The balcony of a hotel room | Photo by Francesca Saraco on Unsplash
Part XI of the “Pocketbook Politics” Series
On December 31, 2023, an op-ed piece, “Working-class Voters May Decide 2024 Elections and Usher in Cooperative Economics,” was published.
What is wrong with the American economy? it is “Crony Capitalism.” This journalist has been writing about Corporate America’s cronyism-type of economics, which makes the rich multi-billionaires and the marginalized workers poorer. The solution is to adopt the principles of “Cooperative Economics” and start organizing co-ops. It also means turning labor unions into labor co-ops. And federations of co-ops organizing, or taking over, credit unions and even small distressed rural banks. Or organizing new credit unions. And even creating healthcare companies owned by its medical staff, other workers, patients, vendors, and suppliers.
Unfortunately, almost all Democratic candidates and voters, too, chose not to raise the issue of “Co-op Economics” as THE solution to all the socioeconomic problems that ail and torment most people, especially the poorest of the poor. Many candidates concentrated their campaigns on “personal politics” (whatever that means to many). And many voters, especially in the national election, choose racism and gender bias over capability and experience. The voters did not think of the long-term effects on their pocketbooks when they exercised their right of suffrage.
Immediately after the 2024 elections, this column started this present series about “Pocketbook Politics.” Now, there is an opportunity to demonstrate what “Pocketbook Politics” is about. This means explaining to voters years before the next election that “Co-op Economics” benefits them, their households, and their communities.
As this writer paraphrased years ago the words of a famous son of Kentucky, Abraham Lincoln: “The economy, like their government, must be by the people, for the people and of the people and their cooperatives.”
According to most data sources, Mississippi is considered the poorest state in the United States. This means it ranks first among the ten poorest states based on economic criteria.
“The solution is to adopt the principles of “Cooperative Economics” and start organizing co-ops. It also means turning labor unions into labor co-ops. And federations of co-ops organizing, or taking over, credit unions and even small distressed rural banks.”
A long-time friend, Numeriano Bouffard, has apparently found a golden opportunity to prove that “Co-op Economics” is doable and viable. He discovered Tunica, a town in and the county seat of Tunica County, Mississippi, near the Mississippi River.
Mr. Bouffard, a Filipino-American of Spanish descent, founded the Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce of Central Florida and organized the Federation of Philippine-American Chambers of Commerce (FPACC) Foundation. Nr Bouffard is the president emeritus of both organizations based in the City of Orlando (FL) and the prime mover of the Pueblo Filipino (Retirement and Cultural Resort) of Manzanillo City, Colima State of Mexico. Together with his Mexican partners, Pueblo Filipino has some 1,200 hectares (2,400 acres) of land to develop. The recent pandemic delayed the construction of Phase I. The Mexican-American group has hired this columnist and his group of journalists to handle the Public Affairs Division for the United States and Canada.
Tunica transformed from an agriculture-driven community to a gambling destination as other casinos emerged. However, more competition throughout the country has dented Tunica’s collective casino operations. About six hotel-casino resorts in Tunica are distressed; some have shut down.
Mr. Bouffard and this columnist are discussing reviving Tunica’s distressed hotel-casino enterprises.
By Sunday, December 22, 2024, this column will present the generic plans for reviving the said beleaguered enterprises in Tunica and reinventing them to become the show window of “Cooperative Economics.” This means turning all the hotel rooms into “condotels” (condominium-type hotel suites) and the casino into a cooperative-type gaming enterprise. Of course, it will also generate other profitable revenue streams.
Part XII of this series will present more ideas about the business plan and how to fund the entire venture. In short, it can become Phase I of the “Old Man River Renaissance” idea. It should make Tunica one of the wealthiest counties — and Mississippi one of the most prosperous states — in the United States in two decades, maximum. Of course, this is ideally done with the help of the other 31 states that belong to the Mississippi River deltas or have tributary rivers that flow into it. Thus, it should also lift the Top 20 poorest states of the United States of America into some of the wealthiest territories in North America. How’s that for a New Year’s Resolution?
