Wednesday,
April 22, 2020
Cooperation Humboldt and the
Solidarity Economy
Founded in 2017, Cooperation Humboldt was
already incubating worker cooperatives, administering food sovereignty
programs, advocating for public banking and participatory budgeting, and
exploring housing cooperatives, an arts hub, and eco-villages—all before the
pandemic arrived in the U.S.
Cooperation Humboldt is
a model for ecological, economic and human sustainability. (Photo: Cooperation
Humboldt)
The COVID-19 pandemic
has exposed all of the inconvenient truths about life in the United States. It
is no longer possible to hide the disconnect between myths of a great and
advanced society with scenes of long lines for food pantries, millions of workers
suddenly unemployed and a political system that gives a one-time maximum
payment of $1,200 in a time of severe economic crisis. The already marginalized
are at greatest risk of death as black and brown people constitute the majority
of coronavirus victims in large cities like New York, Detroit and Milwaukee.
Before this health
crisis struck there were people all over the country who understood the need
for a solidarity economy. The concept is one which holds that every person is
an economist in that they are all aware of their needs and those of their
communities. Cooperation Humboldt in Humboldt County,
northern California, is an example of the solidarity economy in action. Founded
in 2017, Cooperation Humboldt was already incubating worker cooperatives,
administering food sovereignty programs, advocating for public banking and
participatory budgeting, and exploring housing cooperatives, an arts hub, and
eco-villages—all before the pandemic arrived in the U.S.
The need for a
post-capitalist system was already evident to anyone paying attention. The
group known colloquially as the 1%, the wealthiest people in the world, grow
ever richer and more powerful. Republicans and democrats alike are committed to
advocating for corporate interests and the desires of the already wealthy.
George W. Bush passed supposedly temporary tax cuts for that group, but Barack
Obama made the theft of public money permanent.
The masses of people
are struggling and their dire needs were largely ignored until the shutdowns
used to stop the COVID-19 virus created 22 million newly unemployed people who
often lived from paycheck to paycheck. Cooperation Humboldt co-founder David
Cobb explains that the country cannot return to what is considered “normal”
even after the COVID-19 virus is successfully treated. "The
brutality of late-stage capitalism and the ecological collapse were already
creating the political crisis that was fermenting fascism. We are in an
historic conjuncture moment. At Cooperation Humboldt we are not trying to save
this dying system. We are working with joy and determination to create a new
one."
The old norms make it
acceptable for the unprecedented surge in unemployment claims to crash
antiquated systems and prevent workers from getting the money they already
earned. The United States has the dubious distinction of being particularly
tight fisted and its bipartisan leadership pride themselves on giving the least
amount of public support to those in need.
Cooperation Humboldt
demonstrates that mutuality is an important aspect of human nature. It is
important that people see a different way of life, one in which they can depend
upon one another to share resources and make decisions in a truly democratic
way. The scenes of the newly jobless are counter positioned with Cooperation
Humboldt’s plan to create four new worker owned cooperatives by the end of
2020. These worker coops will do more than provide jobs. This cluster will work
together in true solidarity and will be an example of the new normal that must
be created amidst the wreckage of a failed system.
COVID-19 brought down a
house of cards that was already teetering. The federal minimum wage has not
been increased in more than ten years. Banks live on a daily injection of $1
trillion loans from the federal reserve. The system had nothing to offer except
increased austerity and a system dedicated to keeping people in lives of
insecurity. The United States was the “****hole country,” a failed state by any
measure. It only needed a crisis to make what was hidden obvious to everyone.
Cooperation Humboldt is
a model for ecological, economic and human sustainability. Volunteers plant
trees and help convert front lawns into vegetable gardens. They also help one
another travel to medical appointments, provide for child care or make masks
for the so-called essential workers who went unprotected from COVID-19. They
also have an intensive political education program that builds social cohesion
and a shared analysis, and allows new leaders to emerge.
These personal
connections prove that the acceptance of a competitive, zero sum game lifestyle
is not inevitable. The solidarity economy shows that democratic decision making
processes ranging from participatory budgeting to a requirement to join study
groups focusing on fighting patriarchy, racism, imperialism and capitalism. The
result is not charity, but true solidarity and a revolutionary ethos based on
the commitment to “build a new community within the shell of the old.”
If Cooperation Humboldt
were to be replicated in the U.S. there would surely be less suffering in this
time of crisis, and it could pave the way for a massive shift towards a
different society. It is clear that the profit motive made COVID-19 more deadly
than it would have in a publicly controlled health care system. Cooperative
work would provide for greater pay equity and job security. While the focus
should be on treating the sick and preventing the spread of illness, the
federal government competes with states for life saving equipment and reserves
its inadequate stimulus measures for the large corporations.
Post-COVID-19 America
will be far more generous, productive and sustainable if the solidarity economy
model is replicated. Cooperation Humboldt proves that humanity can be at the
center of decision making and prevent the misery that has befallen every region
of the country since the corona virus became a fixture in this country. A new
world is not just possible. It is an absolute necessity.
Margaret Kimberley's
Freedom Rider column appears weekly at the Black Agenda Report. Kimberley lives
in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley (at)
BlackAgendaReport.com.
Our work is licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License. Feel free to
republish and share widely.
Donations can be sent to Max Obuszewski, Baltimore
Nonviolence Center, 431 Notre Dame Lane, Apt. 206, Baltimore, MD 21212.
Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class has always declared the wars; the
subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to
gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and
everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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