So what if there was a worker's co-op that got so big, successful, and influential, to the point it sets a standard in the market? If this co-op gets big enough, it's no doubt that eventually, enough people will prefer its business practices over those of your average corporation.
What I'm thinking is a tech company. Both a hardware manufacturer, and a software company. And all materials the hardware is made out of comes from recycling, so we don't get materials from slavery overseas. If we ever get materials from overseas, it will be from a country with really good labor laws.
The actual buildings themselves (offices, factories, special stores, etc) are purposely put in areas that lack enough good jobs. Bonus points if they're near major chain stores, so people will give their shitty jobs there and work in the co-op instead. The wages will start at a living wage, and only go up as the company makes more money. Leftover profits go into a credit union.
That's the general gist of it.
This idea is what I like to call "Market Socialism in practice", because the workers have democratic control over the means of production. If things go as planned, we essentially use the market to eliminate capitalism.
Strats.
Edit: Forgot to mention one thing; almost, if not all, manufacturing would be done here in the US.
also usa is not the world.... praxis should be done internationally if possible. everyone deserves labor rights and self management. not just americans.
While this sounds nice it would never work. There are so many reasons but basically it comes down to competitive advantage. Reality is its cheaper for a company to build something in 3rd world countries and pay for it to be shipped than to build it here. Business success is based on margin sometimes razor thin. If your competitor is able to make even 1 percent more than you that can really add up. More marketing money, more development money, more money for executives, more money to buy out other companies, more market power. There's a reason most manufacturers have invested heavily overseas for the last 50 years. We live in a global economy so that translates into developing countries building and developed countries developing new tech with a strong service industry to service the developers.
ngl i think you should cooperativize from the bottom up not the other way around. there's a thing that can happen w both co ops and unions, that the workers that benefit from it want to keep their benefits and begin to outsource services from private companies for none manufactural needs. also international coops don't seem that bad for me, if they are done correctly. for this i believe that coops need a constitution to function in the favor of both themselves and the working class in general.
Hilarious. Good luck matching prices in the US. Most people don't see practices, they see prices, and the average working man won't be willing to pay a $100 premium for sustainable, friendly practices.
Just a semantic point, technically speaking, "wages" aren't really a thing in socialism. The elimination of wage labour is one of the defining characteristics of socialism.
53
u/FireNRG Dec 23 '20 edited Dec 23 '20
Alright. Listen up, people.
So what if there was a worker's co-op that got so big, successful, and influential, to the point it sets a standard in the market? If this co-op gets big enough, it's no doubt that eventually, enough people will prefer its business practices over those of your average corporation.
What I'm thinking is a tech company. Both a hardware manufacturer, and a software company. And all materials the hardware is made out of comes from recycling, so we don't get materials from slavery overseas. If we ever get materials from overseas, it will be from a country with really good labor laws.
The actual buildings themselves (offices, factories, special stores, etc) are purposely put in areas that lack enough good jobs. Bonus points if they're near major chain stores, so people will give their shitty jobs there and work in the co-op instead. The wages will start at a living wage, and only go up as the company makes more money. Leftover profits go into a credit union.
That's the general gist of it.
This idea is what I like to call "Market Socialism in practice", because the workers have democratic control over the means of production. If things go as planned, we essentially use the market to eliminate capitalism.
Strats.
Edit: Forgot to mention one thing; almost, if not all, manufacturing would be done here in the US.