The Cooperative Revolution

Working Together

Throughout the age of Man we have grown in stages; stressed by our environment man began to understand our world with the mastery of Fire. We lived in tribal communities developing language, transportation, agriculture, until approximately 5,000 years ago when the Great Flood gave way to the stories of Noah and the birth of many of today's religions and great wars; where in Sun Tzu “The art of War” we are taught to divide then conquer.

Man’s growth over the past few hundred years has led to the Industrial Revolution, the Information Age, and with the birth of the Computer and the Internet we are on the precipice of the Cooperative Revolution.

The Cooperative Age is the period in which we develop our understanding that through self responsibility we are greater working together than apart; scrabbling over the same common resources like energy, water, food, land. Cooperatism is not a new concept aswe all remember the motto “United We Stand Divided We Fall” first told to us though Aesop’s fables in the story “The Four Oxen and the Tiger” from the sixth century BC.

Pockets of cooperative communities have been maturing to a greater degree over the past 40 years each meeting similar challenges of learning and teaching the values and results of cooperativism. It was 1994 when John Nash won the Noble Prize in economics for his understanding of cooperative economics and how it mirrors the best of how nature functions so efficiently. “Many in body One in Mind” from the The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin teaches us how to maintain our uniqueness yet produce greatness together.

The process is a “Metamorphosis” of human culture and economics and has led to the development of a set of principles we refer to as the Metamorphosis Protocol as a set of values and tests designed to insure our path and actions follow our intentions.

The team that led the writing of the Metamorphosis Protocol are now gathering expertise in each of the major fields of Economics, Business, Accounting, Technology, Communications, Industry, Development, Health, Government, Utilities, Transportation, Education, and Leadership to write a series of eBooks designed to provide a blueprint for this change.

If you have the necessary expertise or know of someone who does in each of the fields above please ask them to get involved to help co-author some of these “Blueprints” for success.

Contact anyone on the Metamorphosis Project for input or discussion.

Perspective

I came across this story on the Fourth Corner site and though it deserved a moment to share....

An Amusing Story

An American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna.

The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied, "only a little while." The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.

The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?" The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life, senor."

The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat, with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But senor, how long will this all take?"

To which the American replied, "15 or 20 years."

"But what then, senor?"

The American laughed and said, "that’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."

"Millions, senor? Then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."