TINA? - Part 1

There’s a popular myth that in 1899 the Commissioner of the U.S. Patent Office, Charles H. Duell, was to have written, “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” An equally absurd comment is often attributed to Margaret Thatcher in reference to global capitalism, “There is no alternative,” which is often reduced to the acronym TINA.

The use of TINA proves that the capitalist apologetics are simply out of ammo in the war of words with critics. It further shows that there is a serious need for us critics to provide that better alternative that we claim is out there. If we fail to do so then we run the risk of proving that the Iron Lady was indeed right and that there is no alternative to capitalism.

There are several real world examples in operation today by which a framework can be built of a better alternative system of investment. In this posting I will address just one example, which is the Caja Laboral Popular (CLP) of the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation.

An important aspect of the CLP is its Empressarial Division, which is responsible for establishing new cooperatives within the MCC. It provides the needed investment and then provides support, such as product development, until the new cooperative is established and is fiscally sound. The CLP is self-sustaining for it funds itself and the ongoing creations of additional cooperatives largely through the deposits made by those same cooperatives that it had helped to create, which have nearly a 100% success rate.

The Caja Laboral Popular provides us one glimpse of an alternative investment system. In future postings I will address other examples of alternatives to capital.