Co-operative Research and Development

Here's a story that vindicates the use of co-operative research and development systems. Unfortunately though, I can't tell from this story whether they are using a complete not-for-profit system. The speaker mentions a pending patent on designs at one point, but is it a open source/free use patent? Who knows? But it should be.

TED.com: Britta Riley - A Garden In My Apartment

The Basics

In order to promote the overall well-being of humanity I suggest the mass adoption of Small Cooperative Non-Profit Organizations throughout the business world; not merely as schools, hospitals, credit unions, grocery stores, and basic service providers (power, water, waste), but also as goods manufacturers, food producers, insurance providers, cell phone carriers, internet service providers, automobile manufacturers and maintenance centers, et cetera.

These would be Sustainable and Self-Regulating Democratic Organizations who's goal would be merely to provide quality services, products, and employment, and not to earn a profit. Having these as their sole purpose alleviates the need for individual governments to spend time and money regulating businesses in order to maintain their level of accountability: A non-profit organization's business charter, when properly designed, should account for it's overall responsible regulation and transparency, as well as it's requirement for intentional disbandment upon it's failure or it's lack of necessity.

Although one might contest that there are plenty of examples of successful credit unions and cooperative grocers, there are still few examples of successful non-profit goods manufacturers and entertainment or telecommunications focused service providers. I believe that if this were to change, the world over, surely there would be a steep incline in the health and happiness of people everywhere.

Considering that the goal of these organizations would be to develop and produce only the best quality goods, while also providing quality employment to individuals, not only would decent wages and full benefits obviously be made available to all employees, but customers would be able to take pride in paying the price of the goods; since they would know they were promoting the health and well-being of not only themselves but also the individuals that produced the goods. This is in contrast to today's market where general shoppers must navigate complex pricing schemes--carefully designed to confuse and manipulate the customers simply to promote the excessive wealth of only a few individuals--and who regularly find themselves doubting the value of the goods they purchase.

Also one of the most important reasons for intentionally adopting the Non-Profit Cooperative business model worldwide and throughout all industries is its innate ability to easily design environmentally responsible as well as socially responsible organizations. Aside from the obvious benefits, this would aid in greatly reducing the need for governmental regulation in regards to green house gas emissions and general pollution. The widespread use of these organizations could also aid in resolving one of the topics most highly debated currently within world politics. I'm fairly sure that had Cooperative Non-Profits been at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution what is now known as Climate Change could have been easily abated by the direct action of the communities who suffered most from the pollution produced: those who lived and worked near and within the factory centers.

Producing International Cooperation

[the following is an idea submitted to USAID.gov during an Open Government event, where a single website was developed to play host to the encouragement of participation in government by allowing the submission of ideas from the general public to many different government agencies, as well as the ability for participants to vote and comment on the ideas submitted.]

why not use US funds to promote international well-being by aiding in the development of Small Self-Regulating Cooperative Non-Profit Organizations; such as schools, hospitals, credit unions, coop grocery stores, coop goods manufacturers, coop service providers (power, water, waste), insurance providers, et cetera...

promoting the development of Sustainable and Self-Regulating Democratic Organizations who's goal is merely to provide quality services, products, and employment, and not to earn a profit, alleviates the need for USAID and individual governments to worry about and subsequently spend more money and energy regulating businesses in order to maintain their level of accountability. a non-profit organization's business charter, when properly designed, should account for it's overall responsible regulation and transparency.

and it's important to note that, although there are plenty of examples of successful credit unions and cooperative grocers, there are few examples of successful non-profit goods manufacturers. if this were to change, the world over, surely there would be a steep incline in the health and happiness of people everywhere.

considering that the goal of these organizations would be to develop and produce only the best quality goods, while also providing quality employment to individuals, not only would decent wages and full benefits obviously be made available to all employees, but customers would be able to take pride in paying the price of the goods; since they would know they were promoting the health and well-being of not only themselves but also the individuals that produced the goods. this is in contrast to today's shoppers who must navigate complex pricing schemes--carefully designed to confuse and manipulate the customers simply to promote the excessive wealth of only a few individuals--and who regularly find themselves doubting the value of the goods they purchase.

and of course, because these Non-Profit Cooperative Organizations would be designed to be socially responsible as well as environmentally responsible they would be capable of greatly reducing the need for governmental regulation in regards to green house gas emissions and general pollution. one of the topics most highly debated currently within world politics--climate change--could be easily abated by the direct action of the communities who suffer most from the pollution that has generally taken place around factory centers: those who live and work there.