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The problem is that none of these will make a difference if the motivation behind them remains exploitative.

Which is why the requirement is for a framework within which it is to my advantage to cooperate with you/ work WITH you rather than to compete with you/ work FOR you, because we are "both on the same side".

That's what an "Open" Corporate like the UK LLP and its (non-Corporate) US relative, the LLC,  enables, and why the structures I advocate are emerging.

Because they WORK.

They do so by bringing the different stakeholders together "inside the box" rather than leaving them as "costs" to be exploited outside it.

A non-hierarchical "Corporation" is still a Corporation, and it suffers from the fundamental faultline of all Corporations - whether or not "For Profit" - between the interests of the "Principal" Owner, and the "Agent" ie the management, whether they structure themselves hierarchically or not.

Production/revenue sharing between Capital provider/ Investor and user of Capital changes all that. It brings them on to the same side, takes the motivation of "self interest" and turns it around so that our self interest is actually served better by working WITH each other openly, transparently and cooperatively.

"The future is already here -- it's just not very evenly distributed" William Gibson

by ChrisCook (cojockathotmaildotcom) on Mon Aug 27th, 2007 at 12:19:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Yes, but there's nothing to stop - for example - all of us on ET getting together to sell widgets we've designed, setting up an LLP, and then using Chinese sweatshop labour to make the widgets, while we share the profits between ourselves. (Doubtless very equitably.)

LLPs are an answer - one of many - if the desire is there to be ethical in the first place.

If it's not, they do nothing to force ethical behaviour.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Mon Aug 27th, 2007 at 01:33:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Of course: you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

And conversely, lots of people succeed in trading ethically despite the incentives built in to the system to do otherwise.

Bu then there's nothing to stop the Chinese widget makers clubbing together in their own "People's Corporate", nicking our widget design and selling the widgets directly to our customers on the Net....

My thesis is that a Cooperative of service users, working with a Cooperative of service providers, is actually both an ethical and an optimal structure, and that those enterprises that do not use the structure will be at a disadvantage to those that do.

I guess we'll have to see if I'm right...

"The future is already here -- it's just not very evenly distributed" William Gibson

by ChrisCook (cojockathotmaildotcom) on Mon Aug 27th, 2007 at 01:48:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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