Yes, there is an alternative to capitalism: Mondragon shows the way

There is no alternative ("Tina") to capitalism? Really? We are to believe, with Margaret Thatcher, that an economic system with endlessly repeated cycles, costly bailouts for financiers and now austerity for most people is the best human beings can do? I understand why such a system's leaders would like us to believe in Tina. Of course, alternatives exist; they always do. Modern societies have mostly chosen a capitalist organization of production. Capitalism thus entails and reproduces a highly undemocratic organization of production inside enterprises. In May 2012, I had occasion to visit the city of Arrasate-Mondragon, in the Basque region of Spain. MC is composed of many co-operative enterprises grouped into four areas: industry, finance, retail and knowledge. As each enterprise is a constituent of the MC as a whole, its members must confer and decide with all other enterprise members what general rules will govern MC and all its constituent enterprises.

Mike Golash, Major DC Union Boss, Says The Goal of Labor Unions Is to ‘Overthrow the Capitalist System Anyone who’s watched Glenn Beck’s show, or his 2010 speech at CPAC, will tell you that the main difference between a progressive and a communist is their attitude toward social change. Progressives believe that society can be guided to evolve into their preferred system; communists believe that a violent revolution is necessary to uproot the existing social order. And if nothing else, the increasingly tense exchanges between members of the Occupy movement (revolution) and supporters of the Obama administration (evolution) show that this distinction is far more than purely academic. Exhibit A: Comments by a former major D.C. The Daily Caller brings these highlights of Golash’s speech, which was part of an Occupy gathering: “Progressive labor is a revolutionary communist organization,” Golash said during an Occupy DC “People’s Assembly” on August 19. Golash’s comments are unlikely to surprise observers who believe that Occupy is a nest of communism. And how would it work? It gets worse.

observer Trinity Wall Street Episcopal Church Two weeks ago, three Occupy Wall Street members began a hunger strike in front of Duarte Square. They were protesting Trinity Wall Street Episcopal Church for not allowing them to use the empty lot owned by the church’s real estate arm, Hudson Square Properties. The demonstrators were arrested…twice…for trespassing on the church’s land. It seemed like an odd battle to pick for Occupy Wall Street; especially since Trinity Church had provided the OWS with space to hold meetings, use WiFi and public facilities, and even join in discussions with religious leaders. But since Nov. 17th’s Day of Action saw members get arrested for trying to make a temporary camp in the empty lot, the Occupiers have focused their energy on guilting the church into just giving them the land. Except, as we noted at the time, this was never going to happen. This isn’t exactly new information. Calling this an issue of “political sanctuary” is manipulative and blind to reality.

America Has Woken Up to the Reality: Inequality Matters January 17, 2012 | Like this article? Join our email list: Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email. If you’re part of the one percent, even getting fired comes with a cushion made of eiderdown. The report’s authors, Paul Hodgson and Greg Ruel, write, “These 21 CEOs walked away with almost $4 billion in combined compensation. This news came the same day as another report, this one from Indiana University, titled, “ At Risk: America’s Poor during and after the Great Recession.” In fact, the white paper finds that we now have the largest number of long-term unemployed people in the United States since records were first kept in 1948 – four million report they’ve been unemployed for more than a year. So no, Mitt Romney, when we say that Americans are waking up to the reality that inequality matters, we’re not guilty of “envy” or “class warfare,” as you claimed to Matt Lauer on NBC’s Today. We’re talking what it takes to live a decent life. Now the bargain’s being shredded.