While I have appreciated the “nuts and bolts” focus of previous episodes of this podcast, this edition of “All Things Co-op,” with its focus on broader psycho-philosophical/political issues, was a very stimulating listen, and I hope you will do more shows like this. Thank you!

The fact that there has not (repeat: NOT) been steady progress in human affairs (I dispute your claim that there has been; I’d say it’s erratic), tells us that humans are highly adaptable, i.e., that we respond to the pressures of the system (or society) within which we find ourselves. The point being that if the system (or society) in which one finds oneself is designed to elicit a certain type of response (good or bad), it very likely will. So, a system such as Capitalism that encourages us to think of ourselves as either Employers or Employees is very likely to elicit that type of thinking, and conversely, a system such as Democracy that encourages us to think of ourselves as active participants in decisions that affect us, will do the same. Marx’s analysis, in effect. And that is how I would dispute the evolutionary behaviourists claim: it’s hard to separate the past from the present, but it’s always possible to evolve a different future.