Gift Economy

How does a Gift Economy work and what is not part of a Gift Economy? 

Once you talk about credits or ledgers, you are no longer talking about a gift economy, it is just another way around talking about money.

This is how a true gift economy works:

Individual A is a barber, he cuts Individual B's hair. Individual B walks out the door, thanking Individual A.
Individual B is a truck driver, he picks up food from Individual C and delivers it to Individual D at the grocery store.  Individual D stocks the shelves, opens the doors and in walks Individual A who picks up what he needs and leaves.

See something familiar in all of this?  It operates the same as our current money based economic system, the difference is there is no money, no credits, no ledgers, no barter; this is the true essence of a gift economy. A gift economy is not Christmas, which is in fact based on trade (I give you a gift, you give me a gift). A gift economy is about giving without an expectation of something in return which is different than a trade based model in which something is expected. You will never give more than you receive in a gift economy. 

So you might ask, what if Individual E does not contribute but only consumes?  Good question.

This is where Individual F comes in who is a psychiatrist, individuals that do not contribute to the society and are in fact anti-social likely have some issues that may need looked after. The lack of interest we see in the world today to contributing are due to the system of slavery we are in today. People want to be free, not be slaves, and by removing the system of slavery from the equation, people will want to gift in ways they are happy with. It may take a generation for the effects of the monetary system to dissipate and that is why there will be the need for mental and emotional therapy.

Now on to the benefits, which are major.

- There is no debt, since there is no tracking. No more worrying about "paying the bills".
- All jobs that had to deal with money or ledgers, or serving others (unless the individual decides to do that work), are all eliminated, thus reducing the number of jobs by half. The work week when everyone contributes is reduced and there is more time for leisure, family, friends, to learn new skills and hobbies.
- Automation of jobs will no longer be feared, but embraced, especially when it comes to jobs that no one wants to do.
- Goods will be created with the best materials to last as long as possible, thus reducing the amount of work involved in the long run.  They will also be engineered to be as close to 100% recyclable, upgradeable or otherwise reusable as possible to conserve our natural resources.

Sharing Economy 

I wanted to mention another type of economy which is based on sharing. A Sharing Economy is also a Gift Economy, allow me to give an example. 

A new VacTrain is produced and gifted to the society as a whole, it is not gifted to an individual like food or clothing are as it will be used by many people. Everyone that rides on that VacTrain is in fact sharing that gift and it can be shared many times over. 

No system is without problems and that also goes for the Gift Economy, there will always be jobs that no one wants to do, and until those jobs are fully automated, we will all have to share in the burden.

For how people would organize and make decisions in a Gift Economy, see my post on Direct Democracy here (https://directdemocracyandgifteconomy.blogspot.com/2020/04/how-direct-democracy-works.html).

This document is a living document and will be updated as new information becomes available so check back regularly for updates.