Modern culture is steeped with money, it envelopes us and mothers us.

When we’re in school, we’re told we need good grades in order to get a good job; when we have a job we’re told we should earn more and outcompete for a better wage; when we’re trying to rest over holidays, we’re told we need to spend, spend, spend our way to happiness and fulfilment.

Our culture is a capitalist one, and it is choking us and the planet. Only a fraction of the population is happy with this system, so why do we put up with it? Why is money the main yardstick at measuring a person? Cultures change, so how can we change this?

A few months ago the Cooperation Hull crew got together and had a discussion about the culture of money; what it is in our current society and what we want it to be in our organisation.

First and foremost, we want a culture of solidarity and community and we’re working towards this in a bunch of different ways, as we slowly help build a Solidarity Economy in Hull and beyond. We help with Waffle, the pay-what-you-can community restaurant using supermarket surplus and locally sourced ingredients. Last year we helped to raise £1000 and hosted a ‘soup night' - a night where the community came together and enjoyed a lovely meal and music, and decided where this money should go. Together, we decided some of the money should go towards helping a free pop-up gym, to purchasing sanitary products for local community centres, and to send some money to help Gaza refugees. This was a fantastic night for the community and to show how a solidarity economy can work, and we want to do more Soup nights. Another project we are working on is savings clubs - where people come together and collectively save their money and decide what they want to do with it.

The second major point was that we want a culture of openness. We want to let go of the English stereotype of shame around conversations about money. We want to be open about our own finances and Cooperation Hull’s. We want to know how Cooperation Hull spends its money through regular finance updates every three to six months at a crew assembly, or via other means. We would also like decisions on larger financial matters to be brought to the crew, or even assemblies, for the wider consensus. However, to stave off group chat fatigue, we should also trust members of our community to decide for themselves whether or not their purchases need collective agreement or not.

Transitioning from the culture we have now, the one we were raised in and taught to respect, will not be easy. People will make mistakes. There will be slip ups and disagreements. But, we all know this current world isn’t working. People are hungry and alone and the planet is burning. We need to try and build a better culture and a better world, and the only way we can do that is through cooperation and community. Individualism is tearing the world apart, solidarity can bring it back together

13 August 2025

By Ryan, Cooperation Hull member

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