From the preface of From Corporate Globalization to Global Co-operation
“This book is not about economics or politics or society. It is about where they
all meet. It is not value free. The vision that drives it is the search for a better
world. The motivation for writing it is grounded in a growing apprehension about
the capitalism-driven trends of the last fifty years, a profound belief in the general
goodness of humanity and a sense of realistic optimism. It is a set of reflections
about the human condition and how we might better organize our thinking,
structures and processes to enhance human dignity. Intuitively and rationally, I
have come to the conclusion that the ideas, principles and values of co-operation
offer the best opportunity to enhance human dignity. My bias is that co-operation
is more important and healthier than competition; that forgiveness is better than
revenge; that giving and sharing produce a greater sense of personal well being
than getting and hoarding; and that love produces a better world. If these things
are true, we should base our actions and organizations and our economic, social
and political systems on co-operation, forgiveness, giving, sharing and nurturing
love. We have not done so.”
“To work against creation, or to subdue it, will ultimately lead to our own destruction, for we are enmeshed in it. The dignity of people and the dignity of creation are sides of the same coin.”
We should not feel fear about abandoning the ideas of capitalism. What we should fear is clinging to them until they destroy human society and the natural world that supports our life. We need to shift to business models that have as their purpose providing for human need. Meeting that need means looking after each other rather than exploiting each other. It means developing a healthy relationship with nature that will support all forms of life on the planet rather than mining nature to grow the wealth of the already very, very wealthy. It means that meeting human need is not done as a means to hoarding more wealth, but because we need a better world.
Every day we should try and find some way, large or small, to disconnect from capitalism and build a co-operative economy.
Global Co-operation 