A century ago, cooperatives enabled farmers to bargain collectively with bankers and railroads. They fought for cooperative banks and formed insurance pools, allowing cooperatives to flourish.
Public policy needs to facilitate large-scale financing for mutualist enterprises, such as cooperatives and insurance companies, helping ordinary people solve problems without relying on elites.
Some of the greatest achievements in U.S. history happened when policy empowered collective action, like the rural electrification crisis, resolved through neighbor-supported electric cooperatives.
Today, collective efforts face barriers; local communities are often prohibited from creating their own internet utilities, especially where private providers do not meet their needs.
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