Gar Alperovitz discusses ideas on democratizing the ownership of capital in the context of an alternative capitalist economic system with investigative journalist Laura Flanders. He calls for organizing community-wide approaches to who owns capital in local economic activity (factories, services, real estate). This is not a model that is incompatible with concepts of capitalism. It is not socialism nor communism (both of which are merely state-owned forms of capitalism). But it is capitalism of a form we have not yet developed. A more democratic capitalism. Projectism (doing lots of projects to see what works and what doesnt) is insufficient, though projects are fine, and necessary. But projects in the context of the existing system are insufficient to bring about systemic change. Whats needed are broader models that address the questions surrounding what we want our economic system to do, in terms of providing for the earth and its human and non-human inhabitants in a more stable and sustainable way. Alperovitz points out that were neither in crisis nor in a successfully functioning system. Our institutions neither reform, collapse, nor succeed... and this is a situation that could continue for an extended period. It is also, therefore, an interesting time to reassess what our economic system should look like in order to provide us with what we want and need from it. If we had revolution tomorrow, the left wouldnt know what to do with it, and the right would take over. Alperovitz has called for something he calles evolutionary revolution. Elsewhere, he has put it this way: Worker and community ownership within an integrated local economic system—whether through employee stock ownership plans or more egalitarian or community strategies—are forms of ownership relevant to thinking about jobs, job creation, and local economic stability. Crucially, community or cooperative ownership of jobs appears all but certain to yield more stable long-term employment than traditional corporate strategies, and is thus more valuable as part of a package of policies aimed at full employment. Companies owned by people who live in the community rarely if ever get up and move. And where there is job stability with broad ownership of productive capital, grassroots democracy and thoughtful local decision-making become possible. Citizens have a stake in the success of the community and its vital institutions such as schools, transit systems, energy and communications infrastructure.
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 14:23:34 +0000
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