Forum Post: How to Win
Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 12, 2011, 5:24 p.m. EST by AMH
(123)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
We can't win by complaining. No one in power cares. We can't win by force. If we tear down the 1%, a new 1% will take it's place. But we can win! Profits should go to the people, not a greedy few. Boycott corporations. Get what you need from cooperatives. They are customer-owned businesses. The money goes back to the people. You'd be amazed how many there are. Credit unions, power companies, grocery chains. Check out www.ncba.coop for more info. We don't need the 1% to meet our needs. Cut them out of the picture!
http://opencores.org/
http://opensource.com/ http://www.opensource.org/ http://opensourcewindows.org/ http://www.openhardwaresummit.org/
Look, try, and you will succeed.
that's the spirit!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worker_cooperative
Worker Cooperative wiki article
I think customer cooperatives will be better for the economy in the end, but worker cooperatives are at least a step in the right direction.
People could try shopping locally to help out their own local economies, but unfortunately all of our needs can't be met this way. However it would be a start. One thing I don't understand is how people rationalize buying the foreign car because it is manufactured in the US, while just about everything but payroll taxes flows overseas. These southern "right-to-work" states rolled over and gave the vaseline to these foreign entities for a few handfuls of relatively low-paying jobs, giving away land and huge tax breaks along the way. Are we a nation of whores? I will never buy a foreign made car, and search for American products. I consider it to be patriotic.
Show me a real need that can't be met by a coop that already exists and I'll show you a coop that meets it or a want confused for a need.
Or an idea for a new coop to meet that need.
I'm inclined to believe that electronics are a need in today's society. Life as we know it couldn't exist without.
Well if that's how you feel, a partial solution is better than none at all. Use a coop when possible, & only fall back on regular corporations when you have to. We can start creating new coops to fill those needs in the meantime.
One thing would to be to purchase used when possible, or to barter goods and services.
I think this idea can be made to work. I think it's a legitimate avenue to solving the problem. Now we have the rest of the 99% to convince. Can I get some help?
One thing would to be to purchase used when possible, or to barter goods and services.
cool..
Which cooperative is going to sell me a new Mercedes when I trade my current one in?
Which cooperative is going to sell me the boat I was planning on buying next year?
I want a bigger widescreen TV for my media room. Which cooperative sells that?
Sounds like you're set. You must be one of the folks who doesn't need help. Yet. Wait for the automation wave to hit your job. It's only a matter of time.
Please direct me to the nearest cooperative that sells iphones.
Do you want to win? Or do you want an iPhone to entertain you while you wait for the chopping block? If enough people choose, we can put together coops for all our wants, in addition to the coops that already exist for all our needs. It won't be painless or easy, but since when was anything worth doing easy?
By the way, which cooperative made your computer?
One that hasn't been created yet. It takes time for real changes to take hold. I'm trying to start a coop right now, and I'm going to engineer it for growth, to try & push out the standard corporations. But in the meantime, computers aren't real needs.
Have you been to an OWS site? Nothing there has been purchased from a co-op. More electronics at the camps then at Best Buy.
I know. It's a lack of awareness. Which is what I'm trying to fix here. If people were already doing it, why would I need to suggest it?