Youth and cooperation http://www.publishaletter.com/readletter.jsp?plid=28982 asian age july 4, 2011
Dear Editor: July 2nd, 2011 was the 17th UN International Day of Cooperatives (http://www.copac.coop/idc/2011/index.html) The UN Secretary General's message on this states that the "theme for this year?s International Day of Cooperatives is 'Youth, the Future of Cooperatives'" Further he highlights "In the wake of the global financial and economic crisis, youth unemployment is at an all-time high. Expanding opportunity through youth entrepreneurship is one way to address this challenge. The cooperative model enables young people to create and manage sustainable enterprises. Cooperatives are underpinned by the pooling of financial and human resources, technical knowledge and business skills. Furthermore, their member-driven structure roots them in communities, encouraging socially responsible businesses that meet local needs" http://www.copac.coop/idc/2011/2011-un-en.pdf However why is youth unemployment high? Why is there a huge financial and economic crisis? Does the above statement endorse principles of cooperation? The neo liberal paradigm allows free flow of capital from developed countries undergoing recession and growing economies to exploit natural resources of low income countries and poor rural youth are facing unemployment - blacks, dalits, adivasis, minorities*, females and males, from landless laborers, small and marginal farming households. (http://lasa.international.pitt.edu/LASA97/barkin.pdf) In rural areas of developing countries another reason for rural youth unemployment is that agriculture is projected in school text books to be backward. The more educated the youth the less they want to do agriculture (see www.villagevolunteers.org/common_ground/joshua_editorial.php for an example from Kenya). Food riots are breaking out in various parts of the world, this being one amongst the reasons Migration to urban areas and abroad is a strategy adopted by the poor rural youth, they are exploited within the country and outside, in gender specific ways. Young poor women often land in low paid care work, beauty parlors (to make rich women fair and lovely) or are pushed into prostitution. Young men are found in construction work, cooks, watch persons, low paid technical jobs, and also pushed into prostitution with expansion of tourism etc. Not all migration abroad is safe, and often they are second class citizens. iussp2005.princeton.edu/download.aspx?submissionId=50293 It is however important to instill cooperative principles amongst the youth, but let us go back to roots. What are cooperative principles about? In 1995, the International Cooperative Alliance adopted seven cooperative principles to define and guide cooperatives throughout the world. Briefly stated, the traditional seven include: voluntary and open membership; democratic member control; member economic participation; autonomy and independence; education, training and information; cooperation among cooperatives; and concern for community. Len Kinerman, based on his visit to Circe Pine cooperative in Michigan adds an eighth principle which as he points out is missing in today's world "acting in common good" or that Cooperatives should "collaborate to build a just, peace-based, and fully democratic society" http://www.geo.coop/archives/2_Krimerman_Forum.html/. It would be good if UN teaches youth and children of today the principles of cooperation in particular the value of the eight principle Decreasing land allocated to agriculture, usurpation of common property resources by corporates under state/MNC control, unfettered consumption by elite and upper middle class, discrimination on the basis race, caste, class, religion, minority status, declining child sex ratio in some countries etc are all indication that the elite and upper middle class are not acting in common interest. Conflicts and climate change are a result of this. Are we going to leave any thing for the next generation if we do not promote the eighth principle of common good, justice, peace and fully democratic society amongst youth and children- including elite and upper middle class? * including sexual and gender minorities -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "humanrights movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement?hl=en.
