Tradition Redux

“A fiddler on the roof. Sounds crazy, no?…You may ask…’How do we keep our balance?’ That I can tell you in one word: tradition!”

Those are the opening lines of the great musical “Fiddler on the Roof” sung by the lead character Tevye. His work, his family, his life are all founded on the cornerstone of tradition. The same might be said of credit unions. Arguably, the “tradition” of credit unions is based on seven cooperative principles recognized by cooperatives worldwide and as adopted in 1995 by the International Cooperative Alliance. Those principles are: (1) voluntary and open membership; (2) democratic member control; (3) members’ economic participation; (4) autonomy and independence; (5), training and information; (6) cooperation among cooperatives; and (7) concern for community.