Ch. 20 A Parallel Society

 "...The 'independent society' does not compete for power. 

Its aim is not to replace the powers that be with power of another kind,

but rather under this power-or beside it- to create structures that respect other laws

and in which the voice of the ruling power is heard only as an insignificant echo

from a world that is organized in an entirely different way." 

-Ivan Jirous,
Parallel Polis: An Inquiry

Without being too hyperbolic, we have to acknowledge that our current capitalist system is authoritarian by nature. 

Within this system, the majority of citizens (the working class), have little to no say over our collective economic choices. Yet we are impacted every single day by these choices... as are future generations and all living creatures on this planet. 

Employers and the owner class have the unquestioned authority to dictate how and when workers spend their time, what wages they are given, and whether they are allowed to work at all. 

The wage the employer imposes on the worker determines the quality of that worker's life and the quality of the lives of their family. 

This system is kept in place largely through fear and oppression. The fear of hunger and homelessness, and the oppression of disadvantage, low wages and no representation. 

If we can acknowledge the authoritarian and exploitative nature of this system, then we have to ask ourselves how we can break free and create a new, more equitable, cooperative system. As powerful and pervasive as capitalism is, intertwined with literally every facet of our lives, it becomes obvious that confronting the system directly is difficult, if not impossible. (run on sentence?)

But don't forget, there is nothing new about authoritarianism. 

Common people have been fighting against it for centuries. 

What if history can show us a way to build a new system and foster a new culture, in parallel with, and mostly unnoticed by the current power structure? 

Parallel Structures and the Parallel Society

Following the coup of February 1948, when the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia seized power with the support of the Soviet Union, the Czech people were suddenly living under authoritarian rule. 

A Czech poet and dissident named Ivan Jirous proposed a non-violent solution which could disrupt and potentially overthrow this authoritarian rule. His solution was to create a network of parallel structures that could lead to a new parallel society and a cultural shift for the country. 

"The rationale behind the creation of parallel structures and the parallel society was simple: as the Communist government had a monopoly on force and was too powerful to challenge head on, it was best to turn away from it and defy it by ignoring it as much as possible." (Academy of Ideas, How to Create a Free World)

Not "ignore" it by running away to a hut in the forest to live off grid, or by simply burying one's head in the sand to try and pretend it away. 

Rather, ignore the system by turning away from it, in order to build an alternative structure based on an entirely different set of principles and values. 

Parallel structures are any business, organization or medium that exists within the confines of the authoritarian structure, but outside of its values and norms. Examples of parallel structures could be a free press not captured by corporations. Education, art, and literature that express new ideas untainted by the propaganda of the current power structure. Or a new green marketplace for investors who no longer want to contribute to the capitalist stock market. 

For the purposes of this section, we are talking about a parallel cooperative economy. Worker cooperative businesses, backed by a raft of non-profit cooperative services. But as we progress through the book we will introduce more and more opportunities to build similar structures which can be connected together to form a growing network, with no real limits. 

Parallel structures offer us the opportunity to question the common sense of the current system. They offer openings to adopt new values, provide an example of new behavior and an opportunity for people to participate in new ways. 

Parallel structures provide a new home, a place of belonging for those wanting to escape the current system. They work to foster a second culture or parallel society which can sprout up within the current cultural order. This second society operates by different principles, values, and norms. Providing a contrast to the existing structure, by illustrating that there is a better way to do things. 

As parallel structures are built and developed, they connect with other structures and form a growing network. As the network grows, so does it's influence and resources (both intellectual and material). Thus the leverage and power of the network grows, eventually developing into a true parallel society, undercutting the stranglehold of the current authoritarian system. 

It should also be noted that in other countries, parallel structures have been found to be more effective than political action at promoting change over time. 

Another incredibly important benefit of intentionally building a parallel society, is that in the event of some major societal collapse (think plague, extreme climate catastrophe, economic collapse etc.) our alternative network will provide the infrastructure that can allow us to move forward in an organized and purposeful way.

"Once a parallel society is sufficiently established, a society is no longer under the same grave danger as when it relies solely on the structures and institutions that are appendages of the tyrannical State. For if these establishment structures collapse, parallel structures will soften the blow of an economic or social breakdown." (Academy of Ideas, How to Create a Free World)

The evidence of it's efficacy was demonstrated in the late 1980's when the parallel society in Eastern Europe was so independent and strong that the Communist regime lost it's ability to control the masses. The revolution that followed was all but inevitable. 

In the next chapter, we will lay out a step-by-step plan for building a new parallel cooperative economic structure, this same model will apply to subsequent chapters and the other parts of our plan. 

However, it's important to remember that our current neo-liberal capitalist system and culture has been in development since at least 1970 with Milton Friedman's theory of shareholder supremacy. In the subsequent decades, these beliefs have been deliberately nurtured and propagated by the powers that be. None of this happened overnight. And creating a new parallel economic structure is not an overnight task either. But it's worth a try. 

We've given Economic Extractionism and Trickle-down Economics a shot. We tried it for 50 years, and today we can all see the results with our own eyes. 

What might be possible if we gave this new Cooperative Economy a shot for the next 30 years? 

In the following chapter we'll summarize what we have talked about in Part 2: Economy. We'll outline a step by step plan for transforming our economy to one of community wealth building and prosperity for all.