Capitalism: Against it, Within it
As one of the founding members of a bicycle collective that has been around for almost 14 years, it is still painful to see that the system that our efforts reacted to then is still oppressing and withholding resources from the masses today; that system, of course, is capitalism.
The point of this workshop is to provide a primer on how our shop (the 816 Bicycle Collective in KCMO, USA) interacts with capitalism. Then, with this in mind, I want to facilitate a discussion around how other shops do the same. The impetus of this is less about being angry that our efforts haven't moved mountains than it is about putting this conversation in the foreground. If we don't talk about capitalism when we talk about fulfilling a need that is based out of capitalism's failures, I believe we are really failing ourselves and the communities that we serve.
Join me to talk about this and keep this conversation going. As much as I want to put this front and center at our shop in KC, I also want to hear from others. I hope to learn that we're just behind and that this conversation is already being had by other community shops around the world.
Update:
I didn't know going into this that the sessions were only 40 minutes short. So, I feel that I should note how important participation is here. While I will get the session going, my hope is that this will be a discussion-based 40 minutes. Specifically, I am not trying to teach anyone about capitalism, nor am I trying to persuade anyone of anything; I want for all of us to come away from this with a better understanding of where we and others are on this as a community of community shops.
Consider your thoughts and feeling about your shop as it is situated in you community:
- Do conversations about money at your shop feel normal?
- Do patrons of your shop generally understand how your shop operates?
- Do you feel like the community in general understands how your shop operates?
- Does the fact of capitalism impact how you feel about your shop?
- Does it feel contentious just existing as an alternative model?
Langues
anglais
Thèmes
Ethnicité, genre ou classe politique