Hi fellow Steemians, my name is Moira. I’m a newbie to the site. I live in the Pacific NW of the USA. Here's a pic of me!

I thought I would write my intro by sharing something near and dear to my heart. All the politicians in the U.S. are talking about Americans needing to learn “better skills” so they can “compete for jobs" in the global market. Language is a sneaky thing. Before you know it, everybody starts talking that way. Language leads to thoughts, thoughts lead to actions, actions create habits. Pretty soon we all start believing, and turn into obedient robots. In this case it could even destroy any sense of community. I’m making a point of talking up community and communitarian values as much as I can.

Underlying the politicians’ viewpoint is a major assumption that there’s only one acceptable economic system- our current one. Runaway shareholder capitalism is only one system, and all you have to do to see how well an uncontrolled corrupt version has (not) worked in the US in the last forty years is look around. Elsewhere in the world, they know there’s a better kind of system, where workers own both the means of production and the surplus that results from their labor. They’re called worker self-directed enterprises, or co-ops. It gives them control over how profits are spent. (There are very successful examples right here in the U.S. too). They can choose to pocket all of it instead of just the portion the boss gives them- they are the boss now! Or, they can reserve some for community improvement projects, infrastructure, schools, worker professional development, or whatever else they decide is appropriate.

Anyhow that’s what’s on my mind in these dog days of summer. I'll be posting more about democracy in the workplace, and I hope it will excite you, too!