Are we the oak tree or are we the mistletoe? Do we want to feed off of a strong and solid industry, like the mistletoe that grows on the oak? Do we want to set our limits around negotiating contracts? Or do we want to build a self-sustaining movement through our own institutions?
Cesar Chavez, according to this essay, was turned away from a mission of self-determination, mutual-aid institutions, and cooperative work/living for farmworkers when he started a nonprofit and was redirected by private donors to support mere unionization.
I liked the quote - it’s not a perfect essay. There’s no laboratory for testing these things. Real life outcomes are overdetermined. But, if you take enough before then after diffs, you can establish a kind of cultural epidemiology imo.
Cesar Chavez, according to this essay, was turned away from a mission of self-determination, mutual-aid institutions, and cooperative work/living for farmworkers when he started a nonprofit and was redirected by private donors to support mere unionization.