Talk:Preston Model

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Removal of unreferenced material

I removed the following material added by User:Themagicmancunian:

"The Preston Model" is a term originated by The Guardian. It is misleading because what has been done in Preston is not a model which can be transposed, holus-bolus to other places. Community Wealth Building (CWB) needs to be modified to fit particular circumstances. However, what Preston does provide is proof of concept. Its strategy has been successful in retaining some £75 million in the city and some £200 million in the county in excess of what was retained before the scheme was launched. A regional community bank and ten worker co-ops are now being incubated. It's important to note, however, in keeping with the thinking of Gar Alperovitz, co founder with Ted Howard of the Democracy Collaborative, that this is not a mere project. Alperovitz argues that projects are fine, but projectism is a dead-end. The aim is system change: capitalism is failing. It always did fail those on the receiving end of its exploitation : those in colonised countries or the workers at home. For its first two hundred and fifty years, capitalism was concentrated in western Europe, the USA and Japan. From the 1970s it began to globalise, leading to the decimation of industries in the areas of concentration, a political assault on unions and the failure of the social democracy which depended on a strong Labour movement (in Sweden, 85% of the workforce was unionised), and the assumption that votes would prevail over wealth. In its areas of concentration, capitalism had to respond to unions and socialist and communist parties. It was forced to grant concessions: higher wages, free education and health, pensions. Once globalisation was under way, these gains began to be rolled back. This combination of failing industries, decline in the real value of wages and a collapsing public sector led to widespread disaffection. Thus, the theory goes, capitalism is failing, State capitalism Soviet style was disastrous for liberty and democracy, and social democracy doesn't provide the countervailing force to the market it once did. CWB is the response.

CWB was originated in the US by the Democracy Collaborative. Alperovitz was involved with the steel workers of Youngstown, Ohio, in 1977 when they produced a plan to take over their closed steel mill as a worker-owned community enterprise. The scheme failed because of opposition from various quarters, but the idea remained, to be revived most significantly in the Cleveland Evergreen Initiative. The key idea, simple but ingenious was to use the major public bodies of the city as "anchor institutions". Two hospitals and a university spent $3bn per annum excluding wages and building but none of it in Cleveland. By securing their agreement to shift some of their spending to local enterprises, the ground was laid for the elaboration of worker-owned co-ops to provide. What is crucial here is that it isn't a mere project, but the groundwork for system change. The co-ops were brought together under a community umbrella, a design, a structure with rules whose purpose is to ensure they can't be scuppered by the capitalist market and must serve the community's well-being.

This is what CWB in Preston has learned from. Matt Brown, leader of the council and inspiration behind the city's effort, has visited Cleveland and met Alperovitz. Pogressive procurement is sometimes mistaken for the raison d'etre of CWB. Some unions have confused it with outsourcing. In fact the purpose is long-term radical change: the replacement of the fundamental relationship of capitalism - employer and employee- by co-operative relations of production, distribution and exchange. The Democracy Collaborative has declared an aim of 50 million Americans engaged in co-operatives by 2050. That kind of heft, it is assumed, would tilt the system in a new direction. The stride from 50 million to 75 million should be easier than that from 0 to 50 million. There will come a tipping point, presumably at about 50%, when the character of the economy changes. This is a long-term matter and requires steady patient work, but it is what CWB is intending.

CWB in Preston has attracted interest from across the UK. Ignored by much of the media, probably because they fear it on the one hand and don't know how to respond to it on the other, it is said to offer a readily modifiable example of how communities can protect themselves against decline, decay and deprivation.

It is not that this passage is entirely useless but because it reads like a plug for Democracy Collaborative:

• The language is not encyclopedic, but is more like promotional language
• It wanders off topic, and is more concerned with the views of Alperovitz
• It is unreferenced

I would like to see the article developed, but the material above needs to be worked on.Leutha (talk) 08:20, 8 January 2020 (UTC)