Richard Wolff: Critics of Capitalism Must Include Its Definition

[rogerashton]

5. Fair enough --

my phrase is hyperbolic -- but here's the thing: if we rely on workers wanting cooperative organization, as we have been doing since the 1840's, then WSDEs will never become the predominant form of enterprise organization. The only way that will happen is by -- the government herding workers into cooperatives. After all, WSDEs have been advocated by socialists since Buchez Mind you, I agree with all the concrete proposals Wolff makes. But worker ownership has some limits which are pretty well documented in the research literature on worker cooperatives in action in the real world. Predominant public ownership, in some form, will be required.