Cooperation, Yeah, Yeah
I work part-time at a local grocery co-op, Weaver Street Market, hocking organic bread and vegan cookies. I applied for the job originally because I had just moved to the area, was looking for something to do, wanted to meet people, and like organic foods. It was less about my personal philosophy than about a good discount on healthy, non-preservative-laden groceries. I always joke about being a socialist, I read Mother Jones, but I'm only beginning to realize what these things mean and what the implications are -- or should be -- for my lifestyle. WSM had a couple of mandatory employee meetings in the last couple days that have my head in a whirl. The first featured a guest speaker from Davis, CA (which is like co-op heaven), who talked about the general history of co-op development, how many different kinds there can be, why they're good, why they work. I was particularly intrigued by his discussion of the Basque region in Spain, which has gone from the poorest region in the country to the 4th richest in something like 50 years; its network of co-ops created 50,000 jobs more or less out of thin air. It was a little 1984 -- the cooperative bank, the cooperative university, jobs guaranteed for life -- but wow, what a powerful, locally supportive force. The second meeting was more practical, an employee discussion group where we spent a lot of time on WSM's cooperation with local growers, as well as its future plans for other kinds of co-ops (particularly housing). When I lived in San Francisco, I took this kind of cooperative thinking for granted; everyone was doing it. And since other people worked so hard to be so politically active, I didn't need to worry much about it. I buy organic, you buy organic... and you also champion my causes for me. Hey, thanks. But in Chapel Hill, a liberal enclave in a conservative state, I need to think harder about my priorities and how I want to represent them -- and myself -- to the world. Maybe it's time for me to start growing up and making a statement, to stop being lazy about my ideologies. I think co-ops are a good idea... but why? And what am I doing about it? [For some reason, the title of this post keeps sounding like a Sesame Street song in my head...]
