What we’re about
Meetings are the first and third Wednesday of every month, 6.30pm at the Shark Hotel.
The purpose of the group is to learn about and discuss the science of Humanism. I don't see much point in having abstract philosophical conversations about this subject. We must be able to see concrete improvements to people's lives. The group will talk about real examples of organizations, provinces and even whole countries that have put Humanism into practice. Our criteria for success are just common sense. Is the quality of life of population improving? Is the cost of living decreasing? Are wages growing? Is the overall health and life expectancy improving? Is it easy to find a job? Is there meaningful democratic political participation? Are people involved in making decisions about things where it is relevant to them? Does the country try to form mutually beneficial balanced relationships with other countries or domineering exploitative relationships?
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Co-operative EconomicsShark Hotel, Sydney
When you arrive, if you go up the entrance steps and look right, you will see us at one of the first few tables.
Running a business in a democratic way has numerous benefits. Worker Co-operatives are less risky to startup, tend to have a longer lifespan, the workplace environment is more friendly because there aren't really "bosses", workers are better paid and less likely to be fired. The Mondragon Co-operative in Spain even has their own university with which to retrain workers if any jobs are made redundant for any reason, perhaps because of automation or the market naturally has less demand for certain goods or services. I've linked some videos below with more information about Co-ops. You don't have to watch them all, but a few of them should be enough.
There is a variety of different kinds of cooperatives. Some are direct democracies with an assembly that all members can vote in on any issue, others are more like representative democracies, others are a hybrid of both. The proportion of the revenue to re-invest in the company and how much to pay to the workers can vary, usually decided by a vote of the members. The exact procedures of voting, methods of initiating referenda or elections can vary and may be easier or more difficult.
Co-operatives can also behave more or less like Capitalist corporations. In some cases there may be a group of workers who partially own the company but they become somewhat oligarchic and start hiring labourers who are not shareholders. In some cases Capitalist companies may decide to start selling stocks to their workers in order to become somewhat like Co-operatives.
Some countries have even experimented with making co-operatives the dominant form of enterprise, often with great success. We will discuss this further at later events.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsbfOxUx8ZA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyepUAtHAL4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZoI0C1mPek&t=2s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXvlVIXETd0&t=5s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5oD9oeut7U
- Co-operative EconomicsShark Hotel, Sydney
When you arrive, if you go up the entrance steps and look right, you will see us at one of the first few tables.
Running a business in a democratic way has numerous benefits. Worker Co-operatives are less risky to startup, tend to have a longer lifespan, the workplace environment is more friendly because there aren't really "bosses", workers are better paid and less likely to be fired. The Mondragon Co-operative in Spain even has their own university with which to retrain workers if any jobs are made redundant for any reason, perhaps because of automation or the market naturally has less demand for certain goods or services. I've linked some videos below with more information about Co-ops. You don't have to watch them all, but a few of them should be enough.
There is a variety of different kinds of cooperatives. Some are direct democracies with an assembly that all members can vote in on any issue, others are more like representative democracies, others are a hybrid of both. The proportion of the revenue to re-invest in the company and how much to pay to the workers can vary, usually decided by a vote of the members. The exact procedures of voting, methods of initiating referenda or elections can vary and may be easier or more difficult.
Co-operatives can also behave more or less like Capitalist corporations. In some cases there may be a group of workers who partially own the company but they become somewhat oligarchic and start hiring labourers who are not shareholders. In some cases Capitalist companies may decide to start selling stocks to their workers in order to become somewhat like Co-operatives.
Some countries have even experimented with making co-operatives the dominant form of enterprise, often with great success. We will discuss this further at later events.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsbfOxUx8ZA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyepUAtHAL4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZoI0C1mPek&t=2s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXvlVIXETd0&t=5s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5oD9oeut7U
- Co-operative EconomicsShark Hotel, Sydney
When you arrive, if you go up the entrance steps and look right, you will see us at one of the first few tables.
Running a business in a democratic way has numerous benefits. Worker Co-operatives are less risky to startup, tend to have a longer lifespan, the workplace environment is more friendly because there aren't really "bosses", workers are better paid and less likely to be fired. The Mondragon Co-operative in Spain even has their own university with which to retrain workers if any jobs are made redundant for any reason, perhaps because of automation or the market naturally has less demand for certain goods or services. I've linked some videos below with more information about Co-ops. You don't have to watch them all, but a few of them should be enough.
There is a variety of different kinds of cooperatives. Some are direct democracies with an assembly that all members can vote in on any issue, others are more like representative democracies, others are a hybrid of both. The proportion of the revenue to re-invest in the company and how much to pay to the workers can vary, usually decided by a vote of the members. The exact procedures of voting, methods of initiating referenda or elections can vary and may be easier or more difficult.
Co-operatives can also behave more or less like Capitalist corporations. In some cases there may be a group of workers who partially own the company but they become somewhat oligarchic and start hiring labourers who are not shareholders. In some cases Capitalist companies may decide to start selling stocks to their workers in order to become somewhat like Co-operatives.
Some countries have even experimented with making co-operatives the dominant form of enterprise, often with great success. We will discuss this further at later events.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsbfOxUx8ZA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyepUAtHAL4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZoI0C1mPek&t=2s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXvlVIXETd0&t=5s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5oD9oeut7U
- Co-operative EconomicsShark Hotel, Sydney
When you arrive, if you go up the entrance steps and look right, you will see us at one of the first few tables.
Running a business in a democratic way has numerous benefits. Worker Co-operatives are less risky to startup, tend to have a longer lifespan, the workplace environment is more friendly because there aren't really "bosses", workers are better paid and less likely to be fired. The Mondragon Co-operative in Spain even has their own university with which to retrain workers if any jobs are made redundant for any reason, perhaps because of automation or the market naturally has less demand for certain goods or services. I've linked some videos below with more information about Co-ops. You don't have to watch them all, but a few of them should be enough.
There is a variety of different kinds of cooperatives. Some are direct democracies with an assembly that all members can vote in on any issue, others are more like representative democracies, others are a hybrid of both. The proportion of the revenue to re-invest in the company and how much to pay to the workers can vary, usually decided by a vote of the members. The exact procedures of voting, methods of initiating referenda or elections can vary and may be easier or more difficult.
Co-operatives can also behave more or less like Capitalist corporations. In some cases there may be a group of workers who partially own the company but they become somewhat oligarchic and start hiring labourers who are not shareholders. In some cases Capitalist companies may decide to start selling stocks to their workers in order to become somewhat like Co-operatives.
Some countries have even experimented with making co-operatives the dominant form of enterprise, often with great success. We will discuss this further at later events.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsbfOxUx8ZA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyepUAtHAL4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZoI0C1mPek&t=2s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXvlVIXETd0&t=5s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5oD9oeut7U