Democratizing the Economy from the Bottom Up

28 T I K K U N W W W. T I K K U N . O R G W I N T E R 2 0 1 1 25 YEARS OF TIKKUN but Depression-style crisis, the kind that may generate a quick response, does not appear likely. Proudhon once wrote: “Decay, decay … All the traditions are worn out, all the creeds abolished but the new program is not yet ready....This is the cruelest moment in the life of societies.” My own work has been a long, long attempt to answer two questions: First, “If you don’t like corporate capitalism and W eareenteringoneofthegreatestlongterm crises in American history, one that could potentially lead to a breakdown and radical move to the right. Traditional liberalism is stalemated in many areas and limited in others to reducing the pain whenever possible. War continues . The era is unusual; economic stagnation is present, yes, GarAlperovitzisLionelR.BaumanProfessorofPoliticalEconomyattheUniversityofMaryland,andafoundingprincipaloftheDemocracyCollaborative .HismostrecentbooksareUnjustDeserts(withLewDaly)andAmericaBeyondCapitalism. 25 YEARS OF TIKKUN DemocratizingtheEconomy fromtheBottomUp byGarAlperovitz our support beams that have sustained me throughtwenty-fiveyearsofsocialactiontikkunwork: 1. Listen to what you know through your body. Our minds are often cluttered with what we’re “supposed” to think and do, rather than what we know to be the truth. Your body remembers, your body knows what’s just. 2. Don’t let fear stop you. Name it, address it—take whatever physical and/or emotional steps are necessary—and keep going. 3. Collaborate. Work with people you trust and whose work you respect.Thedaysaheadwillbechallenging;therewillbedark times. Work with friends who can lead when you’re not up to it, and through whose dark times you can lead. 4. Maintain balance: laugh, love, take breaks. Your stamina and your health depend on it. If there’s no laughter, there’s no revolution. ■ Listen,Laugh,Love byFrancesPayneAdler PoetFrancesPayneAdlerfoundedtheCreativeWritingandSocialActionProgramatCaliforniaStateUniversityMontereyBay.Hermostrecentbooks includeMakingofaMatriotandFireandInk:AnAnthologyofSocialActionWriting. F W I N T E R 2 0 1 1 W W W. T I K K U N . O R G T I K K U N 29 the complex, installs solar panels on the roofs of the city’s largest nonprofit health, education, and municipal buildings. But the goal is not simply green jobs; it is “green ownership .” Nor, from my perspective, is the goal simply building cooperatives—it is thinking through the requirements of a larger systemic theory and vision that is practical, democratic, and achievable, even if over a long time span. The design principles of the Cleveland effort suggest principles that take us beyond both traditional capitalism and traditional models of socialism. Consider, for instance, what might happen if the stock the government and union currently own in General Motors were ultimately used to reorganize the company along full or joint worker ownership lines—and if the new GM product line were linked to a serious plan to develop the nation’s mass transit and rail system, all of the funding for which will inevitably come from taxpayers in any event. Along with many other movement-building efforts, such efforts, starting locally but thinking far ahead, suggest ways that I hope can one day help move our own thinking—and ultimately our politics—forward to and through the deepening crisis in a positive, communityaffirming way. ■ you don’t like state socialism, what do you want?” Second, “And how can we get from here to there?” In part following Martin Buber, in part following teachers like William Appleman Williams and Joan Robinson, my answers—in books and in projects—have aimed at an “evolutionary reconstructive ” approach, starting in the here and now, to rebuild and democratize in very practical ways the ownership and nature of the economy, from the bottom up. My hope is that some of these ideas, and some of these projects, may contribute to a broader movement-building politics that can take us past the dead ends we now face. I’d like to offer one illustration and one comment about theory. Our Democracy Collaborative team is working in Cleveland ,Ohio,tohelpcreatetheEvergreenCooperativeDevelopment Fund. The goal is not just one cooperative but rather an integrated ,large-scalenetworkofworker-ownedbusinessesfinanced by a revolving fund designed to continuously expand the network andtokeepjobsanchoredinthecommunity.Thestrategyaimsto capture ever-greater shares of spending in...