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A Director's Chairby Dennis Phayre “Member owned and
operated…” Who’s
steering this ship anyway? The MEMBER-ship, of
course. In theory, that’s how our
Coop is
supposed to work: The Membership has the rights and privileges to the
ultimate
decision-making role in our community. The “Membership” is made up of
the
individual “shareholders” (purchasers of a corporate share) who work a
minimum
of three hours per month. Only those members who are current with their
share
payments and their monthly work requirements are afforded the rights
and
privileges of a “Member,” including the right to vote. But does the Membership
actually
exercise its rights when it comes to participating in the
decision-making
process, or does it simply reflect the pattern of our larger democratic
institutions, where we allow fewer and fewer people make all the
decisions by
way of default? Could it be that we just aren’t interested enough to
get that deeply
involved? Before attempting to
answer those
questions, I believe it is important to recognize at the start that,
voting
with our dollars is a vitally important means of voicing our opinions.
Those of
us who choose to shop at the Coop, members and non-members alike, are
voting to
support it in its Furthermore, our members
are
providing a diverse range of valuable services to the Coop; these
include
everything from manual labor to logistical support, from governance
services to
community building. Big and small, every effort in the capacity of a
member is
a vital component of the whole continuum. We are a community of members
who
reach out to the rest of our larger community through our collective
efforts. It
is through this willingness to work that we also support a thriving
Coop. But
to what degree do we consciously involve ourselves in the success or
failure of
the Coop? Do we ever really choose to recognize the broader
implications of our
decision to become “members” of HWFC? These questions are
helpful in
answering the earlier questions because they point to, what I believe,
is one
of the main causes of our propensity for limited involvement: a failure
to
recognize the responsibilities that go along with the privileges and
the
rights. It’s easier to see what our responsibility is when it is
measured in
the form of hourly work requirements in return for a specific Coop
discount.
But it is much more complicated to see what additional responsibilities
we
assume when we agree to be co-owners of such a radically progressive
organization as the Coop. The Coop was founded on a
progressive set of values that strives to reach beyond the norms of
society,
and to build an economic and social relationship within our community
that is
built on fair, equitable and sustainable practices. As we continue to
grow and
as the world around us continues to evolve, we are increasingly faced
with the
need to reassess the integrity of the various systems we have created
to keep
the Coop moving forward. These systems include nearly every aspect of
our
organization: from food policy issues to energy supply matters, from
management
policies to voting procedures. It is an ever evolving, increasingly
complex set
of systems which allows us to incorporate our continued growth into a
sustainable thriving community, rather than into one that is
overwhelmed and
struggling to endure. The responsibility for ensuring that the Coop
meets these
challenges and continues to thrive is all of ours. We, the members,
have the
self-appointed rights to seize the opportunity, as well as the
responsibility
to do so. We are a community that
cares. We choose
not to turn a blind eye to the downside of industrialization and
corporate growth.
We recognize the virtues of cooperative effort to provide an
alternative food resource,
community building and employment. But there is still a need for us to
recognize, in greater masses, the developmental work that needs to get
done to
carry forth our This is an opportunity
for all of
us. It is an opportunity for us to take hold of, and to reflect upon,
what it
is that we are cocreating, even if only through our economic support.
The
ultimate benefit to being a member is not the discount that we receive
at the
cash register; rather it is the opportunity to co-evolve, both
personally as
well as cooperatively, into the very embodiments of the values that we
ascribe
to by virtue of our willingness to enter into this cooperative
relationship. |
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