Detroit is ripe for worker cooperatives.

[Gravitycollapse]

Picture an American competitor to Mondragon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondragon_Corporation)

-Excellent pay
-Legitimate worker (and family) benefits
-Free education
-Job security
-Exclusive worker control of company assets and executive board
-Truly democratic economic processes
-American researched and American made.

What do we have to lose?

[onestepforward]

1. I would love to see this start in Detroit

and expand across our country.

Here's a link to a video about this:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022737759

[NoOneMan]

2. Its ripe for an alternative economy

Fuck participating in the global machine anymore. Cobbers can buy up land there and build a paradise (other than the gunfire).

Why are people always trying to tinker with a model that is failing us? Its failing our earth. Its failing to fulfill our emotional needs, which essentially drives most production.

Why not try something new and abandons those cliche paradigms of the last century?

[Comrade Grumpy]

3. It's an opportunity to build parallel institutions of various kinds.

Workers' co-ops.

Local food production collectives.

Hell, mutual aid societies.

Make existing unresponsive institutions irrelevant.

[limpyhobbler]

4. I don't think that's what the 1% has in mind.

Love the idea though.

The Cleveland Model is based based on Mondragon

[brooklynite]

5. Cooperatives making what?

With what resources?

What 21st Century manufacturing facilities?

What distribution mechanisms?

What skilled workforce?

[Gravitycollapse]

6. Skilled work forces don't magically appear. They are trained.

The United States consumes goods and services just like any other nation. Inarguably, we consume more of said goods and services than any other nation. The demand is there.

We have demand.
We have an unemployed workforce.
We have the square footage for factories.

What we have is an opportunity. And if Detroit is hitting rock bottom, there has never been a better opportunity to bring a healthy economy to the people of Detroit.

[HiPointDem]

7. you could say the same about the whole country. problem is, the people with the capital

aren't interested in funding worker cooperatives.

where's the capital going to come from?

or do you have a plan for some business that doesn't require capital?

[Gravitycollapse]

8. The capital could be lent from the state.

But we would have to get some actual progressives in office first. So I guess you are right in your pessimism.

[HiPointDem]

9. if the kind of people who like cooperatives were running the government, we wouldn't have had

run-on stock market, banking and housing crises, so the whole thing would be moot anyway.

[Gravitycollapse]

10. Well, no. If the kind of people who like co-ops were running it all, we would have co-ops.

The entire foundation of our economy would be unrecognizable to what we have now.

We have to get far-left economically leaning progressives elected. And I think that would be possible on the local level in communities like Detroit. Work from the ground up. That's how places like Mondragon came into existence. Started out as a technical school and now it's the largest worker cooperative in the world. It would not be easy. But I think Detroit is a perfect place to build the future of our leftist, ethical economy.

[brooklynite]

13. Yes we do have demand...

...but not for products that are made in Detroit.

Starting a new business (cooperative or for profit) requires identifying a demand and assembling the resources to produce and supply it.

[reformist2]

11. Interesting ideas! It beats the big casinos the 1% probably has in mind...

[HiPointDem]

12. There are already casinos in Detroit. And the tax revenue from them goes straight to the

banksters, never enters the Detroit general fund.

Straight to the banksters.