Economic Model
The very model of how we make
decisions likely needs to change when we see that we still can hardly make
decisions to make minor reforms on imperative issues, like getting behind
minute reductions in green house gases. .
This is why we propose that we transition to the model of participatory
economics. We propose that the people
who are directly engaged and affected by an issue are the one’s that should
probably be deciding on it… That
communities are the one’s deciding whether or not their water shed will be
maintained, whether their forests will be clear cut or selectively harvested to
keep jobs for their grandchildren.
Vancity (N.America's 2nd biggest
credit union) is proposed as a flagship for a fleet of co-ops and credit unions
that will work as Federated Participatory Co-ops (FPC). FPCs will do business
with each other thereby starting to provide the new model its independence. In
the case that there are no FPCs in a sector the Federation does business in, we
will support the start-up of one so we keep our energy within the movement for
sustainability and justice. One of the FPCs which will get a lot of business
will be media and 'marketing' co-op(s) that propagates mass participatory media
events and capacity for the FPC 'brand'. This will likely bring in loyal consumers who
are truly included in the very design, distribution, pricing, etc., of their
products. We now have of scale business to business, and popular consumer
loyalty working to bring scale and the means to people’s sane, democratic
decisions.
Imagine a group of participatory
consumer members in a co-op says that we’ll only do business with factories
where we can hope to help the workers finance a buy-out to make it a descent
work place as a participatory co-op. Maybe
the consumer council says that we’ll put up prices on certain products in a
group of co-ops or raise capital however; the funds from which will go directly
to financing a new participatory factory which will likely somehow join the Federation
of Participatory Co-ops.
