Cooperation for a green world

Hope you have all picked up on Stuart Jeffery's Green Party NHS blog!

Capitalism is unsustainable but replacing it may not be as difficult as I sometimes think. The alternative is wiki economics, an opensource set up based on participation, use without destruction and creativity. Soviet style central planning, I don't think so, the free market..I don't think so either.

In the mean time before we enter wiki world (exciting this isn't it, can you imagine people sitting around at the end of feudalism discussing the new economy that would replace it? No, neither can I but today we can see something new dimly but quickly coming into replace our modern economy)there are some institutions and practices that are in the right direction.

The Co-operative is one, not perfect, their institutionally still part of the Labour Party as far as I can see and not 100% ethical but they were set up in 1844 by the Rochdale pioneers to benefit ordinary working people. At their high they controlled 25% of the retail food market and although now down to 6% provide a stunning alternative to Tescos, Sainsbury, Morrison, etc.

They are big on fair trade, organic, local production. I use Smile their banking arm, perfect service still within capitalist orbit but some unethical investments are cut out. Schnews has though an article on some of their unethical investing.

The news is that today they are bringing back the 'divi', so everytime you shop or use their service you get some cash back...this isn't simply a loyalty card, you have a tiny bit of ownership so this is your share of the profit. Now ofcourse this sounds a bit like a share, but unlike shares ethics and ecology matter as well as the bottom line.

So find our more about their history and if you have a coop store nearby use if or lose it.

Waitrose is also by the way a mutual, so technically we have two rather non capitalist institutions we can shop with, now of course before everybody writes into to complain neither are utopian anarchist communist bodies and they have to survive in the nasty market place but they provide answer to those who say capitalism is the only game in town.

You can join the coop here