Jacobin: “If The Workers Owned the Workplaces”

For the original click here. Linked to by NakedCapitalism.

Takes me back to GEO. Decades. Also takes me deep into the “Free and Open Source Software” (FOSS) movement. The happy volunteer developer contributing to the Common Good of Human-Kind!

I came to GEO from a belief in the latter and a wish to find ways of pursuing it outside BigCorp (IBM, Red Hat, etc.). And of the very democratic workspace discussed. A few years among them gave me a lot of insights. Put to use in Symas. Successfully.

Takeaway:

• Leadership is an abnormality. It is antithetical to doing the actual work (methods, skills, attitudes). Most people just want to produce. Do the job.
• Ambition is common. But everyone has a definition of success and most aren’t interested in much artificial (organizational, administrative, etc.) stress.