| Photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash
Part I of “Replace Cronyism With Cooperativism” Series
This column did an advanced posting of a Facebook Intro Note about the content of this topic last Friday. It said that “No amount of civil-rights protests and rallies — that even toppled dictators in some countries — have led to full socioeconomic empowerment globally. Why? Because new dictators (and wannabe despots) came into power, as bankrolled by the same filthy-rich moguls and their cartels. Yes, as assembled into economic empires or enclaves that trumpeted (pun intended) ‘crony capitalism’.” The Intro Note will be reposted as a comment in Facebook Groups, where a link to this instant column will be posted, pending approval by an administrator.
Today’s article is the 95th op-ed piece or essay that mentions “co-op” (universal abbreviation for “cooperative”) in this column since November 2020. Inquisitive readers may type in “co-op” in the search box of this Philippine Daily Mirror (PDM) website to read them. This instant piece is also the debut of a new word, “cooperativism” (sic), that this columnist coined.
Thus, this columnist argued that many entities — from Parents-Teachers Associations (PTAs) to labor unions, guilds (of teachers, writers, journalists, broadcasters, actors, film-industry workers), neighborhood-and-community associations, rural banks, rural hospitals, health-maintenance organizations (HMOs), church congregations, manufacturing-and-assembly plants, and even supermarkets (superstores), etcetera, ad infinitum, must be reorganized as co-ops. And finally, employees of government agencies must become “labor cooperative-unions,” and Congress must enact the necessary legislation to allow civil servants to organize themselves.
Some policy-and-decision makers that were provided links to the articles — from VIPs in government agencies to political parties to churches — have remained mum. Yes, as if most of them are deaf-mute or blind. Why? Because vested interests probably bankroll most of their existence, careers, or positions.
“And all of us — no matter on what boats our ancestors sailed to reach North American ports (as early as 1565 for Filipino Indios in Jalisco, Mexico) — we all feel that we are still sailing on the same vessel of racial and socioeconomic discrimination.”
But it seems that an end to the proverbial “tunnel of indifference” looms. Some friends of this columnist have registered a political party called “United Centrists of America” (UCA) in the State of New York. They like the idea of “cooperativism” — as this Fourth-Estate activist has pushed in his writings and in a Facebook Group called “Pocketbook Cooperative Politics”. They also invited this columnist to serve as the ad-hoc chairman for the Golden State and start organizing his friends and supporters into UCA chapters of community activists. And start fielding candidates — as early as 2026 — in elections to choose members or officials in school boards, city councils, county boards of supervisors, and state positions.
The New York-based prime movers of the UCA political party know that although there are only five million Americans of Filipino descent, one million of them live in Southern California. Yes, it will not be easy, but it is a challenging task for the coming decades, to paraphrase the words of President John F. Kennedy. And we can count on fellow Asian-American, Hispanic-American, and Black-American political activists as allies — for Filipinos have historical links to them.
And all of us — no matter on what boats our ancestors sailed to reach North American ports (as early as 1565 for Filipino Indios in Jalisco, Mexico) — we all feel that we are still sailing on the same vessel of racial and socioeconomic discrimination. We only have to promote and do the “Power of Ten” principle. And we can prevail eventually over “crony capitalism”.
In reality, “We, the People” compose 98% of society and the voting population. While the multi-billionaire moguls and cartel owners, their kin, in-laws, and political-religious supporters compose only two percent of society. Let us see if the collective voices of all oppressed people, especially the poor, those without affordable healthcare, and the marginalized sectors, will prevail — as “cooperatives” — in the long run.
