The Supremacy of the Gift
How and Why the Gift Economy Works
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” — Leo Tolstoy
Do you want to live in a kinder, more egalitarian world with less poverty and exploitation?
The Gift is the solution.
Put simply, the Gift Economy is a means of exchange in which the original giver receives his needs, not always from the individual he originally gifts, but from others in the collective group to which he belongs.
The Gift is NOT Barter
Many people confuse the idea of the gift economy with another similar method of exchange, the barter system.
The barter system is a simple means of exchange of two items at a mutually agreed upon rate, without using money. This has been a very popular method for thousands of years of human history, and it continues to be popular, especially among those who wish to avoid taxes.
The Gift is TRUE Social Currency
But there are some major differences between the Gift economy and the barter system.
For one, the exchange does not have to be immediate.
If Johnny Appleseed has an apple orchard and needs corn for his family from Farmer Frank, he can obtain the corn in July even though his apples will not be ripe until September. Then, when his apples are ripe in September, because of their established friendship and trust, Frank can ask for apples and Johnny can gift the apples for which Frank asks.
There is no written record kept.
Frank’s gift was purely a gift, and the record is etched into the memories of the two friends as social capital. Thus, the bond of the two men is continually strengthened.
Exchanges in the Gift Economy are relational, not merely transactional, as they are in a monetary economy.
And this can work in reverse just as easily. Maybe Suzy Schoolteacher doesn’t need her house built by Chris Carpenter until next year, but Chris’s children need to learn math right now. So she teaches his kids math now (for free, of course), and that act of giving is remembered by Chris next year when he gifts back to her.
Once again, and this needs to be stressed often:
Instead of using money in a one time transactional arrangement (where the two parties compete for their own profit), in the Gift, the community bond between giver and receiver is strengthened through an exchange of social currency.
This builds neighborly trust and love among the collective. This type of economy, which fosters community and cooperation, is a far superior alternative to the current financial system we all use, which stirs up greed and separation.
The Gift in a Multi-Party Exchange
But how does the Gift work among more than two parties. How does it work with large numbers of people?
Let’s say that Farmer Frank is allergic to apples, so Johnny Appleseed has nothing with which to reciprocate.
Both the barter system and the current money system would have no way to build the community ties between Frank and Johnny, other than a competition to see who can come out ahead on the exchange, and the separation in relationship that occurs due to that competition.
Johnny asks Frank for some vegetables from his garden, and Frank gives the veggies to Johnny as a free gift.
Instead of giving Frank apples that he cannot eat, he knows Suzy Schoolteacher loves apples, so he offers Suzy free apples which she gratefully accepts.
Suzy Schoolteacher continues to teach and care for Chris Carpenter’s children during the day…
So that Chris can finish building that floating dock on the pond where Fred Fisher catches his fish…
To gift to Wanda Widow who is at this moment baking a wedding cake for Becky McBride.
This is the way the gift flows through a community.
However, an economy based upon gift is not usually even that linear nor is it normally circular. It is actually a network of vectors. These vectors move as social capital within the collective community.
Vectors of people giving and receiving, vectors of people growing in community with one another, vectors of service and friendship, vectors of love.
Think for a moment about our current use of the term “social network”. Which is more real? Which actually builds community instead of more competition?
The gift economy is the TRUE social network out here in reality, not existing virtually on a computer screen.
Have We Forgotten About Someone?
Yes. There is someone who is still left out of the line or circle or network, isn’t there? What about Frank, the first person who began the Gift process?
Sure, eventually Paul Plumber will stop by to repair his leaky faucet… but until that time, Frank has to do something virtually unheard of in our current economy, but absolutely vital in a society comprised of healthy and peaceful communities:
He has to exhibit faith…
… In his community
… In his understanding of the universe, in which he lives and moves and has his being.
He has to act first.
In order to change the world…
Someone always has to act first.
Someone always has to display faith first.
Someone always has to change himself first.
And that person is me.
In the next article, we will look at why we can trust that the person who steps out first will eventually and always be rewarded, why he will receive the gift he needs back to him.
“The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.”
— James Allen
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