One thing that has made me feel that this project is possible is the consensus-based bylaws which were written for the No Mugs No Masters worker cooperative, which they have, in the true spirit of liberation, freely shared. The bylaws need a few tweaks for our use-case, but in summary:

All workers have equal say in the direction of the company.⌗

There are no special classes of workers who have more or less power than the others, and no one has the ability to coerce another worker. Measures are taken to explicitly prevent situations where one worker could achieve a position whereby they could coerce another worker.

For example, NMNM had to file for incorporation in New York, because they’ll be doing business physically there. We have no such limitation, so this may not be something we have to consider, but it’s worth making this point: in New York, all corporations are required to appoint a President, Vice President, and secretary. In order to prevent this from becoming a lauded post where a symbolic position of power is able to exert real power, we gave these officers goofy titles and meaningless or undesirable responsibilities.

Consensus is the driving force behind decisions⌗

All decisions which affect the organization as a whole must be come to through consensus of a quorum of members. This means that we are bound to weigh the opinions of all members who wish to express them, and try to take all perspectives into consideration.

Escape hatches⌗

Should we fail to come to consensus, a decision can be made democratically, by means of a three-fourths majority vote. This high bar of a very high supermajority means that someone’s views are only overridden by the organization when a consensus is truly impossible to reach, while also ensuring that a single bad-faith actor can’t legally force the organization into inaction.

This form of liberatory organizing is crucial in preventing the organization from degrading into yet another capitalist, for profit enterprise, exploiting its workers. We see cooperatives which become coopted, and have created a radical system for forestalling that cooptation. No Mugs No Masters believe themselves to be the first worker-cooperative in New York to take on this daunting task to protect ourselves and our comrades from giving in to the systemic pressures which drive exploitation, enslavement, and existential destruction.

Of course, this is just a summary of the crucial elements of the bylaws, which we will need to come to consensus on the language of and ratify during the process of incorporation.