Co-ops: where needs meet resources.

A new paradigm is coming toward us like a freight train. As we come to grips with the breathtaking events in the financial, mortgage and energy markets, I imagine that fear is a logical response. Where’s the bottom? How does this scary movie end? Although there is chaos aplenty and more will come, I envision a very different world than the one we see today. This is the perfect opportunity reach out to each other for tangible help and mutual support that enriches our lives. Pooling our resources leads to creative and durable solutions to the thorny challenges that beset us. See Share Resources-Delegate Tasks for more on this concept.  By proactively creating cooperative communities, we can facilitate the shift toward holistic solutions that lift everyone up, rather than fear-based responses leading to a downward spiral.

Run down and boarded up businesses, buildings and houses vividly remind us of the shortcomings of trickle down economics. Buried within the blight, I see opportunity as sister co-ops all over the country reclaim these structures to tackle the issues of jobs, housing, child care, elder care, better food and nutrition, solutions to transportation and much more. Forming a network of co-ops provides access to resources, customers, employees, expertise and capital. There are thousands of houses, farms, “farmettes”, commercial and industrial buildings for sale everywhere in our wonderful land.

When we start thinking of creative cooperative solutions to common problems, we engage with our neighbors in a a game of possibility.