Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Member-Owned, Worker-Run Brewery Taps into a Radical Idea

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, August 22, 2011

Member-Owned, Worker-Run Brewery Taps into a Radical Idea

Click here to access article by Stacy Edwards from Shareable.

The whole concept of Black Star is pretty radical, requiring a very brave community to sign on early. “The idea is so weird, right?” Mark admits as he reflects on his early reaction to the idea. “I mean, we want to make a brewpub, but we’re not going to get big venture capital support. We’re not going to do it like that. We’re going to get it from all the people in the community and when there’s profit, it’s going to be distributed to all of our members. Everything is going to stay 100% local. We’re going to have a focus on being green, a focus on supporting the community, and, by the way, we won’t have someone in charge.”