Hi! These are all really great questions, sorry i didn’t get to them earlier. Here are some rough answers, but maybe i’ll make longer explanations later on. To tell between a co-op and a pyramid scheme I would look for transparency-do all members have equal access of financial information? Are there closed-door meetings happening? Does the org have explicit norms and bylaws around equitable power-sharing and are they actually followed? I would talk to current members and ask how empowered and how much sense of ownership they feel in the corporation, if they are familiar with the co-op principles and how they see them upheld. I think the main reason workers don’t choose cooperatives more often is no knowledge about them. Once I start talking to working folks about them, I am often met with mistrust on whether they could actually run a corporation or if they would trust their co-workers to run them efficiently with them. Once I give them examples like Isthmus Engineering, or Mondragón, people start seeing it as a real possibility. I think we as a society highly conditioned for competition and zero-sum games, but not given tools for effective collaboration, and win-win problem-solving, so those are skills that need to be developed. Co-ops use a variety of strategies for working through the bureaucracies. I wanna point out too that most corporations have voting shareholders, but those votes are distributed based on how much stock is owned (50 stocks = 50 votes, 500 stocks = 500 votes), while each member of the co-op only has one vote (which arguably would make things simpler). Some co-ops, like indigenous ones in Mexico, have developed sophisticated federations where they elect spokespeople to represent certain working groups and represent that group on a general assembly. Some use sociocracy-like methods, some elect a board every few years that hires staff. These are only a few examples, co-op governance is endlessly creative and fascinating topic. Co-ops, just as other corporations operating under a capitalist system, do have the risk of being outcompeted. Many folks have argued that they are more resilient that other forms of small business since they are tailored to meet a specific social need. Also, when a community surrounding a co-op is truly invested in it, has a sense of ownership, and understand its importance, stakeholders will support it and stand by it. Worker-owners also provide much more strategic flexibility in times of crisis rather than relying on layoffs or quickly jumping to closure when times get rough, for example Union Cab, for example, fared much better through the 2008 economic crisis by single members taking their vacation days and allowing members with families to work extra hours. Here’s an article you might find interesting on co-op resiliency: www.smu.ca/webfiles/CoopsCovid19PartIFindings(July212020).pdf