Wage labor is a defining characteristic of capitalism. It references a social relation fostered by plutocratic and exclusionary ownership: the owner/worker relationship. It is a hierarchical and undemocratic one, which is why many support democratic forms of economy that move past capitalist logic.
Here is the video's full quote if needed:
"It's the american dream gone berserk, really, is what it is. You're allowed to dream as big as you want, but if your dreams step on the lives of ordinary people and ruin the quality of their life and their neighborhood, you have to be stopped."
I was not aware of this until now, so thank you for mentioning it. I will be sure to use default text for future posts.
These are various ways to organize an economy to be democratic and participatory, allowing for the people to have a voice in the decisions they have to live with every single day. And according to decades of studies, economic democracy is not only viable, it often outperforms economic plutocracy.
economic system. A cooperative is a democratic structure in the economy as members vote on business policies and elect management. A labor union is also a democratic structure as it grants workers a voice in their workplace. A community land trust grants communities control over their land.
That's sensible. The viable alternative is economic democracy. Capitalism is highly undemocratic, operating on plutocratic forms of control over the daily lives of the majority. Economic democracy means the values of democracyโpeople having a say in the decisions that affect themโexpands into the
Note: @churchlady320 seems to spread misinformation about cooperative socialists, claiming they support statism and the USSR. This can be harmful and inaccurate rhetoric that may fall into far-right propaganda, harming the expansion of co-ops. The USSR suppressed the cooperative movement in reality.
Economic democracy is the next step! Worker co-ops have an average 2:1 pay ratio. Since the workers have influence over business decisions, things are significantly more equitable. The model is a way to introduce more equitable pay ratios without having to externally enforce it.
Here's the documentary (Reeve appears at 1:13:45).
Donald Trump threatened to sue any distributor or broadcaster that took on the film.
In a 1991 documentary that Trump suppressed, Christopher Reeve comments on Donald Trump:
"๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ช๐จ ๐ข๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ."
Superman! Champion of the oppressed. The physical marvel who had sworn to devote his existence to helping those in need! Action Comics #1 - 18 April 1938
Superman's first appearance was on this day in 1938.
Happy Superman Day!
Economic democracy is a necessary component of a free society.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ค๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ณ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ง๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ.
The current system isn't necessarily designed with them in mind. ESOPs and other worker-owned business models are covered by relatively recent legislation in many places. In some states, there is no legislation covering some worker-owned models, like co-ops.
According to the statistics, worker-owned businesses tend to survive longer than traditional businesses and are more resilient. Many owners want their business to continue on into the future, and transitioning their business to worker ownership is one of the best ways to make that happen.
It can be very beneficial for owners. Also, it is often the case that they can't find a buyer, so the option to sell to their employees may be the only option other than shutting down. 9 out of 10 owners report being happy with selling to an ESOP in hindsight.
There is more information here.
๐๐ค๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ค ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ-๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐บ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด, ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ง๐ช๐ต๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ด ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ค ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ด.
In traditional companies, shareholders exert influence through a ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ system.
๐ฑ๐ญ๐ถ๐ต๐ฐ๐ค๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐บ - ๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ๐บ
In cooperatives, members participate in decisions through a ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ system.
๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ค๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐บ - ๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ
In Japan, community-owned health co-ops serve millions of people. They own hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and dentist offices, providing affordable care to the poor and elderly.
Co-op members perform basic health checks on one another with the guidance of doctors, emphasizing preventable care.
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ-๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ-๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅโ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ค๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฐ 26% ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ.
In Mexico, many workers manage their land and businesses together. While private land ownership is ~40%, around 50% of the land is controlled by Indigenous groups and local communities, often organized as cooperatives. In the constitution it is referred to as ejidos.
There are millions of worker-owned, community-owned, and cooperative businesses and organizations in existence today. They have been studied and are shown to match or exceed traditional models in categories such as productivity, resilience, employment stability, and worker happiness.
No country is purely capitalist in its ownership structure. This nuance is important when analyzing economies and acknowledging differences in outcomes between structures. It's essential for policy as well.
Please be more mature in the future. Insults only harm your position. Have a nice day.
This is a reductionist perspective that fails to create distinctions between actually existing forms of ownership.
These countries have state, municipal, worker, and social forms of ownership to varying degrees.
Microeconomics is taught in university for a reason. Feel free to take a class.
Again, economies are not monoliths. Microeconomics is a field.
It's important not to conflate efforts to bring about state ownership with efforts to bring about worker ownership. The examples you're referencing were all efforts to bring about state ownership. There are countless examples of worker ownership that do not involve bringing about state ownership.
Not sure how that addresses what was said.
There are some co-ops that allow for external investment in the form of minority voting shares or nonvoting preferred shares. That way, stakeholders can retain control while benefiting from investment.
Equal Exchange has this kind of system.
Scandinavia is home to large cooperative economies. It's more nuanced than "this is a capitalist country." Economies are not monolithic entities. They are composed of millions of moving parts and structures.
