Category Archives: Society

The Friedman Doctrine 50 Years On: A Total Disaster

On September 13, 1970, Milton Friedman penned and Op-Ed for the New York Times that was essentially the opening shot of the economic civil war between the rival economic ideas of John Maynard Keynes and F. W. Hayek. Friedman, a … Continue reading

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How Do We Sense Make Of It All

Several years ago, in the aftermath of the protests in Wisconsin supporting labor unions, I wrote about sensemaking and how resilient cooperatives can be in adjusting to the changes in the economy and providing an antidote to the Shock Doctrine. … Continue reading

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May Day 2020: A Day of Solidarity and Support

Normally, I see May Day as the international workers holiday. It would, in my view, be an international paid holiday where nobody labors and celebrates the value of people. A number of worker co-ops close to celebrate (Rainbow Grocery Co-op … Continue reading

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A Co-op to Die For: People’s Memorial

Washington and the PNW have a rich diversity of Co-ops: preschool, housing, consumer, producer, worker, multi-stakeholder and death. Washington “toddler to grave” co-op economy used to be “cradle to grave” but then Group Health Co-op sold itself. Still, there is … Continue reading

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Worker Co-ops and the American Dream, part 2

Foundations of the American Dream The term, The American Dream, was coined by James Truslow Adams in 1931 in his work, The Epic of America (Adams, 1959; Gupte, 2011; Rank, Hirschl, & Foster, 2014). Adams’ coinage was, perhaps, an attempt … Continue reading

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Worker Development Brings a Better World

REFLECTION NO. 276 Work is the attribute that gives a person the highest honor of being a cooperator of God in the transformation and fertilization of nature and in the resulting promotion of human well-being. That people exercise their faculty … Continue reading

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We do not live alone, but in co-operation

REFLECTION NO. 42 There is something in the depths of the human spirit that is firm and eternal. And there is also something that needs to be moving towards a new and superior expansion, in consonance with the interior and … Continue reading

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We Need to Reclaim “The Sharing Economy”

There has been a lot of discussion of late regarding the so-called “sharing economy”. This phrase refers, generally, to organizations such as Uber, Lyft, AirBnB, and others that provide an on-line broker service so that people can monetize practically everything … Continue reading

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The Madison Conference

I am surea that I don’t need to tell any of the readers of this blog that it is the International Year of the Co-operative. The United Nations designation has paid tribute to our economic model exactly at the time … Continue reading

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Take Wisconsin Back? Create Real Jobs

This morning, while listening to the news, I heard a report in which Paul Ryan, the conservative US Representative from Janesville, urged his fellow Republicans to work hard and “take back” Wisconsin in the Gubernatorial and Senate recall elections on … Continue reading

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