Tag Archives: Human Nature

Becoming Human Through Cooperation

Posted on April 19, 2020 by John McNamara

“Work is, before anything else, both as a service to the community and as a path towards personal development.”-José María Arizmendiarrieta (reflection 263 from Pensamientos) As a member of a worker cooperative and as a co-op developer, there are few … Continue reading →

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Reflection #541–power of individuals in cooperation

Posted on September 1, 2017 by John McNamara

In returning to this blog, I am also returning to a long-abandoned project. A couple of years ago, I began discussing the inspirational messages from Don José María Arizmendiarrieta, the spiritual founder of Mondragón and, in many ways, the modern … Continue reading →

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CICOPA’s Declaration on migrants and refugees

Posted on February 9, 2017 by John McNamara

Since my last post on January 23, I had been wondering how to address some of the actions that have happened since in terms of the worker cooperative identity. Fortunately for me, my friends at the Canadian Worker Co-op Federation … Continue reading →

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The “We” Generation

Posted on January 23, 2017 by John McNamara

Here we are. The next two years will seem to bring to life the ancient curse, “May you live in interesting times.” The need for mutual self-help and self-reliance along with solidarity will be at the forefront for many of … Continue reading →

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Pope Francis and Co-operatives

Posted on September 21, 2015 by John McNamara

Tomorrow, Pope Francis arrives for his first visit to the United States. This pope, hailing from Argentina, brings with him a message for all of us in terms of building our economies–the quest for wealth needs to be more than … Continue reading →

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We Need to Reclaim “The Sharing Economy”

Posted on September 1, 2014 by John McNamara

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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Be the Change You Want to See

Posted on October 7, 2013 by John McNamara

Bob Cannell presented some challenging ideas about the nature worker cooperation in the English-speaking world last week. He noted the disparity in the rise of worker owned and controlled businesses in Spain, Italy, France, Brazil, Argentina and a number of … Continue reading →

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The Open Door Policy of Worker Co-operatives

Posted on August 22, 2011 by John McNamara

The 6th Principle of Co-operatives is called, somewhat reflexively, “Co-operation Among Co-operatives.” I have talked about this in a previous post. Today, I want to focus on it from a different perspective provided to us by the spiritual guide of … Continue reading →

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The Power of the Mission

Posted on August 8, 2011 by John McNamara

Recently, I was presenting a session on expansion and I discussed the role of mission statements. The main idea is that a first step at planning significant change in our co-ops should begin with an examination of our mission statements. … Continue reading →

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Excuse the Absence–and a quick word on structure

Posted on July 25, 2011 by John McNamara

Has it really been a month since I last posted? Yikes! I am truly sorry to those who have been checking in on Mondays. I will get back to it. As some of you know, I entered a PhD program … Continue reading →

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