Hello colleagues,<div><br></div><div>Shareable just published an interview with Chuck Gold of ICA about the Int'l Year of </div><div>the Coop: </div><div><a href="http://www.shareable.net/blog/co-ops-are-big-business-charles-gould-interview">http://www.shareable.net/blog/co-ops-are-big-business-charles-gould-interview</a></div>
<div><br></div><div>This follows a recent Shareable feature story about cooperatives, "Meet the New Boss: You"</div><div><a href="http://www.shareable.net/blog/meet-the-new-boss-you">http://www.shareable.net/blog/meet-the-new-boss-you</a> </div>
<div><br></div><div>We commissioned these articles to help educate the general public about the value of </div><div>cooperatives in creating democratic societies. Many of you probably share the idea that </div><div>coops have special relevance in the age of Occupy, mounting financial crisis, and </div>
<div>increasing employment precarity, especially among youth.</div><div><br></div><div>I hope that you will share these articles in your communities, and perhaps more importantly </div><div>with those on the boundaries of your communities who are seeking new ways to be in the world.</div>
<div>I think they make good introductions to coops and also correct common misconceptions </div><div>about them, like that they are small and counter-cultural (a US bias, at least).</div><div><br></div><div>Shareable is working informally with other groups, including the P2P Foundation, to raise the </div>
<div>profile of coops as a solution (albeit an imperfect one) and get cooperative development into </div><div>policy discussions. The US has systematically supported cooperative development in the past </div><div>to address market failures (the Rural Electrification Administration in The Great Depression). </div>
<div>Perhaps we will return to this and join many other countries with cooperative economic strategies.</div><div><br></div><div>I also invite you to share with us any media that you're doing around coops. We'd like to share your</div>
<div>media with our community, which you've helped us to grow to 50,000 unique visitors a month.</div><div><br></div><div>Thank you!</div><div><br></div><div>-Neal</div><div><br></div><div><br>--<br><br>Neal Gorenflo | Publisher, <a href="http://shareable.net/" target="_blank">Shareable</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/ShareableDesign" target="_blank">@ShareableDesign</a> | 415.867.0429<div>
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