These crises are inter-related, given the conventional notion of development as requiring
more resources. Trying to address the problem of poverty undermines protection of the
environment, because the answer is more growth (with or without redistribution). Trying
to protect the environment hurts the poor, because it prevents them from making money
from exploiting resources that the rich have been exploiting for years. Both of these
approaches emerge from values based on competitive profit-seeking. The radical solution
that Pobihushchy recommends is to create, based on the principles and values of
cooperation, a cooperative society that differs from a society based on speculative
investment. "The onus is on consumer co-ops to organize themselves to get all of their
products from cooperatives," he declares. Similarly, producer and worker coops should
seek to supply consumer coops exclusively. (Livingston 2003)
Pobihushchy is not alone in his views:
democratically controlled worker cooperatives provide a viable alternative
to both corporate capitalism and state socialism. This alternative... seeks
to optimize economic and human development, balancing the needs for
production, sustainability, and respect for the environment... Such a
system would be based on the proliferation of networks of worker
cooperatives and democratically controlled enterprises in a market
economy. (Lindenfeld and Wynn 1997)
The main objection to a proposal such as Pobihushchy's is that there simply do not exist
enough cooperatives to make a cooperative society possible. Others feel that much could
be done to encourage existing cooperatives to cooperate more with each other (Wiley
2003). The model most pointed to is that of the Mondragón Cooperative Corporation, a
system of about 85 industrial coops, a cooperative bank (the Caja Laboral Popular), a
social security system, a student cooperative, agricultural coops, housing and
construction coops, and consumer coop stores in the Basque region of Spain. "A major
strength of these cooperatives is that they are joined together in a functioning network."
(Lindenfeld and Wynn 1997) In addition, the authors write in their conclusion, "Links
between worker coops and consumer coops are also beneficial for the cooperative
movement as a whole."
Others point out that not only cooperatives can function cooperatively and with care for
stakeholders such as employees, suppliers, customers, and neighbors. Many "socially
responsible businesses" have been doing just that for years. They, too, now see the need
for increased cooperation among such businesses to enhance their strength and
independence while taking advantage of network economies--and they see the same set of
threats as well.
individuals representing a dozen local business networks formed the Business
Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE). Their action was a response to