Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Bankruptcy of Mondragon company demonstrates limits of cooperation under capitalism

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

Friday, November 15, 2013

Bankruptcy of Mondragon company demonstrates limits of cooperation under capitalism

Click here to access article by Pete Dolack from his blog Systemic Disorder.

The announcement that one of Mondragon’s companies is filing for bankruptcy isn’t a commentary on cooperatives, but it is a reminder that even the world’s largest cooperative enterprise is not immune to capitalist competition.

I occasionally meet people who almost fanatically think and argue that cooperatives are the answer to capitalism's global economic instability which has disastrous consequences for working people. Dolack explains that while cooperatives offer a better alternative to working in strictly profit-making enterprises, they can never enjoy complete security competing within a capitalist system against such enterprises.