Why the Gates-Buffett Billionaires Should Create a Social Private Equity Firm
http://socialentrepreneurship.change.org/blog/view/why_the_gates-buffett_billionaires_should_create_a_social_private_equity_firm
by Nathaniel Whittemore June 17, 2010 01:25 PM (PT)
Social Entrepreneurship
The big news this week is the Giving Pledge, a campaign led by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates to get the worlds 400 wealthiest to commit 50% or more of their wealth to social causes. I think that for some of these new givers, social entrepreneurship could be a better field for them to deploy their talent and treasure than more the more traditional philanthropic fancies of the rich. Believe it or not, I think the single best thing they could do to supercharge social entrepreneurship is to create a social private equity firm.
I wrote yesterday about both my enthusiasm and my worries for the new injection of resources -- which ultimately, if all 400 on the list actually committed 50%, would be more than $600 billion. My worry is that the not-insignificant challenge of distributing so much wealth effectively will end up pushing many of the new philanthropists to predictable, known, and often well-supported giving.
The better game to me seems to be in actually trying to deploy these resources to transform entire cause areas, and perhaps shift the systems by which social change efforts are created and supported as a whole. To that end, I think a deeper enabling of the social entrepreneurship field could be a great bet. And when I think about what this field needs there is something that has recently been standing out to me above all else.
We need plausible paths for company exits that don't undermine the social or environmental mission.
An "exit" refers to an event like a merger with a larger company or a listing on a public stock exchange. These "exits" give founders and early investors liquidity, or financial return on their capital or time invested. Ultimately, the shape and size of exits within a given market are the key factor in determining the risk and reward of a venture investment. When the exits in a space are bigger or more predictable, investors are more likely to take risks and invest in companies. When exits are smaller or less predictable, the reverse is true and getting investors to take risks on companies is harder.
The situation is even more complicated in the social venture space because of the added priorities of social and environmental impact. For a socially-focused company to list itself on a public exchange, it means that it accepts its primary responsibility to be its fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders. While there are some publicly traded companies that have embedded social good as part of their business, the pressure to increase dividends to shareholders at all costs is immense, and not necessarily healthy for the social goals of a company. What's more, it is only very large companies (usually more than $50 million in annual revenue) that are appropriate for stock exchanges anyway.
Mergers with larger companies seem like a better fit for many socially focused companies -- particularly those in the food or consumer space where there are actually large established companies with capacity to and interest in acquiring smaller companies. The challenge in those arrangements is that often those larger corporations do not share the same commitment to social and environmental objectives -- particularly if they increase the cost of doing businesses.
The problem with the lack of good options for exits for social businesses is that it increases the risk for social investors and creates a barrier for new early stage investors in the field. For example, a social venture capital firm like Good Capital tries to raise a venture fund to invest in young companies, the lack of plausible exit opportunities means that there will be fewer people willing to invest in that fund.
I wonder if part of the answer may be to create late stage private equity firms focused on social as well as financial impact. Private equity is sort of a banner term, but generally refers to firms that buy controlling stakes in existing companies, and then increases the profits of those companies in order to pay themselves back. Although the public has gotten used to certain derivitives of the private equity model focused on buying distressed companies and then turning them around to sell again, that's not necessarily the model a social private equity firm would have to take.
What I can imagine is an institutional actor whose specialty is helping great social businesses with good revenues get even bigger while retaining their social and environmental missions. Bigger is not necessarily better. These types of firms would bring companies into their portfolio by acquiring some of the stock that had previously been held by investors and founders, in that way providing that liquidity that is missing from the current social finance system without compromising the social mission. This would create more incentives for early stage social investors, and provide social entrepreneurs more plausible returns that could increase the variety of the people thinking about social businesses.
I think that any firm like this would have to be financed by people who were both financial savvy, socially committed, and generally patient. It would need to be staffed by people who deeply understood the social impact landscape of the fields in which they were investing, as well as by people with experience in traditional private equity.
I think it could be awesome. Imagine Benetech founder and CEO Jim Fruchterman running a firm like this, supported by (Fortune 400 member) David Rubenstein from the Carlyle Group (the largest private equity firm in the world), and funded by everyone from Sergey Brin to Michael Bloomberg. I think it could be transformational, and would be a perfect fit for leveraging not only the capital but the broader array of talent and connections of the new Gates-Buffett Giving Pledge group.
Photo credit: David Rubenstein via the World Economic Forum
Thursday, June 24, 2010
NEW BREAK-THROUGH FOR START-UP LOANS AND EQUITY INVESTMENTS
A new form of company and a change in IRS regulations will likely open up funding for business start-ups and grow-ups. The type of legal entity is called a “L3C” which is a limited liability company or LLC. They are also called, “social benefit entrepreneurial enterprises” (SBEE). Thus far, Vermont and Michigan have adopted laws which permit the formation of the L3C and similar legislation is pending in several other states as bi-partisan measures. The key is that the L3C is formed for the purpose of social benefits – defined by 501.c.3 laws. Profit cannot be the main purpose, but the law does not prohibit profit distribution to the members of the LLC (which for tax purposes is usually treated as a business partnership).
The key result of achieving this status is that 501.c.3's are permitted to invest or loan funds to the L3Cs. The catch is that a prudent donor will want a “private letter” issued by the IRS which recognizes the LLC as a L3C entity. These letters are expensive and time consuming to get. However, there is legislation pending in Congress which changes the method of qualifying. A special unit of IRS will be set-up to deal with these types of qualifications (not the IRS attorneys). Generally a form, correctly filled in, will be submitted to the new unit which will basically rubber stamp its approval, putting the L3C in the proper slot to receive funds from 501.c.3s.
Private foundations are required to disburse five percent of their capital each year. Now those funds are simply given away. The new approach does give the foundations the ability to recoup the principal and earn some return on the principal. This change should generate considerable funding of SBEEs.
To find our more about SBEE L3Cs, please visit Wikipedia.org, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_entrepreneurship, or Google “social benefit entrepreneurial enterprise”. See Social Velocity at: http://www.socialvelocity.net/2009/02/changing-nonprofit-finance-the-other-side-of-the-story/ A great talk on the subject by Mark Lane, a tax attorney, entitled, [Introducing L3C - Part 1] L3Cs: Social Enterprise's Powerful, New Capital Formation Tool, starts on Youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ9uQmVvtjA . Don't miss the question and answer parts.
Maryland has joined the states which now have approved L3C social benefit entrepreneurial enterprises: Maryland First State in Union to Pass Benefit Corporation Legislation, http://www.csrwire.com/press/press_release/29332-Maryland-First-State-in-Union-to-Pass-Benefit-Corporation-Legislation .
A certifying/branding organization has been formed to provide due dilegence and rating of L3C: Become a B Corporation,http://www.bcorporation.net/become
There are several financial institutions which have adopted the B corporation ethics: http://www.bcorporation.net/community/financial
Jim Miller
jimmiller5417@yahoo.com
A new form of company and a change in IRS regulations will likely open up funding for business start-ups and grow-ups. The type of legal entity is called a “L3C” which is a limited liability company or LLC. They are also called, “social benefit entrepreneurial enterprises” (SBEE). Thus far, Vermont and Michigan have adopted laws which permit the formation of the L3C and similar legislation is pending in several other states as bi-partisan measures. The key is that the L3C is formed for the purpose of social benefits – defined by 501.c.3 laws. Profit cannot be the main purpose, but the law does not prohibit profit distribution to the members of the LLC (which for tax purposes is usually treated as a business partnership).
The key result of achieving this status is that 501.c.3's are permitted to invest or loan funds to the L3Cs. The catch is that a prudent donor will want a “private letter” issued by the IRS which recognizes the LLC as a L3C entity. These letters are expensive and time consuming to get. However, there is legislation pending in Congress which changes the method of qualifying. A special unit of IRS will be set-up to deal with these types of qualifications (not the IRS attorneys). Generally a form, correctly filled in, will be submitted to the new unit which will basically rubber stamp its approval, putting the L3C in the proper slot to receive funds from 501.c.3s.
Private foundations are required to disburse five percent of their capital each year. Now those funds are simply given away. The new approach does give the foundations the ability to recoup the principal and earn some return on the principal. This change should generate considerable funding of SBEEs.
To find our more about SBEE L3Cs, please visit Wikipedia.org, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_entrepreneurship, or Google “social benefit entrepreneurial enterprise”. See Social Velocity at: http://www.socialvelocity.net/2009/02/changing-nonprofit-finance-the-other-side-of-the-story/ A great talk on the subject by Mark Lane, a tax attorney, entitled, [Introducing L3C - Part 1] L3Cs: Social Enterprise's Powerful, New Capital Formation Tool, starts on Youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ9uQmVvtjA . Don't miss the question and answer parts.
Maryland has joined the states which now have approved L3C social benefit entrepreneurial enterprises: Maryland First State in Union to Pass Benefit Corporation Legislation, http://www.csrwire.com/press/press_release/29332-Maryland-First-State-in-Union-to-Pass-Benefit-Corporation-Legislation .
A certifying/branding organization has been formed to provide due dilegence and rating of L3C: Become a B Corporation,http://www.bcorporation.net/become
There are several financial institutions which have adopted the B corporation ethics: http://www.bcorporation.net/community/financial
Jim Miller
jimmiller5417@yahoo.com
Thursday, May 13, 2010
CURRENT FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT = “JUST SAY NO”
CURRENT FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT = “JUST SAY NO”
Let's bring prudence into the financial services market and use risk management so we can say “yes”.
By Jim Miller
I was a customer of Bank of America since age seven when my parents opened a savings account for me. During my mid-20's I asked BofA for a $1200 loan with which to buy a 1956 Chevy two door hard top – a primo car easily worth $2500. In turning me down, the loan officer said the car was too old. – No loan, no risk. I immediately close all of my accounts with BofA and have never done business with it since then.
Today, business failure is often triggered by the refusal of banks to make business loans – in fact they accelerate business failure by cutting down the lines of credit and calling debt due. FreddieMac and FannyMae own hundreds of thousands of homes and other properties, and more foreclosures are in the pipeline. All of the lending is based on “safety” of the loan which means the legal right to take assets away from the borrower. Financial statements are used more for the depth of net available assets a borrower has and credit ratings tell how much other debt is against those assets.
Foreclosures are caused mostly by job loss Lost homes and lost business contribute to foreclosures and a bad credit rating for the home owner and business owner. Banks fail and are taken over by FDIC, then sold to BofA and other financial monsters. It is like the smaller banks help dig their own graves then fall into them by using asset lending followed by foreclosure.
When banks, homeowners and businesses hit a cash flow emergency, that emergency usually triggers the failure. A company at the hinge point near failure, has little chance of selling equity shares or obtaining bridge financing – so they fail and the equity owners lose their investments. Using Chapter 13 is not much of a solutions – it is a long, costly and devastating experience, the result of which is a major hit on the credit rating.
So what can be done to create an economic environment in which investors, banks and other financial institutions can avoid unnecessary risk so they can say “yes”? Two steps need to be taken: (1) at least half of business enterprises need to be or become worker cooperatives with quadruple “bottom lines” (People, Planet, Profits and Principles) and (2) a means of buying, selling, trading and transferring financial instruments in a secure, honest and well-managed manner, such a system must be found and implemented. Let's take each solution, one at a time:
WORKER COOPERATIVES
A worker cooperative is a private capital-based company wherein the investors are the workers who manage themselves in a democratic legal setting. If our current way of financing and managing businesses is “top-down capital”, then a worker cooperative is “bottom-up capital”. The primary worker cooperative candidate for the Social Benefit Investment Exchange (SBIE) is the low profit, limited liability company (L3C), also known as a social benefit entrepreneurial enterprise (SBEE). Here are some of the hallmarks for worker cooperatives:
Worker equity. Workers put in most of the equity capital, usually a great deal of it is sweat capital. Each worker has one vote.
Failure prevention. The risk of failure is directly upon those who can do the most to prevent failure; hence, less chance of failure
Reserve account. By transferring some of the profit each quarter to a reserve account, a financial cushion is created which prevents or reduces cash flow emergencies which would otherwise threaten the business.
Oversight. As a self-managed company, the level of over-sight greatly increases.
Local profit turning. Profits tend to stay within the community in which the business is located, thus turning several times to the benefit of other businesses and their workers.
Charitable giving. Typically, ten percent of the profits are directly invested in local charities.
Equality of voting power. Part of the profits are assigned to each worker each quarter to his/her capital account, which is used by the company as working capital. When the worker quits or retires, his/her capital account must be either paid to the worker or converted to Class C shares which, collectively can vote for only one-third of the governing board (Council of Managers or Board of Directors).
Wage differentials. No worker can be paid more than three or four times the lowest paid worker. Workers can earn additional shares by advancing suggestions which improve the performance of the company.
Work and pay equality. Workers who are in supervisory roles earn their normal base pay.
Transparency. The financial records are available for all workers to examine online and all financial transactions are recorded, without exception.
Transactional security. Class C shares may be traded on the Social Benefit Investment Exchange directly between seller and buyer in a secure transaction through the business escrow of SBIE. Registration of the instruments of ownership with SBIE provides for a chain of title.
Critical due diligence. New financial issues by a SBEE are vetted by the Council of Advisors of SBIE and are subject to a due diligence examination by the SBIE Ombudsman.
Bridge loans. SBIE is a source of emergency lending to bridge unforeseen emergencies of the SBEE. The amount of this fund will grow over time. This reserved will be funded internally by using twenty-five percent of the net profits.
Credit union. SBIE and the worker cooperatives, will sponsor the formation of a credit union for worker savings and personal lending to members.
A nation of savers. Our nation has become a population of consumers, riding on an increasingly higher pile of debt. We need to change from consuming to producing (mostly knowledge products and services). We need to become a saving nation like the Japanese. We need to reduce the personal, business and governmental debt. We can accomplish this goal by increasing the middle class and providing incentives for parents and children to save for college. To make this shift, requires family income to rise.
Educational Savings. Savings are more likely when the out-go is less than the in-come. Poverty wage workers seldom have that choice. By eliminating the high compensation of the top side of top-down capital business and paying the workers with this savings, a SBEE can encourage workers to create educational and personal savings accounts.
Synergistic effect. The profits allocated to stock dividends and interest payment which accrue to absentee capital owners, typically used by the payees for expenditures in locales other than the one in which the earning were made. In contrast, profits spent in the community in which earned “turn” several times in the community. This shift creates a synergistic effect on business formations and growth in the community when profits are paid to the local workers.
THE SOCIAL BENEFIT INVESTMENT EXCHANGE (SBIE)
Picture the NYSE with kiosks surrounded by gangs of shouting traders. Now picture the SBIE humming merrily away on a stack of RAID blade servers which run on a Linus platform and serves Personal Brain-based “front office” and the non-traditional database of AskSAM running on an Apache server, which serves the “back office”. The IT techs whisper commands into a voice recognition server when administration commands are given to the system. Investors can access their accounts in any instrument traded on SBIE by any digital device. Here are the main points:
Matching. The main role of SBIE is to match buyers and sellers, thus increasing the liquidity of investments in L3C or SBEE equity and debt capital. Full disclosure and secure transactions are essential to this process.
Transparency. SBEEies are required to respond immediately to any concern raised by the SBIE Ombudsman. The financial records of each SBEE are totally transparent to the registered investors. Existing issues are generally traded between principals.
The Market. A SBEE may elect a private sale to designated buyers of a new issue, or may post the issue for auction. No futures are traded. No broker/dealers are allowed.
Issue offerings. If the issue can qualify as an exempt private offering, that will reduce the securities compliance costs. If the issue does not qualify for a private offering, it can be offered in a public offering. Most of the issues will be private, intra-state offerings. There is also the use of a business partnership – either an LLP or a Chapter S corporation – where all of the investors are active partners. Depending on the state of domicile, these other types of business entities may not comply with the L3C statutes and tax treatments. Each type will require careful evaluation by a tax attorney.
Ombudsman.
The Securities and Exchange Commission, along with the U. S. Attorneys, are the “cops on the beat” in the securities industries. SEC even uses its “cease and desist” powers to stop illegal sales of securities. Starting a criminal investigation or grand jury hearings often can stop pending illegal securities sales. However, these agencies are “after the fact” actors and typically only find a wasteland – plenty of financial victims and the lack of assets to make reparations.
The SBIE Ombudsman has two roles, the chief among them is the initial and continuing due diligence investigations of the SBEE and its securities issues. The secondary role is that of investigator, arbiter and mediator. The key to reducing loss is early intervention, based on “tips” from investors and workers in the SBEEies. Rather than wait until the damage is done, the Ombudsman (or gender neutral “Ombuds”) takes action early enough to prevent a SBEE from sliding into a cash emergency or other failure mode. The remedies which the Ombudsman can bring to bear are:
De-listing a securities issue from SBIE
De-listing a SBEE
Giving public notice to all investors about the Ombuds' actions.
Requesting an investigation by state and federal agencies of the actions of an SBEE which may have violated securities laws.
Giving counsel to the management of an SBEE.
Conducting a more rigorous due diligence.
Arbitrating or mediating a dispute.
Reviewing the internal operations of SBIE and making recommendations to the workers and investors.
Recommending that a specific worker for SBIE or an SBEE be fired or suspending pending an investigation.
Issue subpoenas to compel production of records and the giving of testimony.
Appoint a Special Master and arrange for the Special Masters expenses.
Recommend a general assignment for benefit of creditors for a failing SBEE and the appointment of a trustee and the funding of the Trustee's operation.
Require rescission of any act (or omission) by an SBEE in contravention of the SBEE's Code of Honor or of SBIE written policies. Recommend proper restoration.
SBIE's “full faith and credit” rides upon the diligent performance of duties by the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman must be as independent as possible and should be appointed by the SBIE General Assembly, based on recommendations of the Council of Advisors. The Ombudsman should report to the General Assembly as his/her appointing authority and work closely with the Council of Advisors and the Council of Managers. The ideal Ombudsman would be a retired attorney who has spent many years as a prosecutor or plaintiff's attorney in the field of securities frauds and has a pro-active attitude.
Trader Board. Many companies which have invested labor and materials in inventory, sometimes have excess inventory which is no longer salable as the inventory used to be. Factory seconds and over-stock typically are sold through factory outlets or liquidators. SBIE will help remedy this situation by providing a barter board where SBEEies can list their “want to sell” and buyers can list their “want to buy” items for cash, Class C shares, or barter. Wood Planet is typical of these boards. Also Craigslist is also an example of a trading board – or more of a classified ad board. The SBIE barter board will also index other trader boards.
The main goal is to grow an economically strong middle class for America – a class which has been systematically attacked by oligopolies, top-down managed corporations, and the casino stock exchanges plus a catastrophic spending spree engineered by the Federal Reserve and the member banks. A secondary goal is to bring prudence into the financial services market other than by “just say no”.
Jim Miller
jimmiller5417@yahoo.com
May 11, 2010
Other articles by Jim Miller on SBIE and SBEE:
The Mission of Social Benefit Investment Exchange (SBIE) [ http://sbic.wetpaint.com/page/The+Mission+of+Social+Benefit+Investment+Exchange+%28SBIE%29 ]
Try Social Benefit investing -- You Might Like It. [ http://sbic.wetpaint.com/page/TRY+SOCIAL+BENEFIT+INVESTING+--+YOU+MIGHT+LIKE+IT.+ ]
Change for the Better [ http://sbic.wetpaint.com/page/CHANGE+FOR+THE+BETTER ]
Legal structure of SBIE [ http://sbic.wetpaint.com/page/LEGAL+STRUCTURE+OF+SBIE ]
This article on the web:
http://sbic.wetpaint.com/page/CURRENT+FINANCIAL+RISK+MANAGEMENT+%3D+%E2%80%9CJUST+SAY+NO%E2%80%9D
Let's bring prudence into the financial services market and use risk management so we can say “yes”.
By Jim Miller
I was a customer of Bank of America since age seven when my parents opened a savings account for me. During my mid-20's I asked BofA for a $1200 loan with which to buy a 1956 Chevy two door hard top – a primo car easily worth $2500. In turning me down, the loan officer said the car was too old. – No loan, no risk. I immediately close all of my accounts with BofA and have never done business with it since then.
Today, business failure is often triggered by the refusal of banks to make business loans – in fact they accelerate business failure by cutting down the lines of credit and calling debt due. FreddieMac and FannyMae own hundreds of thousands of homes and other properties, and more foreclosures are in the pipeline. All of the lending is based on “safety” of the loan which means the legal right to take assets away from the borrower. Financial statements are used more for the depth of net available assets a borrower has and credit ratings tell how much other debt is against those assets.
Foreclosures are caused mostly by job loss Lost homes and lost business contribute to foreclosures and a bad credit rating for the home owner and business owner. Banks fail and are taken over by FDIC, then sold to BofA and other financial monsters. It is like the smaller banks help dig their own graves then fall into them by using asset lending followed by foreclosure.
When banks, homeowners and businesses hit a cash flow emergency, that emergency usually triggers the failure. A company at the hinge point near failure, has little chance of selling equity shares or obtaining bridge financing – so they fail and the equity owners lose their investments. Using Chapter 13 is not much of a solutions – it is a long, costly and devastating experience, the result of which is a major hit on the credit rating.
So what can be done to create an economic environment in which investors, banks and other financial institutions can avoid unnecessary risk so they can say “yes”? Two steps need to be taken: (1) at least half of business enterprises need to be or become worker cooperatives with quadruple “bottom lines” (People, Planet, Profits and Principles) and (2) a means of buying, selling, trading and transferring financial instruments in a secure, honest and well-managed manner, such a system must be found and implemented. Let's take each solution, one at a time:
WORKER COOPERATIVES
A worker cooperative is a private capital-based company wherein the investors are the workers who manage themselves in a democratic legal setting. If our current way of financing and managing businesses is “top-down capital”, then a worker cooperative is “bottom-up capital”. The primary worker cooperative candidate for the Social Benefit Investment Exchange (SBIE) is the low profit, limited liability company (L3C), also known as a social benefit entrepreneurial enterprise (SBEE). Here are some of the hallmarks for worker cooperatives:
Worker equity. Workers put in most of the equity capital, usually a great deal of it is sweat capital. Each worker has one vote.
Failure prevention. The risk of failure is directly upon those who can do the most to prevent failure; hence, less chance of failure
Reserve account. By transferring some of the profit each quarter to a reserve account, a financial cushion is created which prevents or reduces cash flow emergencies which would otherwise threaten the business.
Oversight. As a self-managed company, the level of over-sight greatly increases.
Local profit turning. Profits tend to stay within the community in which the business is located, thus turning several times to the benefit of other businesses and their workers.
Charitable giving. Typically, ten percent of the profits are directly invested in local charities.
Equality of voting power. Part of the profits are assigned to each worker each quarter to his/her capital account, which is used by the company as working capital. When the worker quits or retires, his/her capital account must be either paid to the worker or converted to Class C shares which, collectively can vote for only one-third of the governing board (Council of Managers or Board of Directors).
Wage differentials. No worker can be paid more than three or four times the lowest paid worker. Workers can earn additional shares by advancing suggestions which improve the performance of the company.
Work and pay equality. Workers who are in supervisory roles earn their normal base pay.
Transparency. The financial records are available for all workers to examine online and all financial transactions are recorded, without exception.
Transactional security. Class C shares may be traded on the Social Benefit Investment Exchange directly between seller and buyer in a secure transaction through the business escrow of SBIE. Registration of the instruments of ownership with SBIE provides for a chain of title.
Critical due diligence. New financial issues by a SBEE are vetted by the Council of Advisors of SBIE and are subject to a due diligence examination by the SBIE Ombudsman.
Bridge loans. SBIE is a source of emergency lending to bridge unforeseen emergencies of the SBEE. The amount of this fund will grow over time. This reserved will be funded internally by using twenty-five percent of the net profits.
Credit union. SBIE and the worker cooperatives, will sponsor the formation of a credit union for worker savings and personal lending to members.
A nation of savers. Our nation has become a population of consumers, riding on an increasingly higher pile of debt. We need to change from consuming to producing (mostly knowledge products and services). We need to become a saving nation like the Japanese. We need to reduce the personal, business and governmental debt. We can accomplish this goal by increasing the middle class and providing incentives for parents and children to save for college. To make this shift, requires family income to rise.
Educational Savings. Savings are more likely when the out-go is less than the in-come. Poverty wage workers seldom have that choice. By eliminating the high compensation of the top side of top-down capital business and paying the workers with this savings, a SBEE can encourage workers to create educational and personal savings accounts.
Synergistic effect. The profits allocated to stock dividends and interest payment which accrue to absentee capital owners, typically used by the payees for expenditures in locales other than the one in which the earning were made. In contrast, profits spent in the community in which earned “turn” several times in the community. This shift creates a synergistic effect on business formations and growth in the community when profits are paid to the local workers.
THE SOCIAL BENEFIT INVESTMENT EXCHANGE (SBIE)
Picture the NYSE with kiosks surrounded by gangs of shouting traders. Now picture the SBIE humming merrily away on a stack of RAID blade servers which run on a Linus platform and serves Personal Brain-based “front office” and the non-traditional database of AskSAM running on an Apache server, which serves the “back office”. The IT techs whisper commands into a voice recognition server when administration commands are given to the system. Investors can access their accounts in any instrument traded on SBIE by any digital device. Here are the main points:
Matching. The main role of SBIE is to match buyers and sellers, thus increasing the liquidity of investments in L3C or SBEE equity and debt capital. Full disclosure and secure transactions are essential to this process.
Transparency. SBEEies are required to respond immediately to any concern raised by the SBIE Ombudsman. The financial records of each SBEE are totally transparent to the registered investors. Existing issues are generally traded between principals.
The Market. A SBEE may elect a private sale to designated buyers of a new issue, or may post the issue for auction. No futures are traded. No broker/dealers are allowed.
Issue offerings. If the issue can qualify as an exempt private offering, that will reduce the securities compliance costs. If the issue does not qualify for a private offering, it can be offered in a public offering. Most of the issues will be private, intra-state offerings. There is also the use of a business partnership – either an LLP or a Chapter S corporation – where all of the investors are active partners. Depending on the state of domicile, these other types of business entities may not comply with the L3C statutes and tax treatments. Each type will require careful evaluation by a tax attorney.
Ombudsman.
The Securities and Exchange Commission, along with the U. S. Attorneys, are the “cops on the beat” in the securities industries. SEC even uses its “cease and desist” powers to stop illegal sales of securities. Starting a criminal investigation or grand jury hearings often can stop pending illegal securities sales. However, these agencies are “after the fact” actors and typically only find a wasteland – plenty of financial victims and the lack of assets to make reparations.
The SBIE Ombudsman has two roles, the chief among them is the initial and continuing due diligence investigations of the SBEE and its securities issues. The secondary role is that of investigator, arbiter and mediator. The key to reducing loss is early intervention, based on “tips” from investors and workers in the SBEEies. Rather than wait until the damage is done, the Ombudsman (or gender neutral “Ombuds”) takes action early enough to prevent a SBEE from sliding into a cash emergency or other failure mode. The remedies which the Ombudsman can bring to bear are:
De-listing a securities issue from SBIE
De-listing a SBEE
Giving public notice to all investors about the Ombuds' actions.
Requesting an investigation by state and federal agencies of the actions of an SBEE which may have violated securities laws.
Giving counsel to the management of an SBEE.
Conducting a more rigorous due diligence.
Arbitrating or mediating a dispute.
Reviewing the internal operations of SBIE and making recommendations to the workers and investors.
Recommending that a specific worker for SBIE or an SBEE be fired or suspending pending an investigation.
Issue subpoenas to compel production of records and the giving of testimony.
Appoint a Special Master and arrange for the Special Masters expenses.
Recommend a general assignment for benefit of creditors for a failing SBEE and the appointment of a trustee and the funding of the Trustee's operation.
Require rescission of any act (or omission) by an SBEE in contravention of the SBEE's Code of Honor or of SBIE written policies. Recommend proper restoration.
SBIE's “full faith and credit” rides upon the diligent performance of duties by the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman must be as independent as possible and should be appointed by the SBIE General Assembly, based on recommendations of the Council of Advisors. The Ombudsman should report to the General Assembly as his/her appointing authority and work closely with the Council of Advisors and the Council of Managers. The ideal Ombudsman would be a retired attorney who has spent many years as a prosecutor or plaintiff's attorney in the field of securities frauds and has a pro-active attitude.
Trader Board. Many companies which have invested labor and materials in inventory, sometimes have excess inventory which is no longer salable as the inventory used to be. Factory seconds and over-stock typically are sold through factory outlets or liquidators. SBIE will help remedy this situation by providing a barter board where SBEEies can list their “want to sell” and buyers can list their “want to buy” items for cash, Class C shares, or barter. Wood Planet is typical of these boards. Also Craigslist is also an example of a trading board – or more of a classified ad board. The SBIE barter board will also index other trader boards.
The main goal is to grow an economically strong middle class for America – a class which has been systematically attacked by oligopolies, top-down managed corporations, and the casino stock exchanges plus a catastrophic spending spree engineered by the Federal Reserve and the member banks. A secondary goal is to bring prudence into the financial services market other than by “just say no”.
Jim Miller
jimmiller5417@yahoo.com
May 11, 2010
Other articles by Jim Miller on SBIE and SBEE:
The Mission of Social Benefit Investment Exchange (SBIE) [ http://sbic.wetpaint.com/page/The+Mission+of+Social+Benefit+Investment+Exchange+%28SBIE%29 ]
Try Social Benefit investing -- You Might Like It. [ http://sbic.wetpaint.com/page/TRY+SOCIAL+BENEFIT+INVESTING+--+YOU+MIGHT+LIKE+IT.+ ]
Change for the Better [ http://sbic.wetpaint.com/page/CHANGE+FOR+THE+BETTER ]
Legal structure of SBIE [ http://sbic.wetpaint.com/page/LEGAL+STRUCTURE+OF+SBIE ]
This article on the web:
http://sbic.wetpaint.com/page/CURRENT+FINANCIAL+RISK+MANAGEMENT+%3D+%E2%80%9CJUST+SAY+NO%E2%80%9D
Saturday, March 27, 2010
MONDRAGON Cooperative Corporation -- the most successful co-op on Earth
The Mondragon Cooperative Experiences Success
* The BBC Documentary (early 1980's) on MCC http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7565584850785786404&hl=en
* The Mondragon Cooperatives as Business Models for the 21st Century http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6348598461397509798&hl=en
Join us for a special evening with Praxis Peace Institute Founding Director, Georgia Kelly, as she discusses the unique collaborative business model of the Mondragon Cooperatives located in the Basque country of Spain. Founded in 1955, Mondragon now encompasses 264 businesses and employs more than 100,000 worker-owners. It is a highly successful cooperative model with over 50 years of proven success. They have established research centers, bank and credit unions, a university, youth cooperatives, and small to large businesses. This presentation will cover the ethics and vision of Mondragón as well as unique success stories that are an inspiration to those seeking alternatives to business-as-usual. The goal of the Mondragón Cooperatives is to create community through economic relationships and to transform society through conscious economic practices.« Email this video Report problem Download video - iPod/PSP| Embed video
* Mondragon Corporation in 2008 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3804719037450986958&hl=en
Mondragon Cooperative Part One http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NORmQ8zaL1c
Mondragon Cooperative Part Two http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpdoNzXGmxM
Corporativo Grupo ULMA Inglés http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw4GE7ikEyI
Corporativo Grupo ULMA Castellano http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsKMeizpl8A&feature=related
Corporativo Grupo ULMA francés http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mwb0Vj_KVY&feature=related
* Mondragon aas a model: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7565584850785786404&hl=en#docid=-6348598461397509798
* Mondragon -- Corporate Values 2006: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7565584850785786404&hl=en#docid=-7773894254367283469
* Mondragon in 2008: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7565584850785786404&hl=en#docid=3804719037450986958
* Mondragon in 2009: http://vimeo.com/7479644
* Mondragon and United Steel Workers collaboration: http://www.usw.org/media_center/releases_advisories?id=0234
* The BBC Documentary (early 1980's) on MCC http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7565584850785786404&hl=en
* The Mondragon Cooperatives as Business Models for the 21st Century http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6348598461397509798&hl=en
Join us for a special evening with Praxis Peace Institute Founding Director, Georgia Kelly, as she discusses the unique collaborative business model of the Mondragon Cooperatives located in the Basque country of Spain. Founded in 1955, Mondragon now encompasses 264 businesses and employs more than 100,000 worker-owners. It is a highly successful cooperative model with over 50 years of proven success. They have established research centers, bank and credit unions, a university, youth cooperatives, and small to large businesses. This presentation will cover the ethics and vision of Mondragón as well as unique success stories that are an inspiration to those seeking alternatives to business-as-usual. The goal of the Mondragón Cooperatives is to create community through economic relationships and to transform society through conscious economic practices.« Email this video Report problem Download video - iPod/PSP| Embed video
* Mondragon Corporation in 2008 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3804719037450986958&hl=en
Mondragon Cooperative Part One http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NORmQ8zaL1c
Mondragon Cooperative Part Two http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpdoNzXGmxM
Corporativo Grupo ULMA Inglés http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw4GE7ikEyI
Corporativo Grupo ULMA Castellano http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsKMeizpl8A&feature=related
Corporativo Grupo ULMA francés http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mwb0Vj_KVY&feature=related
* Mondragon aas a model: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7565584850785786404&hl=en#docid=-6348598461397509798
* Mondragon -- Corporate Values 2006: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7565584850785786404&hl=en#docid=-7773894254367283469
* Mondragon in 2008: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7565584850785786404&hl=en#docid=3804719037450986958
* Mondragon in 2009: http://vimeo.com/7479644
* Mondragon and United Steel Workers collaboration: http://www.usw.org/media_center/releases_advisories?id=0234
DEMOCRACY IN THE WORKPLACE
Please learn about worker cooperatives by watching this documentary on the Rainbow Grocery and the Cheese Board: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4765137760763676264&q=democracy+in+the+workplace&total=14&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF COOPERATIVES
Executive Summary
http://reic.uwcc.wisc.edu/overview
http://reic.uwcc.wisc.edu/overview
Project Purpose
The cooperative ownership model is used in a wide variety of contexts in the United States, ranging from the production and distribution of energy to delivery of home health care services for the elderly. Although cooperative businesses have been responsible for many market innovations and corrections of market imperfections, little is known about their impact as an economic sector. Until this project, no comprehensive set of national-level statistics had been complied about U.S. cooperative businesses, their importance to the U.S. economy, or their impact on the lives and businesses of American citizens.
This report describes and quantifies the magnitude of economic activity accounted for by U.S. cooperative businesses. It describes the legal and economic characteristics that were used to define cooperative firms; methods used to measure cooperative activity across all sectors of the US economy; and approaches developed to collect appropriate data. Finally, it provides a census of cooperatives, summarizes the extent of their activity by economic sector, and measures their impact on aggregate income and employment.
Project Partners
The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture with matching support from the National Cooperative Business Association and its members, and the State of Wisconsin’s Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection. In-kind support is provided by the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives and the Departments of Agricultural and Applied Economics and Consumer Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Data Collection
To estimate the impact of cooperatives, conducting a census of U.S. cooperatives was necessary. Cooperatives were located through lists maintained by trade associations, the USDA, and academic colleagues; through web searches; and through Guidestar, a searchable database of nonprofit organizations. In all, our search identified 29,284 cooperatives in the U.S. economy. Surveys using standardized survey instruments and a uniform sampling methodology, were then conducted to collect key business indicators from individual cooperatives. The surveys targeted firms in commercial sales and marketing, social and public services, financial services, and utilities. We surveyed 16,151 cooperatives.
Methodology
When businesses use capital, labor, and other inputs to create and sell a product or service, they create economic activity. The direct impact of this activity for the cooperatives in this study is measured by examining the revenue generated by selling output; income paid to owners and workers (wages, benefits, patronage refunds, and dividends); and number of jobs.
The study uses input-output analysis is used to examine how these direct economic impacts ripple through the economy to generate additional indirect and induced impacts. Conceptually, indirect impacts measure the ripple effect that results from connections with other businesses: induced impacts measure spending by the cooperative’s labor force and its owners with the wages and dividends (or "patronage refunds") they earn. The study uses IMPLAN, an input-output modeling system, to measure these secondary impacts.
We conservatively estimate economic impacts in our analysis. At every turn, we have taken steps to ensure that , we underestimate the aggregate wage, employment, revenue, and income impacts of cooperative business. For example, we used wages and benefits as a proxy for input expenditure, rather than revenue. This is apparent in our impact estimates where induced impacts are always larger than indirect impacts. We have applied this rule uniformly across each of the 17 economic sectors in our study, fully recognizing that we may sometimes underestimate indirect economic impacts. This approach is particularly likely to underestimate the full economic impact of lenders in our Financial Services sector. Banks lend to consumers and businesses that in turn invest in various projects ranging from home repair to the launch of an entirely new business. In principle, some portion of the value of these projects could be attributed to banks in assessing their economic impact. We do not attempt to do this, as that method would require significant additional data collection and a methodological approach for separating the impact of banks per se from the projects they fund.
Results
Nearly 30,000 U.S. cooperatives operate at 73,000 places of business throughout the U.S. These cooperatives own >$3T in assets, and generate >$500B in revenue and >$25B in wages. Extrapolating from the sample to the entire population, the study estimates that cooperatives account for nearly $654B in revenue, >2M jobs, $75B in wages and benefits paid, and a total of $133.5B in value-added income.
Americans hold 350M memberships in cooperatives which generate nearly $79B in total impact from patronage refunds and dividends. Nearly 340M of these memberships are in consumer cooperatives.
Cooperative firms are fundamentally different from other forms of business organization. Assessment of economic impact solely in terms of the magnitude of business activity provides an incomplete perspective on the total impact of cooperatives. To initiate study on these more complex impacts, we prepared a series of eight discussion papers. They address methodological and empirical approaches for exploring deeper issues on the economic and social significance of cooperatives, and, in part, will form the basis for subsequent phases of this research project.
‹ Overview
THE JOURNEY HOME – THE EXPONENTIAL POWER OF COMMUNITY
THE JOURNEY HOME – THE EXPONENTIAL POWER OF COMMUNITY
We need a system which reduces the family's cost of living, yet increases the annual net positive cash and product flow to the family. The eco-village promotes this result. The Industrial Revolution provided much of the answer to old problems of production, wealth and poverty by expanding production to meet market demands for new products or more of the old products. Years ago, a person starting as a janitor, and possessing the will and skill to aspire to high paid jobs, could often ascend the ladder and maybe become the CEO. Now managers are in a race to use impoverished labor (here and abroad), and by banks which are complicit by withholding loans to innovative start-up and grow-up businesses.
This approach to personal and corporate industrial transition was dealt a mortal blow when company managers replaced skill and unskilled workers with newer and better machines. The blow even fell harder as many USA industries shut down and moved to China and other slave labor lands. The only “bright spot” was the transportation industry and the middlemen. Sea-going container ships reaped a healthy profit on the transport of a loaded cargo containers from China to the ports of the world at a charge of $3,000 a few years ago, from China ports to, say, Portland, OR. Now the charge is $15,000.
“Cheap Oil” initially provided the lubricant for the $3,000 cost and when it became “not cheap”, higher transportation prices cost the Chinese companies and the buyers a great deal more, which dug into profits and raised prices to the consumer. This trend drove companies to seek even cheaper labor and replace labor with machines. Most of the rise in oil costs benefit the oil producing nations, the oil refiners and shippers, and, of course, the middlemen and speculators. Middle East kingdoms have so much money, they are now buying vast crop lands in poor countries as a hedge against the decreasing agricultural products produced in their homelands.
Cheap oil also had a major impact on the population. As has been pointed out by many well-informed authors, cheap oil produced massive pollution, grid-lock rush hour traffic, and our “throw-away” rampant consumerism. Cities have for the past 80 or more years, been designed for the benefit of the internal combustion-powered vehicles, not people. Read: Hard-wired Traffic, by George Monbot, http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/HARD-WIRED+TRAFFIC.
Municipal and rural planners and their legislative cohorts, have so resolutely subscribed to the “Ghettoization” approach to planning, that most cities will have to depopulate in order that most of the cities can be re-planned and rebuilt along the Eco-village concept. Current planners attempt to “fix” the problems of intra-city transportation by building more and wider roads, by creating expressways for buses, light rail and multi-passenger cars. Please read: Planning as if People Mattered: http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/PLANNING+AS+IF+PEOPLE+MATTERED. These expensive, stop-gap measures are bound to fail, as the residential suburban sprawl proceeds along the path of the expanding freeway system. Please read: Dumbbell Planning versus Integrated Community Planning: http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/DUMBBELL+PLANNING+VERSUS+INTEGRATED+COMMUNITY+PLANNING
The thesis of this article is that we need to change the “leadership” at all levels. A good start is the election of Barack Obama, but this step is not sufficient. We need to change the local leadership which has control of land use regulations, and extend that change to include the state levels. We need to “make a place at the table” for a different style of earning and having a decent living, that of the intentional community (IC), or Eco-village. Please read: History of Worker Cooperation in America: http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/HISTORY+OF+WORKER+COOPERATION+IN+AMERICA
Now, the eco-villages are few and far between and have little economic, social, and political impact on the greater society. The “popular mind” dismisses these experimental communities as “hippie towns” or “cult villages”. If you want to know how small, worker cooperative “capitalist” (the bottom-up variety) businesses work rather well, please watch the Rainbow Grocery and the Cheese Board video: http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=rainbow+grocery&emb=0&aq=0&oq=rainbow+groce#q=rainbow+grocery&emb=0&aq=0&oq=rainbow+groce&start=10
This characterization only proves that the “popular mind” is grossly uninformed. By not allowing for change, our populations are headed into the coming “perfect storm” that of a global economic meltdown, a global Katrina. Please read: Lester Brown’s new book, Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, http://www.earth-policy.org/index.php?/press_room/C68/pb4_ch6_datarelease/
In reality, most of the ICs are well managed communities. The Anabaptist communities of the Amish, Mennonite, and Hutterites, have been self-sufficient and sustainable over 400 years. Economic-based, worker cooperative, Mondragon Cooperative Corporation has been very successful over fifty years. Please watch: The Mondragon Experiment by BBC: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7565584850785786404&hl=en# For an even deeper look at Mondragon and how it can be used as a model for a USA equivalent, please read: http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/Mutual+Aid+Society,+Mondragon+and+More. Findhorn Foundation, Scotland, has been successful for over 50 years. Please visit http://www.findhorn.org/index.php?tz=240 and watch the video: http://www.facebook.com/findhornfoundation .
Most, if not all, of the Intentional Communities have had scant capital upon which to build an economic infra-structure. Those which have survived, have grown slowly and depended on outside income brought in by members who also have a job or a business “outside” the community (where permitted) and have had to fight local zoning and land use regulations.
Rural America, especially the family farm, has suffered most from the “industrialization” of agriculture. Please read: The Evisceration of Rural America: http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/THE+EVISCERATION+OF+RURAL+AMERICA Rural America must under go massive transition from mono-cropping, industrialized chemical treatment of plants and soil, to a holistic foundation for food and feed. Please read: Heartland Renaissance: http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/HEARTLAND+RENAISSANCE
Local governments and some state authorities have created and continue to maintain massive regulatory barriers to the formation and operation of ICs. Please read: Cluster Development: http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/CLUSTER+DEVELOPMENT. Regulations must be changed to allow for the creation of multiple eco-villages, such a suggested by the Eco-Campus. Please read: The Eco-Campus: http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/ECO-CAMPUS. This status quo must change. Please read: Transition United States: http://www.transitionus.org/ . We need to re-create an ebullient America in the form of thousands of Coherent Communities. Please read: The Coherent Community: http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/A+COHERENT+COMMUNITY. Thanks to:
Jim Miller jimmiller5417@yahoo.com September 29, 2009
- We can plan ahead and survive, or we can not plan ahead and not survive. Your choice.
- By Jim Miller
- September 29, 2009
We need a system which reduces the family's cost of living, yet increases the annual net positive cash and product flow to the family. The eco-village promotes this result. The Industrial Revolution provided much of the answer to old problems of production, wealth and poverty by expanding production to meet market demands for new products or more of the old products. Years ago, a person starting as a janitor, and possessing the will and skill to aspire to high paid jobs, could often ascend the ladder and maybe become the CEO. Now managers are in a race to use impoverished labor (here and abroad), and by banks which are complicit by withholding loans to innovative start-up and grow-up businesses.
This approach to personal and corporate industrial transition was dealt a mortal blow when company managers replaced skill and unskilled workers with newer and better machines. The blow even fell harder as many USA industries shut down and moved to China and other slave labor lands. The only “bright spot” was the transportation industry and the middlemen. Sea-going container ships reaped a healthy profit on the transport of a loaded cargo containers from China to the ports of the world at a charge of $3,000 a few years ago, from China ports to, say, Portland, OR. Now the charge is $15,000.
“Cheap Oil” initially provided the lubricant for the $3,000 cost and when it became “not cheap”, higher transportation prices cost the Chinese companies and the buyers a great deal more, which dug into profits and raised prices to the consumer. This trend drove companies to seek even cheaper labor and replace labor with machines. Most of the rise in oil costs benefit the oil producing nations, the oil refiners and shippers, and, of course, the middlemen and speculators. Middle East kingdoms have so much money, they are now buying vast crop lands in poor countries as a hedge against the decreasing agricultural products produced in their homelands.
Cheap oil also had a major impact on the population. As has been pointed out by many well-informed authors, cheap oil produced massive pollution, grid-lock rush hour traffic, and our “throw-away” rampant consumerism. Cities have for the past 80 or more years, been designed for the benefit of the internal combustion-powered vehicles, not people. Read: Hard-wired Traffic, by George Monbot, http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/HARD-WIRED+TRAFFIC.
Municipal and rural planners and their legislative cohorts, have so resolutely subscribed to the “Ghettoization” approach to planning, that most cities will have to depopulate in order that most of the cities can be re-planned and rebuilt along the Eco-village concept. Current planners attempt to “fix” the problems of intra-city transportation by building more and wider roads, by creating expressways for buses, light rail and multi-passenger cars. Please read: Planning as if People Mattered: http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/PLANNING+AS+IF+PEOPLE+MATTERED. These expensive, stop-gap measures are bound to fail, as the residential suburban sprawl proceeds along the path of the expanding freeway system. Please read: Dumbbell Planning versus Integrated Community Planning: http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/DUMBBELL+PLANNING+VERSUS+INTEGRATED+COMMUNITY+PLANNING
The thesis of this article is that we need to change the “leadership” at all levels. A good start is the election of Barack Obama, but this step is not sufficient. We need to change the local leadership which has control of land use regulations, and extend that change to include the state levels. We need to “make a place at the table” for a different style of earning and having a decent living, that of the intentional community (IC), or Eco-village. Please read: History of Worker Cooperation in America: http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/HISTORY+OF+WORKER+COOPERATION+IN+AMERICA
Now, the eco-villages are few and far between and have little economic, social, and political impact on the greater society. The “popular mind” dismisses these experimental communities as “hippie towns” or “cult villages”. If you want to know how small, worker cooperative “capitalist” (the bottom-up variety) businesses work rather well, please watch the Rainbow Grocery and the Cheese Board video: http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=rainbow+grocery&emb=0&aq=0&oq=rainbow+groce#q=rainbow+grocery&emb=0&aq=0&oq=rainbow+groce&start=10
This characterization only proves that the “popular mind” is grossly uninformed. By not allowing for change, our populations are headed into the coming “perfect storm” that of a global economic meltdown, a global Katrina. Please read: Lester Brown’s new book, Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, http://www.earth-policy.org/index.php?/press_room/C68/pb4_ch6_datarelease/
In reality, most of the ICs are well managed communities. The Anabaptist communities of the Amish, Mennonite, and Hutterites, have been self-sufficient and sustainable over 400 years. Economic-based, worker cooperative, Mondragon Cooperative Corporation has been very successful over fifty years. Please watch: The Mondragon Experiment by BBC: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7565584850785786404&hl=en# For an even deeper look at Mondragon and how it can be used as a model for a USA equivalent, please read: http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/Mutual+Aid+Society,+Mondragon+and+More. Findhorn Foundation, Scotland, has been successful for over 50 years. Please visit http://www.findhorn.org/index.php?tz=240 and watch the video: http://www.facebook.com/findhornfoundation .
Most, if not all, of the Intentional Communities have had scant capital upon which to build an economic infra-structure. Those which have survived, have grown slowly and depended on outside income brought in by members who also have a job or a business “outside” the community (where permitted) and have had to fight local zoning and land use regulations.
Rural America, especially the family farm, has suffered most from the “industrialization” of agriculture. Please read: The Evisceration of Rural America: http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/THE+EVISCERATION+OF+RURAL+AMERICA Rural America must under go massive transition from mono-cropping, industrialized chemical treatment of plants and soil, to a holistic foundation for food and feed. Please read: Heartland Renaissance: http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/HEARTLAND+RENAISSANCE
Local governments and some state authorities have created and continue to maintain massive regulatory barriers to the formation and operation of ICs. Please read: Cluster Development: http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/CLUSTER+DEVELOPMENT. Regulations must be changed to allow for the creation of multiple eco-villages, such a suggested by the Eco-Campus. Please read: The Eco-Campus: http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/ECO-CAMPUS. This status quo must change. Please read: Transition United States: http://www.transitionus.org/ . We need to re-create an ebullient America in the form of thousands of Coherent Communities. Please read: The Coherent Community: http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/A+COHERENT+COMMUNITY. Thanks to:
- Lester Brown ( Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, http://www.earth-policy.org/index.php?/press_room/C68/pb4_ch6_datarelease/),
- Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine (http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine) ,
- Amy Goodwin, Democracy Now (http://www.democracynow.org),
- Lavaca.org, Sin Patron ( http://www.amazon.com/Sin-Patr%C3%B3n-Argentinas-Worker-Run-Factories/dp/1931859434/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254249085&sr=8-1 )
- Richardo Semler, Maverick (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_Semler ) (Warner Books,1993, p. 180; ISBN 0-446-51696-1 )
- and many other responsible, articulate, investigative and rational authors.
- The World Plan for the Garden of Eat'n: http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/WORLD+PLAN+FOR+GARDEN+OF+EAT%27N
- Feeding 9 Billion People (excerpts are annotated) http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/FEEDING+9+BILLION+PEOPLE
- Our Journey Home: the Power of Community: http://masallp.wetpaint.com/page/OUR+JOURNEY+HOME%3A+THE+POWER+OF+COMMUNITY
Jim Miller jimmiller5417@yahoo.com September 29, 2009
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