"COOPS ARE 

AGAINST WAR!"

Y THE VERY NATURE of cooperatives, that promote and actualize successful joint business enterprise on the basis of human harmony founded upon the social capital of mutual trust and goodwill, cooperatives, as cooperatives, would logically be opposed to war.

The recourse to war, no matter what the provocation, is counter­productive and socially destructive. Aside from killing, maiming and displacing many civilians, It destroys the atmosphere of stability conducive for doing business, any business, except the war machines industry which cooperatives would not at all be involved in. It destroys the atmo­sphere, especially for doing business together in serving community needs, because the mutual suspicions and the constant tensions fomented by war destroy community life upon which successful cooperative enterprise is necessarily based.  And because the very soul of cooperativism is synergism, in other words, dynamic unity, teamwork and harmony, it is against the worst destroyer of all real human harmony: war!

How do we best combat terrorism? We cannot offer any quick answers, except painstakingly building worldwide harmony through socio-economic and geo-political justice, not by destroying through war whatever unities we as humans have already succeeded building, not by asserting superior military strength that heals no one!  And definitely not by provoking one side of the conflict by being the noisiest but weakest ally of the other.           

SanibLakas Foundation

Cooperative Education on Synergism (C.E.S.) Program

October 14, 2001