Co-operatives as we know them first appeared in England during the class struggles of the early 1800’s. Robert Owen, known for his attempts to save the poor from squalor and reforming the child labor laws, wrote “Report on The Poor” addressing the social and economic structures of England. Though the House of Commons rejected his report, the idea of “Villages of Co-operation,” based on the Shaker communities in the United States, caught on. William Thompson furthered the concept of co-operatives, and Socialism as well, through his writing, specifically his paper in 1824, “An enquiry into the principals of Distribution of Wealth Most Conducive to Human Happiness.” Both men strongly believed human nature was basically good; happiness came from human interactions; and that man is demoralized by the inhumane environments created by the economic system. This connection between happiness, social relations, co-operation and democratic methods established the moral and methodological foundation of co-operatives as a humane alternative to the problems of capitalism. The academic ideals didn’t translate into reality very well. with over 250 failed attempts at co-opting communities before 1844, when William King produced the first successful co-operative. Starting small, he thought to first co-op a business that everyone uses, a grocery store.
Enjoy! Marnie
