Cooperative Economics: Replacing a Capitalism in Collapse

[marmar]

Cooperative Economics: Replacing a Capitalism in Collapse

Sunday, 02 June 2013 09:40
By Carl Gibson, Occupy.com | Op-Ed


I live in a co-op house with 30 other people in Madison, Wisconsin. While we pay rent to the nonprofit organization that manages Madison’s co-op properties, our only landlords are each other. We have weekly meetings to discuss house business and make decisions in a democratic process, using a consensus model. We agree to not buy any food or products for the house that come from detestable companies like Monsanto, Koch Industries and Tyson, and get most of the ingredients for house meals from the farmer’s market and a local food co-op. We all actively take part in our own residence by making sure things are kept (relatively) clean, problems are solved quickly, and the house remains a thriving community.

As 30 people all living in one big house, sharing expenses, growing our own food in rooftop gardens and recycling/composting as much we can, our environmental footprints are much smaller as a whole. Also, I only pay $500 a month in rent, utilities, washer/dryer, internet, and even food. And this is in a house within walking distance of the downtown area, right on the lakefront.

This made me wonder - why did I ever allow myself to live alone with no community and pay a landlord who doesn't make decisions with tenants in a democratic process? And why did I do it considering that form of living cost twice as much as my current housing situation? It's just one example of cooperative economics replacing the outdated corporate capitalist model.

We’re witnessing capitalism’s death throes right now. The stock market surges to new highs on a regular basis, corporate profits soar every quarter, and taxes on corporations as a percentage of GDP are lower than they’ve ever been in decades. Despite all the success of corporations, they’re actually squeezing more productivity out of their workers by laying off their coworkers. .....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/16718-cooperative-economics-replacing-a-capitalism-in-collapse