People’s Shopkeepers Cooperative
We are introducing the Bakery of the People
Justice is the bread of the people
Sometimes is plentiful, sometimes it is scarce
Sometimes it tastes good, sometimes it tastes bad.
When the bread is scarce, there is hunger.
When the bread is bad, there is discontent.
…
If the bread is good and plentiful
The rest of the meal can be excused.
One cannot have plenty of everything all at once.
Nourished by the bread of justice
The work can be achieved
From which plenty comes.
As daily bread is necessary
So is daily justice.
It is even necessary several times a day.
From morning till night, at work, enjoying oneself.
At work which is an enjoyment.
In hard times and in happy times
The people requires the plentiful, wholesome
Daily bread of justice.
Since the bread of justice, then, is so important
Who, friends, shall bake it?
Who bakes the other bread?
Like the other bread
The bread of justice must be baked
By the people.
Plentiful, wholesome, daily.
- Bertolt Brecht
This order of exploitation feeds the small shopkeepers to bigger companies, saying “big fish eat the small ones”. The small shopkeepers stand no chance of surviving alone in this order; and those who try to survive will take their share from capitalism’s wheel of exploitation.
That is why we are going to produce, to market and to produce for the people in order to avoid this fate. It is a must for the small shopkeepers to stand in solidarity with each other in the face of the realities of capitalism. Thousands of shopkeepers were forced to close down their shops, while the shopping malls of big companies surrounded our neighbourhoods. Those who managed to survive are being crushed under the debit interest of the banks and usurers. Our share is to get poorer and poorer while the rich are getting richer. If we continue acting alone and if we do not mobilize the power of our unity, bad days would be knocking our door.
“People’s Shopkeepers Cooperative is going to be the true friend of our shopkeepers” is our slogan. Unity and solidarity will be the solution for our economic, social and cultural all kinds of problems. We are neither going to close down our shops nor lose our bread on the table. We will produce and share altogether. Our cooperative is a sapling that is planted for our future and it is going to be the great plane tree of tomorrow.
Our cooperative is giving its first fruit. We are introducing the natural, hygienic and organic stone oven bread with the slogan of “we share our bread with you”. Our aim is to provide people with the quality hygienic bread thanks to the Bakery of the People. We are not going to allow any child to go to bed hungry in our neighbourhood. We are going to share our bread with the people.
You will see your solidarity with this sharing. “You are not one of us, if you go to bed while your neighbour is hungry.” This would be our reality and we are not going to allow our neighbours to go to bed hungry.
We invite you to resist against capitalism by producing together. Let’s set up new shops and produce for people.
Bread comes first. Because bread is the indispensible item of our tables, it is the food of the poor. It is the name of the solidarity.
Sultangazi / İstanbul
We invite our people to the opening ceremony.
People’s Shopkeepers Cooperative
