The potlach was a tribal event where wealth was destroyed, but my reading of Mauss, etc is that it bought peace within the community by reducing the gap between

The potlach was a tribal event where wealth was destroyed, but my reading of Mauss, etc is that it bought peace within the community by reducing the gap between what people had and didn't have. The power of envy in small communities seems to hold a great negative force, and the loss of material goods in order to reduce envy is worth it for the community in the long term (and in small communities, it's survival for all or for none).