Capsule Description of the PCS Program

The PCS, or "Cooperative," program, seeks a political transformation away from our present money-and-profit system, toward the establishment of a moneyless "Cooperative Society," controlled by people, not a tiny group of corporate owners.

In such a society, a small group would no longer be in control, whether that group was the corporate "ruling class" of the capitalist nations, or "the party" of the totalitarian nations (Cuba, China, etc.). Instead, in a Cooperative system, all of us, together, would directly and democratically control and manage our society.

The model for production, social relations, and life itself, would be based on the famed principle of Louis Blanc: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." The program is partly predicated on the socio-existential assertion that all people are brothers and sisters in one human family, and should treat each other accordingly in all areas of human existence, including what we now understand as the "economic" sphere. The Cooperative program is one of "revolution," not reform.

The PCS program is unique and powerful because it combines two readily complementary ideas, each of which, individually, is powerful and longstanding: (1.) a cooperative society, where everyone works together for the common (and individual) good, expressed in selected portions of the work and teachings of Erich Fromm, Daniel De Leon, Karl Marx, and others, and (2.) the notion of "brotherly love," or the "love ethic," expressed in selected portions of the work and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mohandas "Mahatma" Gandhi, Jesus, Leo Buscaglia, Erich Fromm, and others. The love ethic is also known in Greek as agape  (ah goh' pay). The entire PCS program is communicated in neutral language people find friendly and accessible, a deliberate outreach methodology comprising a powerful third leg of the program.

Transference of ownership of industry from private to public is a key part of the PCS program, but might not necessarily create the long-dreamt of "brotherhood of man." Thus, PCS also seeks a concomitant personal transformation away from the pathological narcissism engendered by capitalism, toward this ethic of "brotherly love." This principle, taught from childhood, would comprise the moral and ethical underpinning of the new society.

In fact, anyone who takes Blanc's principal seriously must grapple with the love ethic, for the principle implies the love ethic: I am not going to work as hard as, or perhaps even harder than you, knowing that my remuneration may be the same as, or even less than yours, unless I see you as my brother--unless I love you. PCS thus advocates not merely a new political program, but in effect a new cultural program, as well-in fact, a seminal paradigm of personal and social relationships, and relations.

How does one have radical social transformation without the most radically transformational idea of all time--love? We would not venture to predict, at this early stage, the exact role the love ethic will play in the new society, but the notion that it must play some kind of substantive role is an official part of the PCS program.

The "Cooperative Program" is democratic, and involves a peaceful transfer of power from corporations to people. The change to a Cooperative system can be brought about democratically, if a majority of us want it and vote for it, because Article V of the United States constitution provides for a legal change of government.

A Cooperative system constitutes a new approach, never tried before, anywhere in the world.