Mondragon model

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Draft Summary for a business concept that has been proven in the Basque region of Spain:

- worker owned businesses
- business works for the good of the community NOT for the good of an individual
- workers vote for board of directors
- only workers can be directors, no outsiders
- board votes for a CEO with broad powers
- broad powers are ONLY to serve the interests of the whole
- each week the board meets and reviews performance of CEO and decides if he/she should remain CEO
- business provides housing, and a lot of others stuff that western people usually think of as "your own problem"
- as a result, governments around these businesses are small
- because the government is small and the worker-owned businesses are large, the government is controlled by the people

See this paper for the story: [Mondragon Story]

Here's a link to a group that helps people learn about it: http://www.praxispeace.org

• Thoughts for how to reward creative forces who want to start operations, but need to move on:

- creative force has idea - pitches it all over - group forms to take idea forward - creative force gets some payment (think about details later) - payment is regular over some period of time to create incentive to create and pay for living expenses - but payment isn't so onerous that group buckles under the weight...and only comes if group is successful (define success later) - creative force has enough to keep creating but not enough to stymie creativity (need begets creativity) - payment reduces over time and according to total of all ideas that have taken off are limited to some level, so (that again...no more than some multiple of worker, and less than CEO (who's doing the grunt work)) creative force doesn't become a god...but has enough to feel comfortable creating.