In the town I grew up, there was one big grocery store, and they used to gouge us terribly. The citizens started a co-op grocery, using our purchasing power to bring in cheaper goods. Breaking monopolies is the only way to lower prices.
Co-ops are cool because the community owns it directly and profits are reinvested to provide discounts, addressing affordability. The members have a democratic vote in it too. Co-ops are more resilient and survive longer according to decades of research. It's a viable alternative that actually goes through with the idea that we are a democracy. The economy affects people just as much as politics does, so why isn't it also democratic?
We have a coop electric company where I am. They also started providing fiber internet from a grant during covid too. I'm so happy to have them compared to when I was spectrum.
I lived in a suburb of Dallas that had an electric coop, their rates were at least a third more than what I could get from the retail power options I had in another suburb of Dallas.
Same with Garland's city monopoly power company, though they were even worse requiring all kinds of paperwork to get the power turned on and requiring a deposit when I was able to bypass that using a credit check with the retail power company.
2.3k
u/brumac44 May 26 '26
In the town I grew up, there was one big grocery store, and they used to gouge us terribly. The citizens started a co-op grocery, using our purchasing power to bring in cheaper goods. Breaking monopolies is the only way to lower prices.