Cryptocurrency is an entirely new world for most people. This is because few have ever embarked upon the realm of cooperatives. Actually, before blockchain, these were not really a formidable structure.

However, in the digital realm, we are seeing a new pathway for these important vehicles. Since few have knowledge about them, it is understandable that people completely miss the point.

That is the reason for this article.

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Cooperative

What is a cooperative?

According to Wikipedia:

"an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned enterprise"

It goes on to say:

Cooperatives are democratically owned by their members, with each member having one vote in electing the board of directors.

Perhaps the most common form that people know is a housing cooperative. Here is where people in a particular geographic neighborhood create this structure to pursue the best paths for the entire area.

Each person has a vested interest in the cooperative since his or her financial interests are aligned. In other words, the value of each home, in part, is dependent upon the efforts of the entire community.

For example, if you live next to one who take a Sanford and Son approach to things, the ability to sell your home for top price will be hindered.

Cooperatives ensure that all who participate operate according to premises that are meant to enhance the entire community.

Individual Responsibility

Another aspect to cooperatives is the individual responsibility each has to the forward progress. This means each person has to take action and participate in the activity related to the overall community.

This is easy to understand since each person will have the ownership mindset.

Of course, there are penalties for those who fail to comply. In a housing cooperative this is fairly straight forward.

Going back to the Sanford and Son example, if one opts not to keep his or her yard clean will face a series of repercussions.

Standard are policies regarding how the yard should be maintained. There are also provisions of what is acceptable in terms of being in the driveway or parked on the property. RVs and boats, as an example, are often prohibited.

Falling outside these rules will most commonly incur a fine along with instructions to remedy the situation. If those are ignored, the cooperative might have the yard tended to, with the expense turned over to the homeowner. This can often include the towing of prohibited vehicles.

Ultimately, these charges can arise as a lien against the property. Failure to comply with the agreed upon policies means the cooperative will push it.

Over time, the benefit over each homeowner is protected against those who wish to not comply.

Digital Cooperatives

Blockchains are essentially cooperatives even though few look upon them as such.

Essentially, there are policies in place (code) which ensures adherence to the benefit of the chain. Those who stray outside that will find their transactions not going through since they are pushing against their code.

There is another level to this, one that many call Layer 0.

The idea that blockchain ecosystems are really communities is being floated. This makes a lot of sense which then can be coupled with the cooperative concept.

Each person who has stake in a particular ecosystem has a vested interest. Cryptocurrency made the monetization of these entities very simple. Since they are permissionless, anyone can participate and receive the benefits.

However, there is another side to this. With the benefits comes a responsibility. Those who understand this are going to excel. Ultimately, it comes down to each person carrying his or her own weight?

This is true whether we are focusing at the blockchain level or that of an application (project). Whatever the degree, if there is tokenization along with stake, each person has an individual responsibility to help the process forward.

Sadly, we all know how Pareto's Principle works. It always seems that 80% of the results come from 20% of the people.

Within cryptocurrency, it is safe to conclude this is how it works. Hence, are you carrying you weight in the cooperatives you are involved with? How many people are doing what is necessary to push the entire platform/ecosystem forward?

This is where each person has to look in the mirror to get honest with him or herself.

Again, most want the rewards without putting in any effort. We are all interdependent upon each other for the results we get.

Article by @taskmaster4450le

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