of theft in the United States. Billions are stolen from working people every year, and most of it is never recovered.

Workplace democracy is necessary to address this systemic issue and to create an economy accountable to the people.

Many people claim to be conservatives as well, but do not follow conservative values.

One can make this argument for any group of ideas.

If you're interested in businesses where workers have a more direct and democratic say in management decisions, there is the worker co-op structure. Each worker-member in this kind of business has one vote regardless of the equity they own. Co-ops are more likely to center their workers due to this.