How A Gift Economy Works in a Monetary World
A world without money. How would it work? Is it possible to enjoy the benefits while we are still stuck in this world?
A world without money does exist in cultures that are tucked away from the influence of “modern” society. Yet it doesn’t really help to look at those examples because we cannot “tuck” ourselves away from the world. It’s like we can’t undo it because a life centered around a monetary system is all that we know. To envision a post money world is difficult because most of us have never experienced anything like it before. Or have we? If we look, we might find examples of the emerging gift economy and how it exists alongside our monetary one.
I experienced one such example just the other day. I have chickens and they lay eggs, too many for my family to consume without some preservation. We also heat with wood in the wintertime. Last week my husband was splitting wood, trying to make a dent in the 8 or so cords we need to carry us through a Wisconsin winter. This is hard work and my husband is not getting any younger.
A couple stopped by because they saw the sign for eggs. They live in Chicago and they love to eat farm fresh eggs whenever they come up to the “wilderness”. As the young woman and I were talking, her husband went over to where my husband was working. After about 20 minutes he wandered back…
