Reply #23: Two come to mind . . . [View All]

[janet118]

A food coop where people pool resources and time to get fresh produce at a reasonable price. In Maine, there was a "farmer's union" store which sold feed, tools, household products, etc. Each member got an annual dividend on profits made over the year.

I really believe it's the way to go. If a group of self-employed people formed a health coop to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical, medical and hospital corporations, we would have our "public" option. The old housing "co-ops" in New York City are beautiful and high rent now, but in the beginning they were mostly left-wing people pooling their money to buy a building and manage it.

Imagine if we could really share and cooperate in this country. . . immigrants do it all the time. Unfortunately, we have trust, class and independence issues to deal with because of our cultural myths.