We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Worker Cooperatives Reduce "Hard-Core" Unemployment [Argentina]

Click here to access article by Marcela Valente from Inter Press Service. 

Not exactly current as most of my articles are, but very important. An issue that is often overlooked when discussing the outsourcing of American jobs are the loss of skills this practice, after many years, has on American workers. To prevent this and to sustain workers and their families, we simply must establish our own work sites to produce goods and services needed in our communities. This can be successful if and when communities begin to view corporate produced goods and services as not in their best interests, and be willing to pay higher prices for cooperative products at least in the short run. The Occupy movement along with the obvious decline in the standard of living for ordinary people is rapidly creating this climate of opinion. 

See also this article entitled, "Millions Stand to Benefit from Farmers' Co-ops", regarding farming and food co-ops.