News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on What happens when a culture is driven by the need for money to make more money. Parent comment

Re:What happens when a culture is driven by the need for mon... by mindcrime on Wednesday November 11, 2015 @08:13PM (#10550648)
Coops can earn a profit, but that's not their primary purpose, at least not the kind of coops I'm thinking of. The coops I'm familiar with exist to provide a service first and foremost (utility coops like electricity and phone service come to mind), and making a profit is secondary.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:What happens when a culture is driven by the need for mon... by walshemj on Thursday November 12, 2015 @03:46PM (#10555987)
Having worked at a well know worker coop in the UK I do know what one is. And consumer coops where the ones that came historically after worker coops - originally to provide a retail outlet for worker coops goods.

but don't they normally pay a dividend in the USA?

And you are not going to run a high capital coop like a telco or electricity company with out making a decent excess of income over expenditure to service you capital needs

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:What happens when a culture is driven by the need for mon... by mindcrime on Thursday November 12, 2015 @11:00PM (#10557939)
Sure, and I'm not here to argue the fine details of how coops are organized. My point is only that there are elements of a market economy that differ from the traditional "profits first, maximize shareholder value, evil corporation". Cooperatives are just one example of a somewhat different model. Actual "non profit" corporations, and "public benefit corporations" are also examples of that.
[ Parent | on HN ]