According to his book, Perkins’ function was to convince the political and financial leadership of underdeveloped countries to accept enormous development loans from institutions like the World Bank and USAID. Saddled with debts they could not hope to pay, those countries were forced to acquiesce to political pressure from the United States on a variety of issues. Perkins argues in his book that developing nations were effectively neutralized politically, had their wealth gaps driven wider and economies crippled in the long run. In this capacity Perkins recounts his meetings with some prominent individuals, including Graham Greene and Omar Torrijos. Perkins describes the role of an EHM as follows
Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly-paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign “aid” organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet’s natural resources. Their tools included fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization.
In Activists to Grassroots, Tony discusses how activists need to start working with grassroots and create a new hybrid radical activist-grassroots persona.
Hello, Cleveland! Evergreen’s Place-Based Strategy for Worker Cooperative Development
The Evergreen Cooperative Initiative of Cleveland OH was launched in 2008. Its mission is to stabilize and revitalize six low-income neighborhoods (43,000 residents; median household income of $18,5000) of the Greater University Circle areas of Cleveland, Ohio.
The cooperative development strategy leverages a portion of the multi-billion dollar annual business expenditures (related to procurement and supply-chain) of anchor institutions (such as hospitals and universities) into the surrounding neighborhoods to create new businesses and jobs. The first two Evergreen cooperatives (Evergreen Cooperative Laundry and Ohio Cooperative Solar) launched in October 2009; two more businesses are in the pipeline for 2010. The near-term (3 year) goal is to develop an integrated network of 10 cooperatives with approximately 500 worker-owners.
This presentation will focus on three topics: (1) the overall Evergreen strategy and how it is being financed and implemented; (2) building a culture of ownership within the Evergreen Cooperative Laundry; and (3) Evergreen’s approach to governance, patronage, and long-term institutional viability.
Ted Howard is the founding Executive Director of The Democracy Collaborative, a research and policy center at the University of Maryland focused on community stabilization and wealth building. He is an architect of the Evergreen Initiative and has been appointed the Cleveland Foundation’s Steven Minter Senior Fellow for Social Justice. Medrick Addison is the Operational Supervisor of the Evergreen Cooperative Laundry in Cleveland, Ohio. He was a member of the first group of worker-owners to join the coop and serves on the senior management team.
This Survive & Thrive film is one of 4 case studies telling the stories of rural social and community enterprises across South West England. Survive & Thrive helps rural community and social enterprises to build better businesses, make more money, and achieve better social and environmental impacts through training, events and learning from others.
Congress is hemming and hawing over financial reform, no doubt weighing up the cost of too little reform vs. too many lost campaign contributions.
Meanwhile, while the best jobless workers can hope for is an extension of benefits for the long-term unemployed, it’s not just the jobless who are slipping under the bus — it’s all workers. As Robert Reich pointed out this week, real wages are falling – even as hours and “productivity” are rising. And the White House keeps on hoping that the private sector will do the right thing about all of this.
Workers Development in the City of New York is a for-profit business aimed at the development of worker cooperative businesses in the New York City metropolitan area. Our business structure is also organized as a worker cooperative. Presently, we are at work on our first worker cooperative restaurant. Visit workersdiner.org for more information.
Creative Financing for Your Worker Cooperative Jenny Kassan, Katovich Law Group and Sustainable Economies Law Center; Chris Michael, Workers Development; Christina Jennings, NCDF; Mike Leung, Worker Cooperative Credit Union
This panel will cover the legal framework for the financing of worker cooperatives and provide examples of creative financing techniques including the creation of a credit union to help finance worker cooperatives and conducting a direct public stock offering to non-members.
This is a video of the first half of the Permaculture Credit Union’s 10th Anniversary Celebration held May 2010 in Santa Fe, NM. This video includes on overview of the activities of the credit union, its 10th Anniversary initiatives, as well as awards for leading members and a children’s poster contest. This video will be of most interest to members of the PCU.
This is Gunter Pauli’s full length talk on The Blue Economy, presented May 6, 2010 in Santa Fe, NM. This is one of the first talks Gunter gave on his new book. This talk was a part of the Permaculture Credit Union’s 10th Anniversary Celebration. pcuonline.org
Permaculture Credit Union Celebrates 10th Anniversary Member-Owned Financial Institution Successfully Blends Responsible Business Practices with Sustainable Living Practices
Santa Fe, NM – In a financial economy where most consumers are worried simply about their money’s security, member-owners of Santa Fe, New Mexico-based Permaculture Credit Union www.pcuonline.org know that they’re securely investing in sustainability for their communities as well.
Established in 2000, the Permaculture Credit Union was specifically designed not just as a financial institution but as a responsible, sustainable business model that focused on saving members’ money while also saving natural resources. With more than 1020 members from around the country, the credit union specializes in responsible lending in areas that promote environmental sustainability including alternative home construction, fuel-efficient vehicles, sustainable and organic farming, energy efficient home upgrades and lending for energy and water capture systems.
This workshop outlines a vision for a democratic, worker-owned, advanced industrial ecology society. We seek pathways to provide the burgeoning food education/justice movement with the tools to become economically sustainable, and to link the emerging green industrial worker cooperatives with them into sovereign networks. Once active, such networks can become the basis for sustainable, socially just communities that revitalize locales via open source sustainable agriculture and manufacturing methods. Our panel — with academic, commercial, and school of hard knocks experience — will frame the demonstrated solutions, numerous pieces of the puzzle that we as a society need to put together.
Gavin Raders explains how, where, and to what effect Planting Justice implements their ecologically sound and socially just philosophy. Videos below include a 30-second excerpt on the utility of city waste streams, followed by 6 sequential videos that comprise Gavin’s presentation at our USSF 2010 workshop. Great stuff!
Espousing and embodying the Permaculture meme, “the problem is the solution”. Gavin Raders on the utility of city waste streams: http://www.vimeo.com/13797340Video Credit: Patrick O’Connor of Oakland Sol
Permaculture, “just a word until it is put into practice”. In 1.5 years, Planting Justice has installed 60 permaculture gardens in homes, schools, affordable housing complexes, community centers, and at San Quentin Correctional Facility. Gavin encourages us to just get started, and advocates using their open-source resources, e.g. those available at http://plantingjustice.org/resources/sample-designs : http://www.vimeo.com/13797559Video Credit: Patrick O’Connor of Oakland Sol
Projects. Optimal locales for installations with maximum benefit are institutions such as churches and community centers, which have the dual advantages of already being social meeting places and of owning land. Gavin describes how the learning process is often mutual, as Planting Justice (projects) facilitates installations at a local middle school, at San Quentin Prison, and at affordable housing complexes: http://www.vimeo.com/13797759Video Credit: Patrick O’Connor of Oakland Sol
Why City Permaculture? Planting Justice embodies the Permaculture philosophy “the problem is the solution“. Gavin Raders quotes Grace Lee Boggs “crises are opportunities“, and explains how advantageous cities waste streams can be when pollution is simply treated as mis-placed nutrients:http://www.vimeo.com/13797848Video Credit: Patrick O’Connor of Oakland Sol
Conclusion. Gavin Raders of Planting Justice encourages us to replicate their efforts, and to build sustainable and regenerative businesses off of the waste streams of cities. Check their website for free educational workshops upcoming at their Oakland space:http://www.vimeo.com/13797924Video Credit: Patrick O’Connor of Oakland Sol
** Up next in this series: USSF 2010 videos of Quinton Sankofa and James Berk of Mandela Marketplace and Mandela Foods **
This workshop outlines a vision for a democratic, worker-owned, advanced industrial ecology society. We seek pathways to provide the burgeoning food education/justice movement with the tools to become economically sustainable, and to link the emerging green industrial worker cooperatives with them into sovereign networks. Once active, such networks can become the basis for sustainable, socially just communities that revitalize locales via open source sustainable agriculture and manufacturing methods. Our panel — with academic, commercial, and school of hard knocks experience — will frame the demonstrated solutions, numerous pieces of the puzzle that we as a society need to put together.
Pathways to Sustainable Self-Governance: Democratic Open-Source Food and Manufacturing Networks
Short Description
Worker Cooperative Networks for Sovereignty of Food, Commerce, & Community: Panel/Breakouts/Discussion to Envision & Chart Implementation Framework of Industrial Permaculture Ecology
The Arizmendi Association of Cooperatives is itself a cooperative made up of five member businesses: four cooperative bakeries and a development and support collective. Members share a common mission, share ongoing accounting, legal, educational and other support services, and support the development of new member cooperatives by the Association. http://arizmendi.coop
Mandela Market Place is a pioneer in development, application and assessment of community food systems. The organization evolved since 2001, first as a project of the Environmental Justice Institute – Tides Center, until incorporating in 2005 as a stand-alone 501c3 organization with a goal to strengthen community health, integrity and indentity by providing economic opportunity and empowerment for inner-city Oakland residents and businesses, and local family farms. Mandela MarketPlace works directly with community residents, local, state and federal agencies, non-profits, small business owners, and farmers to support strategies to meet food needs, expand economic opportunity and increase self-reliance of low-income and disenfranchised people. http://mandelamarketplace.org
Planting Justice is a non-profit organization based in Oakland, CA dedicated to food justice, economic justice, and sustainable local food systems. We are the first organization of our kind to combine ecological training and urban food production with a grassroots door-to-door organizing model that will vastly increase our educational community outreach, help us to recruit volunteers, decentralize our fundraising sources, and provide local jobs that also train young community organizers. http://www.plantingjustice.org
Mandela Foods Cooperative is a locally-owned and operated full-service grocery store and nutrition education center located in West Oakland, a community long underserved in grocery retail. The present undersupply of food retail in West Oakland represents an opportunity to leverage untapped local buying power into new business and employment opportunities and healthy eating options for West Oakland residents. The Cooperative will offer local goods, wholesome, fresh and affordable foods grown on family farms, nutrition education classes and a cooperative economic investment program that provides multi-level investment for community residents. http://www.mandelafoods.com
Abolish Human Rentals is dedicated to bringing an old idea into the public conscience, that the standard employment relationship, a contract for the rental of people, is invalid due to the inalienable rights of humans. It is based on the already widely held principle of the non-transferability of responsibility for one’s actions. That principle, taken to its logical conclusion, means the rental of humans have no more legitimacy than their sale. http://www.abolishhumanrentals.org
Language(s): English
Tracks:
Climate Justice: sustainability, resources and land
Democracy and Governance
Important pieces that will be presented here include the successful strategies employed in the worker cooperative networks/alliances of Mondragon, Ohio, and the San Francisco Bay Area, Permaculture design strategies implemented even in harsh climate zones, Denmark’s national industrial symbiosis program, non-parasitic capitalization of non-hierarchical enterprises, and regenerative urban food justice paradigms.
Participants will self-organize into groups to construct models that put some of the pieces together. Workshop participants will then seek to bolster viability of the proposed models, emphasizing possible pilot programs in Detroit, Oakland and in Brooklyn.
Panel members include Quinton Sankofa of Mandela Marketplace and James Berk of Mandela Foods Cooperative, Mike Leung of the embryonic Worker Cooperative Credit Union, and Gavin Raiders of Planting Justice. Facilitator: Kirstie Stramler of Permaculture Cooperative.
For updates leading up to USSF 2010, see the panel and workshop group pages on http://organize.ussf2010.org and videos on http://permaculture.tv/tag/ussf2010/ .
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