by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
This news comes after only recently the United Nations predicting the end of the industrial era and the beginning of a post-industrial one now this. It is obvious that certain people want both to be kept as quiet as possible. Wouldn't do to scare the sheeple now, would it.
It is interesting to see the choice of words of the think tank to call the new economy to follow after capitalism a co-operative one.
A co-operative economy is, in essence, basically, co-operative enterprises, that means worker-owned, worker-operated and worker-led businesses and that might as well be called by its proper name, namely socialism or even communism, real and true communism.
This is the true meaning of “means of production in the hands of the workers” and not state-owned businesses, often referred to as publicly-owned ones.
This was always, originally, co-operative worker-owned, -operated and -led businesses, intended to happen in Russia after the Revolution of October 1917 and did, to a great extent, until Stalin messed it all up.
State-ownership of businesses is not socialism or communism but state capitalism. A co-operative economy would be the true path, and one where the workers really are the ones benefiting from their labor.
There are co-operative businesses in existence even under capitalism, especially in the UK, with the last remaining old one being the John Lewis Partnership. Others that once were have been taken over by corporations, many from across the Big Pond and others from Switzerland. The lure of the lucre was, obviously, too great to resist for all concerned.
But with the predicted end of capitalism and the emergence of a co-operative economy worker-owned, -run and -led enterprises will be – more or less – the only, and this is good news for workers, way to proceed.
The old system is, however, not going quietly, of that we can be certain and will do all it can to stay alive even though it will be in a coma, basically, and it is prepared to fight tooth and nail. The capitalist and especially the corporation are not prepared to let go of their large profits and thus incomes for them and their shareholders. But any struggle by a comatose system is not going to change the outcome in the end.
If, as predicted by the UN, the industrial era is coming to an end then capitalism will be finished also and that means a world entirely different from what we have seen before.
While we have seen – well, not us directly but previous generations – a world without industry as in factories and such so far the co-operative economy, as predicted by the think tank, has not existed properly.
However, it is going to happen; there is no other option for the world.
But we are not talking here about what previously has masqueraded itself as socialist economies, which were, and are, but state capitalism, but of an entirely new economic system along the lines that were envisaged by the likes of Owen et al in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, to a great degree, with enterprises where the workers truly own, run and lead those enterprises and truly own the means of production.
Instead of being afraid of this new system coming our way we should rejoice and work on bringing it about sooner rather than later as it will benefit all of those that are prepared to work and not loaf while making a fortune on the backs of the poor workers. So, bring on the co-operative economy and system and the post-industrial world.
© 2014
