This might be slightly veering into sectarian territory, but what would really be the difference between market socialism and cooperative capitalism? Both advocate for a decentralized form of direct worker ownership of production with a market mode of exchange.
In short, because it doesn't solve the problem of producing things for profit rather than for the social good. It just sort of tries to ameliorate some of the symptoms of it.
Here's a good video that goes into the problems with worker cooperatives as a potential solution to capitalism.
Market socialism in a revolutionary society is a transitional step where the market is still used to allocate goods, but there is worker-ownership of production. When it has been practiced, the incentive to keep people employed and businesses open has been in contradiction with their market performance which led to a lot of inefficiency. I.e. poorly performing firms received subsidies and other forms of support which drained resources that could go to other things and encouraged poor performance (you could get paid to do less through those subsidies)
Cooperative capitalism is a worse farce. Worker cooperatives prove the important but limited point that, while capitalists need workers, workers don't need capitalists. Eventually, even a model worker cooperative within capitalism will either be a boutique outlet for PMC moral guilt and thus has a low ceiling for growth, or the workers will have to become their own exploiters in order to compete with capitalist-owned firms in the market. The later is still slightly preferable because the workers can absorb the share that goes to capital, but the tendency of the rate of profit is to fall! Finally, if worker cooperatives ever posed a big enough threat to capital they would quickly be made illegal.
There is no 'outgrowing' capitalism! One solution: Revolution!
This might be slightly veering into sectarian territory, but what would really be the difference between market socialism and cooperative capitalism? Both advocate for a decentralized form of direct worker ownership of production with a market mode of exchange.
In short, because it doesn't solve the problem of producing things for profit rather than for the social good. It just sort of tries to ameliorate some of the symptoms of it.
Here's a good video that goes into the problems with worker cooperatives as a potential solution to capitalism.
True it's not a solution to capitalism but I'd still join a worker coop without hesitation over the bullshit I'm stuck in now.
Market socialism in a revolutionary society is a transitional step where the market is still used to allocate goods, but there is worker-ownership of production. When it has been practiced, the incentive to keep people employed and businesses open has been in contradiction with their market performance which led to a lot of inefficiency. I.e. poorly performing firms received subsidies and other forms of support which drained resources that could go to other things and encouraged poor performance (you could get paid to do less through those subsidies)
Cooperative capitalism is a worse farce. Worker cooperatives prove the important but limited point that, while capitalists need workers, workers don't need capitalists. Eventually, even a model worker cooperative within capitalism will either be a boutique outlet for PMC moral guilt and thus has a low ceiling for growth, or the workers will have to become their own exploiters in order to compete with capitalist-owned firms in the market. The later is still slightly preferable because the workers can absorb the share that goes to capital, but the tendency of the rate of profit is to fall! Finally, if worker cooperatives ever posed a big enough threat to capital they would quickly be made illegal.
There is no 'outgrowing' capitalism! One solution: Revolution!