[vvpan]

I have been extremely excited about cooperatives and doing research but good info is scattered (suggestions welcome!). From what I learned I will echo what you said - laws are stacked against cooperatives. In general the corporation, a structure that is centuries old, gets preferential treatment in all situations. It is like human development has been abolished in that domain in the 1800s and that is the status quo.

[dv_dt]

If you go into history of some nations, e.g. in some regions of Italy, coops go much farther back than the 1800s (the modern form comes about in the 1800s though) and there is an ecosystem of coops to develop and be supported by gov't and each other. In the US though the support legal, financial, and common understanding is much less mature.