Co-op News September 2019: Agriculture
How are co-ops working agriculture?
How are co-ops working agriculture?
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Social entrepreneur and author Sam <strong>Co</strong>nniff<br />
Allende is guest speaker at the Social Business<br />
Wales <strong>Co</strong>nference this month. He will be discussing<br />
ideas from his new book, Be More Pirate, which<br />
sets out radical ideas for challenger businesses to<br />
take on their conventional rivals. “The original<br />
purpose-driven business model was the co-<strong>op</strong><br />
movement,” he writes, “and before there was the<br />
co-<strong>op</strong>erative movement, there were pirates.”<br />
He adds: “As capitalism continues its existential<br />
crisis and global leadership disappears even<br />
further up its own arse, this truly is the time for<br />
social business to show it’s courage, ambition<br />
and imagination.<br />
“We have the answers, we have the evidence and<br />
we have the leaders: it’s time to make sure your<br />
story is heard. I’m proud and excited to be coming<br />
back to Wales to share my message, meet with<br />
my comrades in Social Business and return to the<br />
homeland of the pirates, who I think all of us can<br />
draw real inspiration from in times like these.”<br />
How did you get interested in pirates ; who is<br />
your favourite - and why?<br />
My favourite is Anne Bonny, born Anne<br />
Mc<strong>Co</strong>rmac in 1702. By setting off to sea she broke<br />
one of the most universally enforced rules of society<br />
that says women are not fully autonomous human<br />
beings, with rights and abilities equal to those<br />
of men. As a father to two young daughters I am<br />
acutely aware that gender inequality is something<br />
they will face; the courage of Anne Bonny reminds<br />
me that change is possible – but it will require us<br />
to take risks.<br />
How were pirates the original co-<strong>op</strong>erators?<br />
It could be argued that pirates were the world's first<br />
equal <strong>op</strong>portunity employers; alongside women,<br />
they also embraced same-sex couples and ethnic<br />
minority crew members. They set great store in<br />
community, working towards a set of principles<br />
(the pirate code) and sharing resources equally.<br />
Unlike today where some CEOs earn up 100<br />
times more than the average worker, the captain