Coop Economy

People ask me what I think a socialist economy would look like. I say that parts of it would look like the new food coop that is in East Aurora and the Breadhive bakery on 402 Connecticut Street.

Both places are worker owned and worker run cooperatives. The profits from the operations do not go to outsiders that don't work there or to Wall Street. The profits go to the workers. And the only way to own “shares” in these workplaces is to bean employee. (That goes for the Breadhive. I'm not entirely sure how the food coop works. It does sound enticing though and it's not too far from where I live. My bigger question is does it have a decent organic section?)

And since the workers are part owners, they make all the decisions on how the workplace is to be run and so on. I have a book on coops called”Democracy at Work” by Richard Wolff. I've seen a few presentations by him on YouTube and heard a few podcasts. He's an actual Marxist economist that advocates for worker owned companies and cooperatives.

This is the exact opposite to places like General Motors, Ford, Tops, or any gas station or restaurant/fast food joint where the owner runs the place and everyone is told what to do. All the profits go to to the owner and investors. Very few employees in those places can invest int hem because they don't get paid enough.

Then again, worker owned and worker run cooperatives have a better track record when it comes to absences, quality of work, and worker involvement because the worker is more interested in seeing the business succeed.

Are these places exempt from competition? No. If I don't like the food I'm being served I won't return. In the case of the supermarket, if they don't have what I want, I'll shop elsewhere. All the “rules” of economics apply. Supply and demand determine prices and ordering. (Hopefully.) Competition will still exist between different organization serving the same need. The difference is where the profits go. To the workers – who often live locally and spend locally which, in turn, builds the local economy – or to some private investor out somewhere in else where land where. And that money does nothing for the local economy.

So, if you are hungry for a bite, check out the Breadvive. If you want groceries, check out the East Aurora Coop or the Lexington Coop (soon to be two locations from what I understand.)

The big bosses aren't really interested in feeding us or freeing us.

That and do you really want to know what is in that McD's, BK, or other chain food meat?

We called it “mystery meat” in college.

It's a mystery as to what it really is.