Hi Isaac, Please email communications@theselc.org with your request for information on apprenticing to become a lawyer and what state you'd be apprenticing in and I will send you some information. Mostly we have information on doing this in California.
Please email communications@theselc.org with your request for information on apprenticing to become a lawyer in California and I will send you some information.
Democracy is when those who make decisions on your behalf have the duty to ask for your consent first. Today's republics are actually modern oligarchies where the interest groups of the rich are arbitrated by the people, that is, you can choose from which table of the rich you will receive crumbs. The "fatigue" of democracy occurs when there is a big difference between the interests of the elected and the voters, thus people lose confidence in the way society functions. As a result, poor and desperate citizens will vote with whoever promises them a lifeline, i.e. populists or demagogues. The democratic aspect is a collateral effect in societies where the economy has a strong competitive aspect, that is, the interests of those who hold the economic power in society are divergent. Thus those whealty, and implicitly with political power in society, supervise each other so that none of them have undeserved advantages due to politics. For this reason, countries where mineral resources have an important weight in GDP are not democratic (Russia, Venezuela, etc.), because a small group of people can exploit these resources in their own interest. In poor countries (Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, etc.) the main exploited resource may even be the state budget, as they have convergent interests in benefiting, in their own interest, from this resource. It is easy to see if it is an oligarchy because in a true democracy laws would not be passed that would not be in the interest of the many. The first modern oligarchy appeared in England at the end of the 17th century. After the bourgeois revolution led by Cromwell succeeded, the interest groups of the rich were unable to agree on how to divide their political power in order not to reach the dictatorship of one. The solution was to appoint a king to be the arbiter. In republics, the people are the arbiter, but let's not confuse the possibility of choosing which group will govern you with democracy, that is, with the possibility of citizens deciding which laws to pass and which not to. The solution is modern direct democracy in which every citizen can vote, whenever he wants, over the head of the parliamentarian who represents him. He can even dismiss him if the majority of his voters consider that he does not correctly represent their interests. It's like when you have to build a house and you choose the site manager and the architect, but they don't have the duty to consult with you. The house will certainly not look the way you want it, but the way they want it, and it is more certain that you will be left with the money given and without the house. It is strange that outside of the political sphere, nowhere, in any economic or sports activity, will you find someone elected to a leadership position and who has failure after failure and is not fired after 4 years. We, the voters, must be consulted about the decisions and if they have negative effects we can dismiss them at any time, let's not wait for the soroco to be fulfilled, because we pay, not them. In any company, the management team comes up with a plan approved by the shareholders. Any change in this plan must be re-approved by the shareholders and it is normal because the shareholders pay.
Please email communications@theselc.org with your request for information on apprenticing to become a lawyer and what state you'd be apprenticing in and I will send you some information. Mostly we have information on doing this in California.
what's the difference between a collective account that "surplus" value goes into and the "cooperative account" that individual members make capital contributions to? The video makes it seem like they're different buckets.
Thanks for the question! First, THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE. For that, try signing up for one of our Resilient Communities Legal Cafe here: www.theselc.org/cafe. For more information on this topic, check out www.co-oplaw.org/. Assuming that the cooperative is a corporation and not a Limited Liability Company (LLC), the way I understand the difference is that a member capital account is an individual member's capital account and that account will be paid to that member when they leave the cooperative or paid based on some schedule of payments set out in the cooperative's bylaws or policies. Also, that member must pay taxes on the money they receive into their internal capital account. The cooperative account is money that the cooperative corporation owns (since corporations are legally separate "people" in the eyes of the law) and that account and the money within it is not attributed to any individual member's account. The cooperative capital account is held by the coop corporation for ongoing business expenses, investments, etc. and the cooperative pays taxes on the money held in that account, but not the individual members. It's different for an LLC. Hope that helps!
I have a question, if I want to make a writers coop and decide to make a patron for the initial fund. Wouldn’t it avoid security slots entirely because it’s donated and not loaned?
Thanks! Great quote by Wendell Berry, about projecting one's forethought of grief into the surroundings. This forethought of grief is the part to fix imho, not in terms of ridding oneself of it but seeing a fundamental cause that has incredible bias that keeps it in place, and that enhances the grief part. Here's one way it could work: mouth breathing vs nose breathing, because a small indigestible part of the diet of that person was built up over years and clogs the nose. This changes the quality of a person's thinking. I think humans need to go back and look at the material from eating the grass family in all it's forms. I think the symbiosis of humans and the grass family should be humans dancing on grass, not eating it. Otherwise the person loses ownership of their responsibility. Not that this is the only problem now but the start of a cascade of knowledge-producing problematic stress. Unfortunately the stress tends to remove the knowledge pool and it takes civilization a long time to recover. The trick is to keep that knowledge pool while removing to a large degree the stress inducer. Ryvita instead of Wonderbread? Drop most of the processed sugar from the planet? If you don't buy it they won't produce it. Also, I can see how a female person will lead with this since it's so tied to a cultural bias in home and hearth, but the responsibility is completely of each person to employ the right knowledge tied to the right action, to have that beautiful shape to project instead of grief, because the giving away always brings more back. Giving up that which is not necessary always brings more back. The limit here seems to be the number of things one can give up :) but at that point the fullness of being is enough for each person to make a compromise. This is doable, not utopian.
Can you create a video that’s a panel discussion with multiple organizations unpacking their thinking around pay structure? I am working to launch a nonprofit and want to purse Democratic self-management and I’m super eager to learn about pay and benefit structures.
I needed this so much! I’ve been struggling to learn more about Easements. I want to use them as a tool but couldn’t find information on it. Thank you ❤
Please email communications@theselc.org with your request for information on apprenticing to become a lawyer and what state you'd be apprenticing in and I will send you some information. Mostly we have information on doing this in California.
How is this for getting around the prudent/charitable schism: Have a permanent corporation that is charitable and buys land for creating a community on, and is reimbursed thru "rent" for the first bit of land (or have that donated) which it reinvests in more land, or if the idea catches on simply abandon rent and use donations. The community infrastructure is set up by another, older community that is also a charitable corporation temporarily in order to set the next village up with solar panels, water supply and housing. So when this next village is ready, it becomes a charitable organization while the older community goes from charity to co-op. That first community was started by paying forward - just like rent but not going out of the community - and the template is there legally and sensibly. One danger is big capital having McVillages under their thumb where the rent becomes less definable but not the cost. Thanks for all your work!
I am trying to find Simon on linked in or other social. I am in Colorado and forming a Democrat employee directed non profit and would love to embody what your discussing here.
Wooouuu, recién estoy en ese proceso de pertenecer a una cooperativa pero tenia tantas dudas y ahora me han ayudado con este video mil gracias me sirvió mucho y lo comparti
