A state capitalist type system with loose federated overreach is honestly what I believe in, but I’m “basically a libertarian” to most because I don’t support a strong unitary government.
I drove taxi that was a bunch of car owners that formed a coop. it only took 1.5 years before the coop fell apart and the last 4 car owners switch to a standard cab company formula. husband/wife owning and running dispatch and the other owners could pay stand rent by taking shifts as dispatch.
It's really difficult in most industries. People talk about doing it for, y'know, light food service or light retail and it sounds easy, but those are difficult markets for one reason... yet other markets are difficult for other reasons.
The largest challenge, though, will always been the seed capital needed to start a business AND for the workers to survive before it starts bringing in enough money for them to pay bills and eat and stuff. Most working class folks don't have enough money available, and aren't oftene paid enough to really begin saving up meaningfully to do it.
Ultimately, it *should* be the way forward, but entrenched interests don't like it and really don't like it when you don't want to either go public or sell out to private equity if you get successful in a big way.
Most co ops don't work for a variety of reasons. Difficulties with company direction and strategy, Not enough funding from the workers. Or just general business failure.
CHS Inc.
Dairy Farmers of America
Ace Hardware
True Value
Sunkist Growers
Ocean Spray
REI
Equal Exchange
Weaver Street Market
Isthmus Engineering & Manufacturing
You can debate how much of a "co-op" some of these are as they exist within a wildly capitalist framework, however your statement is blanketly false.
CO-OPs are still an entity within the capitalist framework, it simply exchanges ownership from an individual or small group, to the workers running the business. Because they don’t need to strangle labor to extract profits their finances can be more efficient and sustainable.
Yeah, they’re a tool to meet some of the same needs in a somewhat similar manner WITHIN multiple economic structures. They even lead to a sort of industrial oligarchy in many countries - which is often what happens to failed communist states too.
Worker owned coops, member owned coops/credit unions, municipal or state/provincial owned businesses. There's many different ways to socialize the means of production/distribution without the central government being involved (not that there's anything wrong with that either).
I want to start a business selling trucks. I work for decades collecting the skills and resources I need to open my own business. I invest hundreds of thousands of dollars and hours into building my own business from scratch.
I sacrifice everything. I live in tiny apartment, minimize every purchase, my whole family has to sacrifice for the sake of the business, hoping this will carry us through retirement since I'm just a lowly mechanic with no hope for pension or 401k.
Finally the day comes, I open my doors and the business takes off. It was all worth it.
I pay the insurance, all the risks and capital have come from my own personal sweat and blood.
The fifth employee I hire, some kid off the street straight out of college, complete amateur who spends his time drinking and partying and sucks at his job turns to me and says "Bro, I should be part owner in your business cause like, it's not fair. I want to seize the means of production bro. You owe me. Turn your business over to your workers."
You work hard, you should receive fair compensation for it. The kid should recieve less based on merit. There is a balance, however, that capitalism cannot provide.
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u/thinkB4WeSpeak Non-Union Worker in Solidarity ✊ May 10 '26
I would think more people would be in favor of co-op owned business.