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Comments made to another site where the suggestion
had been made that co-operatives are a superior "model" or form of business
organization or structure:
To All,
As I previously stated, anyone who wants to belong
to a "formal" co-operative is free to do so. I do not believe, however,
that the co-operative in that sense is necessarily a superior model of
efficiency or of product quality or delivery.
There exist various levels to a productive
enterprise and management is both an essential and critical component--and the
more competent and "professional" in the non-pejorative sense, the better.
As Douglas somewhere observed, "He who travels lightest travels fastest."
I want quality product, delivery and service from industry and I am quite happy
to leave the details of production to those who have the specialized experience
and expertise, i.e., Douglas's "aristocracy of producers." My sanction is
not to interfere with, or become involved in administration of management or
productive processes. My sanction is in Douglas's words, "to atrophy a
function" by withdrawing my support as a consumer, provided that I have adequate
effective demand to withdraw. That is my proper function in Douglas's
"democracy of consumers." That is the ultimate discipline and control of the
policy of industry. That is genuine, meaningful economic democracy.
This does not mean to say that optimal government does not have a legitimate
position in the scheme of things. Optimal should mean minimal rather than
maximal in a properly functioning (non-dysfunctional) society.
I have, most likely (like others) objectives,
goals, purposes and activities which may have nothing whatever to do with a
given industry and I do not want to be encumbered by concerns or requirements
that interfere with my chosen course in life--concerns which may not interest
me, which are fundamentally none of my business and in which I may not have, or
not care to have, any involvement or expertise whatever. (Douglas,
quoting: "Mind your own business. It is sorely in need of
attention.") Having said all that, it is quite obvious that the more human
"co-operation" in the carrying out of any given function, the more positive the
results are likely to be. This is the source of the
Cultural Heritage.
To me formal or
institutional co-operatives are a form of collectivism more geared to a
primitive society or economy, having the potential to lack clarity of
purpose or direction, to hamper maxiumum efficiency and to impose restrictions
upon freedom of action and association. They tend, in my view, to subsume
rather than to release human individuality because they are based more upon an
"ideal" than practical considerations. That is, they are in a sense
"Utopian." Douglas regarded the Utopianist as the greatest danger to
society.
Social Credit brings the results (the Increments of
Association) of general co-operation among free
individuals and organizations to each citizen, which emancipates rather
than "conscripts." You can see that I am an individualist--but as a
Social Crediter one who is (very different from the usual "Conservative"
stereotype) decidedly distributive rather than primarily acquisitive.
Social Credit can, I think, legitimately be described as a form of consumption
socialism, as quite opposed to the concept of production socialism.
Douglas went to great lengths to stress that the
problem is not primarily administrative but rather one of policy and sanctions
with realistic finance being the key solution to the problem. There
is a tendency among many people not to have a clear understanding of these
issues--and not having this understanding they are all too often inclined to
jump into the collectivist frying pan which they are wont to imagine is somehow
a solution if not a panacea. I think it is both fair and realistic to say
that this, historically, has led to disappointment and disillusionment, and
that it has done so is a matter of inexorable logical consequence. These
are some of my thoughts.
Sincerely
Wally --^^--------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84IaC.bcVIgP.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] TOPICA - Start your own email discussion group. FREE! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/create/index2.html --^^--------------------------------------------------------------- |
