Monthly Archives: January 2009

Homeward

Posted on January 31, 2009 by coopgeek

New Orleans ended on an up note. I got to visit with a couple of good friends from my previous conference adventures and appreciate the architecture, and enjoy a gorgeous walk in Audubon Park with egrets and turtles, and eat … Continue reading →

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New Orleans

Posted on January 29, 2009 by coopgeek

This is my fourth visit to New Orleans since the Thing – i.e. Hurricane Katrina. I’ve had a really wild range of experiences here, covering most phases of the recovery: gutting houses, building a community garden, watching movie set explosions … Continue reading →

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Civil Rights revisited

Posted on January 27, 2009 by coopgeek

I’ve just spent a couple of days visiting the headquarters of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, a demonstration farm surrounded by hundreds of acres of forests. It is a really lovely spot, even if the facilities are not the most … Continue reading →

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Alabamarama

Posted on January 26, 2009 by coopgeek

After a relatively poor night of sleep on the train I got off in Tuscaloosa. I was picked up by my friend and colleague, John Zippert, who was gracious enough to spend the afternoon driving me to smaller and smaller towns. … Continue reading →

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In Tom’s town

Posted on January 23, 2009 by coopgeek

Hello from Charlottesville, Virginia. I’m taking a few days off from the travel whirlwind to visit with relatives, including my aunt who is a bit of a cooperative spirit. She was a co-founder of the McGuffey Art Center, which converted … Continue reading →

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The Simple Way

Posted on January 22, 2009 by coopgeek

I didn’t have a date for any of the Inaugural balls, so I just hung out in Philadelphia, which is home to the first co-op in U.S. history: In 1752, Benjamin Franklin and other citizens started the Philadelphia Contributionship to … Continue reading →

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Casino economy

Posted on January 21, 2009 by coopgeek

Greetings from the train. I am spending the Great Historical Moment traveling toward Philadelphia. No TV, no internet, only the guy in front of me to provide the news. (He’s having a lively Boston-accented talk on his mobile with “Bobby” … Continue reading →

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Dr. King and cooperatives

Posted on January 19, 2009 by coopgeek

This is a particularly poignant Martin Luther King Jr. Day, coming one day before an African American breaks through the highest single racial limitation in the U.S. King’s dream will make a leap towards reality tomorrow, and this is a … Continue reading →

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Biblical game theory

Posted on January 19, 2009 by coopgeek

I have been having lots of interesting conversations on this trip. Probably once or twice a day I find myself in some new area of discussion and it can be a bit overwhelming. But I have to share one particular … Continue reading →

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Equal Exchange and unequal exchanges

Posted on January 16, 2009 by coopgeek

Yesterday, I presented to some of the staff at Equal Exchange, a worker co-op that distributes Fair Trade products, most famously coffee. They have since expanded into chocolate, teas, and are even expanding the Fair Trade concept to domestically produced … Continue reading →

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