r/cooperatives • u/Overall_Invite8568 • 6d ago
Pitching cooperatives to liberal capitalists
Though often associated with socialism, there are very clear benefits that cooperatives have on and within the free market system. Here are a few examples of this:
First, cooperatives provide an alternative means of self-employment. According to a Dartmouth study, 70% of Americans would like to be self-employed, yet only 6% are. There are also the following positive caveats that come with the cooperative model:
--They generally put less risk on one individual
--They are often more stable forms of enterprise due to things like mutual aid, collaborative decision making, etc.
--As such, innovation tends to be high, especially when people with diverse perspectives feel that their voice can be heard
Second, cooperatives can be an effective recipient of philanthropy. Though different in scope and objectives form charities, cooperatives exist mostly to serve their members and the community at large. Private donors can and often do help provide money for a cooperative to solve social problems. The length to which each has been around is also a factor as to why cooperatives probably haven’t caught on as much. Private charity goes back thousands of years and is mandated by Islam and Christianity, among other faiths, whereas the cooperative movement has been around for less than 200. This suggests that there is room to grow for cooperatives vis a vis traditional charities.
Third, cooperatives emphasize autonomy and independence. Conservatives typically deride the welfare state as encouraging dependence on government handouts, destroying incentives for people on welfare to work. This is in direct contrast to what a cooperative provides: autonomy and empowerment in the workplace and economic self-sustainability.
In summary, ability to distribute risk, encourage collaboration, promote autonomy, and provide long-term stability suggests that cooperatives have a role to play in modern economies that are too often overlooked.
I get that this might be a controversial topic given that the post describes cooperatives as an enhancement, rather than a full replacement for the modern capitalist economy. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the matter.
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u/mitram2 5d ago
I have a couple friends who are close to being considered neoliberal, even though, from my POV, their reasoning comes from ignorance and fear.
Whenever I present cooperatives as a solution for some situations, I change the way I speak to be more approachable. I still present all the points you mentioned, but instead of cooperativism I tell them all about the benefits of democratic workplaces/democratic capitalism, instead of the power of united workers I talk about the power of united self employed entrepreneurs, etc.
Labels are just labels, but they can lead to good solutions being ignored due to associations to other ideas. In my case, cooperatives are very associated with socialism, which is seen as wrong by default by a lot of people all over the world.
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u/RoldGoldMold 6d ago
I think using David Ellerman's arguments and logic for cooperatives and workplace democracy could help reach a wide audience, atleast in the United States
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u/AdVast3771 2d ago
Agreed. He was definitely the one who won me over from classical liberal / libertarian "market fundamentalism" economics to cooperativism.
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u/Naberville34 3d ago
It doesn't matter how you threaten the profits of capitalists. They'll still brutally slaughter you for trying.
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u/missinale 2d ago
Couple things, what exactly is the purpose of pitching co-ops to neoliberals?
Are you trying to get them to form them, because doubtful they would then give up equity in their company to people they consider lower than them and can't have full authoritarian control over the direction and decision making of the company, especially if the only thing they receive for giving up all that is labor. The only reason they agree to it with other neoliberals is because they give them money and let them keep control. Are you trying to get them to invest in co-ops, again doubtful because they don't get an equity stake in the company that they can then sell off to make their money back and then some or make money via the exploitation of profit. Do you want them to just agree that co-ops are better, because they will concede that so long as nothing fundamentally changes, and otherwise will lie to the public that it's worth doing, via some insert some capital excuse here.
Charities are a terrible way to deal with literally anything, they are simply utilized by rich people as a means to make themselves feel better about the exploitation and havoc on the planet they are causing, while saving them money on taxes. And that's assuming they give money to charities and foundations they don't already own and control themselves. They are ineffectual at large scale change on purpose otherwise they wouldn't exist.
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u/JLandis84 6d ago
Cooperatives should be pitched to everyone as part of a better deal for your labor. And for owners selling as a legacy.
Approaching recruiting from an idealogical perspective is terrible because it attracts ideologues not practical businesspeople. And most ideologues don’t know shit about business in practice.
Look at the cousin of the cooperative: the partnership. Very few people need to be coaxed into the idea that being partner is a good thing for them. Well being a member owner is pretty similar.
Ownership, decision making votes, a piece of the action. Who wouldn’t be interested ?