WHY COOPERATIZE?
We can quell the Raging Bull by cooperatizing our system.
"But wait a minute" some of you alert people will say ..." I just looked up the word cooperatize in the dictionary and it isn't even there.
How can we do something that isn't even in the dictionary?"
Well, that's why I had to make up this definition that I hope will someday be there:
"But wait a minute" some of you alert people will say ..." I just looked up the word cooperatize in the dictionary and it isn't even there.
How can we do something that isn't even in the dictionary?"
Well, that's why I had to make up this definition that I hope will someday be there:
Co.op.er.a.tize
[ verb ]
To convert our current corporatized system, where the Few (aka Giant Corporations) own the businesses
to one where we the Many own the businesses --- businesses known as cooperatives.
More to the point ---
To Cooperatize is to:
Kill Corporations and then Birth Cooperatives.
or to put it another way
Eliminate Corporations and convert them to Cooperatives.
[ verb ]
To convert our current corporatized system, where the Few (aka Giant Corporations) own the businesses
to one where we the Many own the businesses --- businesses known as cooperatives.
More to the point ---
To Cooperatize is to:
Kill Corporations and then Birth Cooperatives.
or to put it another way
Eliminate Corporations and convert them to Cooperatives.
Okay, so back to the question, WHY COOPERATIZE?
Let me explain:
Let me explain:
Basically what we have now is a system where the Many (aka the 99%)
are being exploited by the Few (aka the 1%).
The Few are using the vehicle of corporations as a means to achieve this exploitation. They've corporatized the system, meaning corporations now own and/or control most every aspect of human culture - governments, banking, media, energy production, food production, education, healthcare, prisons, military, even religions.
We the Many can release this stranglehold the Few have on us by using the vehicle of cooperatives --- we can cooperatize the system.
Buckminster Fuller explains why we need to eliminate corporations.
"Corporate power...the greatest problem ever to confront humanity"
These are the words of Buckminster Fuller, considered to be one of the greatest visionaries of the 20th century. He had dedicated
his long 88 year life to finding ways to improve the quality of life for all humanity, and to do so without harming Mother Earth.
His stated purpose in life was to::
"Make the world work for
100% of humanity
in the shortest possible time
without ecological harm or disadvantage to anyone."
But by the end of his long life he realized there was something deterring the implementation of his beneficial ideas.
In an interview in 1982, the year before he died, he stated:
“the supra-national corporate power, and their seemingly ungovernable capability to corrupt…[is] the greatest problem ever
to confront humanity...Money can and has now bought control of the USA political systems once designed for democracy".
He further lamented:
"It seems an almost hopeless matter to adequately inform humanity that from now on,
for the first time in history, it does not have to be 'you or me' - there is now enough for 'both' -
and to convince humanity of this fact in time to permit it to exercise its option and save itself."
his long 88 year life to finding ways to improve the quality of life for all humanity, and to do so without harming Mother Earth.
His stated purpose in life was to::
"Make the world work for
100% of humanity
in the shortest possible time
without ecological harm or disadvantage to anyone."
But by the end of his long life he realized there was something deterring the implementation of his beneficial ideas.
In an interview in 1982, the year before he died, he stated:
“the supra-national corporate power, and their seemingly ungovernable capability to corrupt…[is] the greatest problem ever
to confront humanity...Money can and has now bought control of the USA political systems once designed for democracy".
He further lamented:
"It seems an almost hopeless matter to adequately inform humanity that from now on,
for the first time in history, it does not have to be 'you or me' - there is now enough for 'both' -
and to convince humanity of this fact in time to permit it to exercise its option and save itself."
In 1983 he wrote his last book describing this problem.
He entitled it 'Grunch of Giants'.
The word Grunch that he uses here is an acronym which stands for:
GRoss UNiverse Cash Heist.
The Giants referred to in the title are giant multi-national corporations,
what Bucky calls: "The supranational-corporation colossi,
[which] inherently as legal abstractions ignore the problem of how
to protect and nurture human lives."
During the 40 plus years since Fuller made these statements and wrote this book, giant corporations have extended their reach
and therefore control into practically every political system and institution of the world today. GRUNCH is an inevitable consequence of our current operating system, a system that is based on the greed-inducing corporate business model. As Bucky says, it's a system where the "exploitation of the many by the few" is the norm. Most every political system of the world today is in some way controlled by corporations--be they democracies, republics, authoritarian regimes--be they nations, regions, cities or smaller locales.
and therefore control into practically every political system and institution of the world today. GRUNCH is an inevitable consequence of our current operating system, a system that is based on the greed-inducing corporate business model. As Bucky says, it's a system where the "exploitation of the many by the few" is the norm. Most every political system of the world today is in some way controlled by corporations--be they democracies, republics, authoritarian regimes--be they nations, regions, cities or smaller locales.
This extension of corporate power has come to be called by euphemistic terms such as capitalism, plutocracy, privatization, oligarchy, neoliberalism, neoconservatism, globalization, free trade, etc. These terms are meant to confuse us. They're meant to throw us, the 'exploited Many', off the scent of the rotten core of the system. We're left scratching our battered heads wondering: "Well, what can be so wrong with something called free trade or globalization?" I prefer the more unambiguous, descriptive term--corporatization.
For the purposes of our discussion here, I've created a new name for this operating system that describes its true, exploitive nature --I'm calling it System GRUNCHERY.
For the purposes of our discussion here, I've created a new name for this operating system that describes its true, exploitive nature --I'm calling it System GRUNCHERY.
System GRUNCHERY got its start over 500 years ago when Columbus 'discovered' the Western Hemisphere.
His 'discovery' ignited a worldwide land grab (euphemistically called colonization) by European companies. Contrary to what you've been told, it was these companies that were the instrument of colonization. It wasn't some nation that decided it wanted to take over another nation, and it certainly wasn't citizen Fred-the-friendly-feudal-dude (in England / Spain / Portugal / France / Netherlands / etc.) who woke up one day in his humble-hovel-home and decided that it would be in his best interest to go to foreign lands unknown, wage war against the people there, enslave them, kill them, take over their land, and steal their resources.
At that time, these colonizing-companies controlled the European governments (monarchies, parliaments, etc.) and the European religious institutions (the Catholic Church, the Church of England, etc.) These colonizing-companies used governments and religious institutions to send Fred-the-friendly-feudal-dude over to these foreign lands to do their dirty work while they sat back home collecting the profits.
S o u n d f a m i l i a r ?
This method used by the colonizing-companies to gain control of resources morphed into the modern-day-corporation.
Modern-day corporations are like the colonizing companies on steroids because nowadays corporations not only control governments and religious institutions, they also control our educational institutions and all our major industries.
And most ominously, they control the media and use it to control our attitudes and behaviors. This vast control over our
modern-day institutions, industries, and our behavior has enabled corporations to concentrate wealth into fewer and fewer hands, has created social injustices galore, and left Mother Earth beleaguered.
His 'discovery' ignited a worldwide land grab (euphemistically called colonization) by European companies. Contrary to what you've been told, it was these companies that were the instrument of colonization. It wasn't some nation that decided it wanted to take over another nation, and it certainly wasn't citizen Fred-the-friendly-feudal-dude (in England / Spain / Portugal / France / Netherlands / etc.) who woke up one day in his humble-hovel-home and decided that it would be in his best interest to go to foreign lands unknown, wage war against the people there, enslave them, kill them, take over their land, and steal their resources.
At that time, these colonizing-companies controlled the European governments (monarchies, parliaments, etc.) and the European religious institutions (the Catholic Church, the Church of England, etc.) These colonizing-companies used governments and religious institutions to send Fred-the-friendly-feudal-dude over to these foreign lands to do their dirty work while they sat back home collecting the profits.
S o u n d f a m i l i a r ?
This method used by the colonizing-companies to gain control of resources morphed into the modern-day-corporation.
Modern-day corporations are like the colonizing companies on steroids because nowadays corporations not only control governments and religious institutions, they also control our educational institutions and all our major industries.
And most ominously, they control the media and use it to control our attitudes and behaviors. This vast control over our
modern-day institutions, industries, and our behavior has enabled corporations to concentrate wealth into fewer and fewer hands, has created social injustices galore, and left Mother Earth beleaguered.
But power, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. We all need power of some sort or another to even be alive. We're all seeking to be 'empowered' in our lives to live to our fullest (and funnest ;-) potential. It's how we use that power that determines if it is
'good' or 'bad'. So why do corporations use their power in such an abusive, exploitive way that is so detrimental to humanity
and Mother Earth? The reason why is summed up perfectly by this line from the documentary, 'The Corporation'.
'good' or 'bad'. So why do corporations use their power in such an abusive, exploitive way that is so detrimental to humanity
and Mother Earth? The reason why is summed up perfectly by this line from the documentary, 'The Corporation'.
"All publicly traded corporations have been structured, through a series of legal decisions, to have a peculiar and disturbing characteristic; they are required, by law, to place the financial interests of their own above competing interests. In fact, the corporation is bound
to put its bottom line ahead of everything else, even the public good."
to put its bottom line ahead of everything else, even the public good."
The DVD cover of 'The Corporation'
Here's the trailer of the documentary, 'The Corporation'.
This one law that giant corporations must obey --- the law requiring them to make a profit --- is infecting our entire operating system and making it sick. In a way, it's analogous to a computer virus. A computer virus is a piece of code/command written for a
computer program that, when 'obeyed', renders detrimental, corruptive behavior on the part of the computer. And what is this
'code' that causes corporations to be greed-inducing? It's the law that mandates corporations to put profit above all else:
humanity faces today.
computer program that, when 'obeyed', renders detrimental, corruptive behavior on the part of the computer. And what is this
'code' that causes corporations to be greed-inducing? It's the law that mandates corporations to put profit above all else:
- a corporation is mandated by law to make a profit --- Period.
- It's the only rule with which it has to comply --- Period.
- If you're the CEO of a corporation and you're not maximizing profit, you get fired --- Period.
humanity faces today.
Sir Ken Robinson, world famous educator of TED talk fame said:
"If you set up a system with certain features to do certain things,
don't be surprised if it does those things."
So why are we so surprised and indignant when
the administrators of corporations obey the only law that they're required to obey?
It's not the human administrators of corporations who are inherently greedy.
They're just doing their job.
They're just obeying the law, following the rule, doing as the code instructs.
If they don't obey this mandate, they're fired and replaced by someone who will make a profit.
And the fact that they're so generously remunerated for this behavior only encourages more of it.
"If you set up a system with certain features to do certain things,
don't be surprised if it does those things."
So why are we so surprised and indignant when
the administrators of corporations obey the only law that they're required to obey?
It's not the human administrators of corporations who are inherently greedy.
They're just doing their job.
They're just obeying the law, following the rule, doing as the code instructs.
If they don't obey this mandate, they're fired and replaced by someone who will make a profit.
And the fact that they're so generously remunerated for this behavior only encourages more of it.
For these reasons we can't get corporations to stop their exploitive bad behavior. No matter how much we try to regulate them,
no matter what policy we write, or how much we protest and preach and petition and boycott against them, corporations will always find a way to wiggle out of any control we try to impose on them if it threatens their bottom line.
no matter what policy we write, or how much we protest and preach and petition and boycott against them, corporations will always find a way to wiggle out of any control we try to impose on them if it threatens their bottom line.
As Buckminster Fuller said, corporations have a "seemingly ungovernable capability to corrupt".
Instead of wasting our time and effort trying to regulate corporations, let's spend it on eliminating them.
And once we've done that, we can spend our precious time and effort establishing COOPERATIVES.
The next page of this website will explain what a COOPERATIVE is.