Aren't there any solutions that don't depend on corporations?

[dkf]

It seems so odd that most on this site seem very hostile towards corporations yet none of the solutions are non corporate based. Where are the community solutions? Where are the entrepreneurial based solutions?

What in our system demands that we sit here cursing corporations yet leave us completely dependent on them to pay us better, create our jobs, provide our essentials, etc?

If we are so certain a system that isnt driven by profits is the way to go why can't that exist on the side of and exceed the performance of profit driven entities?

[MineralMan]

1. It's far easier to find problems than it is to find solutions.

It's easier, too, to say things are bad than to propose practical ways to make them better. I saw a signature line image on DU for a while that said, "Kill the Corporations!" When I asked what the plan was for after they were dead, there was no response.

[michunionman]

11. its just like everything else in politics lol

I hate the ryan plan

but somewhere along the line the democrats in congress need a counter plan..

if they do have one then sorry lol

[MineralMan]

33. I like the Medicare for All plan.

Eliminate the duplication of management, the extremely high salaries, and other factors of having so many private insurance companies. Work from a single pool, which will include every person in America. Figure out a rate schedule for premiums, subsidize the poor, and make arrangements for the elderly. Central establishment of payments to providers, negotiations for pharmaceutical prices, etc. Let the private insurers sell supplemental policies as they do now for Medicare recipients.

Simple, doable, and necessary.

Medicare for All - It's what will work.

[izquierdista]

2. They've rigged the game

Take health insurance companies, they've rigged the game so you pay them money, and if you get sick, they might pay for some of your expenses. They've made sure there are no community solutions to compete against. Well, just the VA and Medicare, but they weren't going to get a high return on that bunch anyway.

[dkf]

4. Our biggest hospitals are non profits.

That doesn't make it cheap.

The question with health care is why do we have to pay so much for drugs and technologies developed by government money in government supported institutions. Now that is a plain old rip off.

[Hannah Bell]

10. in name only.

[mmonk]

3. Well all I know is privatizing the commons is not a solution to anything.

Neither is erasing the public sector or taxes too low to run a society and have a decent infrastructure. And the public sector generates, not takes away from, economic activity or employment. I think the solution is to go back to a regulated economy and have an adequate public sector again as well. Unions could help us in avoiding a banana republic style of living.

[dkf]

6. The idea of re-regulating the economy is an interesting one.

So why isn't that the avenue of discussion here? It rarely comes up and it doesn't seem any politician brings it up.

It just seems like everything is programmed to raise our ire with no real practical solutions.

[mmonk]

13. Good question. I would like to know as well.

Especially after the financial sector and housing fiasco we just went through. The money that was just swept away out of our economy as well as some others was staggering. We learned nothing from the Savings & Loan scandal that preceded it.

[dkf]

16. I have no idea what regulations we needed to institute to contain that thing.

We are too reactive and too specific in our regulations so that we only address things after the problem is out of control and all they need is some clever lawyers to come up with some ridiculous interpretation to get around things.

There needed to be something more big picture used to test the entity.

[mmonk]

23. They will always have lawyers to do end arounds. I remember watching

Inside Job and someone from Iceland talking about when regulators drove up to the banks, there would be 19 SUV's owned by corporate lawyers in the parking lot (meaning 19 lawyers inside ready to do battle). For one thing, I would like to see reinstitution of Glass Steagall and enforcement of antitrust. I would like to see real regulation of the deriatives market. We're up against monopoly power now. We don't stand much of chance unless it is addressed head on in a serious manner.

[dkf]

28. They had already run over glass steagall prior to it's removal.

Or so I hear.

[mmonk]

29. Yes, but with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, we got CDO's, credit default swaps,

and unregulated deriatives, the toxic soup that brought us down.

[dkf]

30. Well we now have more gold futures than metal that exists.

And you don't see much about that.

[mmonk]

32. True but they are commodities and not tied into everyone's homes

and a broad based industry. And the you don't have thousands of policies insuring a person's property they don't own.

[Fumesucker]

5. You can always go Kazynski...

Not much dependence on corporations when you live off the land.

[Mist]

7. Well, right now many are caught in the belly of the beast, so to speak. Many ARE dependent

on corporations for their wages and health care, but despise what corps. do and how they degrade our environment, politics, and economic system. So people WILL complain.

I think farmers' markets are a good response to distantly-grown, corporate farm food. We need to find more locally-based solutions to the corporations. It's not easy, since the corps have the money, the pols sewn up, and many of them are monopolies.

An alternative to buying electricity from a big corp. is committing a good amound of money to alternative energy. This is simply not feasible for most right now.

Corporations tend to protect their turf fiercely, once competitors are on their radar screens. So entrepreneurial initiatives will work, until they put even a tiny crimp in the local outpost businesses of a corp. I remember my credit union being threatened with being sued by a consortium of big banks, who had the brass balls to say that the tiny credit union had "unfair advantages" as they were community-based. I think the big banks were worried about the credit union wanting to get a charter to expand their business beyond a very specific section of Atlanta. The upshot was, just the threat of expensive lawsuits kept the credit union from being able to expand their business very modestly. At the time credit unions had something like 7% of all banking business in the country, but the big banks couldn't tolerate not have some of that 7% themselves. Is it any wonder people curse them? They're the new feudalists.

Again, I point out how difficult it is to provide community-based solutions to something like Verizon, or power companies. The big corps. are actually fussing here in NC because their panties are in a twist that some communities want to have community-based wireless. The corps. see this as a rebellious peasant thing, which should not be allowed. Corps. must provide everything, to keep us dependent! It's not just money to these guys, it's the power.

Of course people curse them...

[AndyTiedye]

20. And the Entrepreneur Usually Has a Corporation Too

It's just a little one. But if he is successful, it may become a very big one. Or not.

[themadstork]

8. Historically those who try to implement an alternative econ system get a noce little visit from CIA

I've been saying for a long time now that a stronger labor movement, less toadyish media, and reasonable trade protections would be a huge part of the solution. Not sure if that fits your criteria.

[HillbillyBob]

12. yup. I know I have yammered on about heirloom seeds and going off grid

taking control, growing veggies to share with neighbors.

Corporations supply fossil fuels, plastics etc etc. We are conscientiously trying t lower our dependency on corporate food and energy.

[Hannah Bell]

9. "yet none of the solutions are non corporate based. " = what?

[dkf]

15. Isn't everything still centered on corporations?

It's all about wanting them to do what we want, rarely thinking of ways to do things collectively without a profit motive ex-government.

The problem with getting government to do it is that not all people want their money to go to those things.

[Hannah Bell]

18. what?

[TheKentuckian]

14. Because weeds choke flowers and vegetables.

[AndyTiedye]

17. Co-Ops

The co-op model works well for food, at least.

I was one of the original members of the Cambridge Food Co-op, which consistently
delivered higher-quality food at lower prices than the supermarkets
(back in the '70s anyway). Some of the savings was due to the use of volunteer
labor (each member was required to put in a few hours a month) and the corresponding
lack of a corporate structure. The absence of profit may not be so much of a factor
as profit margins for supermarkets are rather low. In other areas, the potential
for savings would likely be greater.

Some of the non-food co-ops are like ordinary retail stores, but give members a
rebate of a percentage of their purchases each year. REI and the COOP come to mind.
These have regular employees and do not require any volunteering from members.
I do not know how they function internally.

The co-op model would seem to have a lot of untapped potential.

[leftstreet]

19. Are you not aware of systems that work without being driven by profit?

Ever been to a VA hospital?

Ever watched 10s of thousands of kids getting educated without a CEO making several billion?

You can't be serious here

[AndyTiedye]

21. I'm Not Sure a VA Hospital is Quite the Example You Want to Use

[leftstreet]

22. It's a system not driven by profits

:shrug:

[AndyTiedye]

24. and the quality of care offered there has become something of a scandal

There are plenty of examples to choose from that would support your case better.

[leftstreet]

25. Goalpost shift

It's a not for profit system

'Quality of care' issues are also present in for profit systems - different subject

[dkf]

26. I was thinking more about how we solve problems now...

Since we can't really dictate how corporations act how do we create jobs and create more fairness through entities outside of corps. Why do we only rely on corps to act in our best interest?

[leftstreet]

27. Kill Capitalism

Stop letting the ruling class profit off our labor

Then no one will give a shit about 'corporations'

[dkf]

31. Communism?

[MineralMan]

34. Pipe Dream

Sorry.