Cooperative, Communism, Capitalism.

'Cooperate', like 'collaborate', most literally means 'work together', and like it, is commonly mis-connoted. For, the 'co-' connotes equality of partnership, whereas one who 'cooperates' with the police, or one who 'collaborates' with the enemy, is not an equal partner with either body. Likewise, 'being cooperative' typically connotes an asymmetrical relation. In contrast, in a local food 'cooperative', members are equally owners, workers, and beneficiaries of its activities, thereby better exemplifying what is arguably a Socialist ideal than a 'collaborative', which is usually restricted to a small number in an artistic context, or a 'commune' the emphasis of which is on a togetherness of living that may or may not involve productivity. So, a Capitalist critique of Socialism should address such cooperative arrangements, and the Communist advocacy of Socialism needs to clarify its relation to what might be called Cooperativism.