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This "gift economy" sounds someone trying to put a nobel spin on a debt based economy. I bet in many cases if someone got a reputation for not reciprocating "g

by zizee 5y ago

This "gift economy" sounds someone trying to put a nobel spin on a debt based economy. I bet in many cases if someone got a reputation for not reciprocating "gifts" they'd soon find themselves not receiving anything. Hardly a gift. And why are people "hinting" at things in this economy, and why this is presented as something different from a direct request. How often have you come across people "hinting" at what they really want, when really they are demanding. Sounds like something out of a cliche mobster scene, "lovely tanks you have there Colonel, it would be a shame for anything to happen to them". > No one ever assigns a specific value to the meat or cake or house-building labor, meaning debts can’t be transferred. If the bakers wife were to "hint" to the butcher that their friend could do with some extra "iron", whilst simultaneously saying "did you enjoy those scones i gave you" (wink), then the debt is transferred. We can pretend that it wouldn't have happened, but people are people the world over. Some would be nice and help others because they like to help, others would use what leverage they have to get ahead in life. This gift based economy just sounds like a passive aggressive debt based economy, and it doesn't sound real.

mikem170 5y ago
> This "gift economy" sounds someone trying to put a nobel spin on a debt based economy. I saw that same connection myself. Gifts, aka favors, aka "you owe me one", aka debts. > This gift based economy just sounds like a passive aggressive debt based economy, and it doesn't sound real. I brought this up initially (near the top of this thread) in response to someone who couldn't imagine an economy without without money. Such things have existed, as per anthropologists.
zizee 5y ago
Weird, I thought i deleted this comment. I deleted it because I took the time to read the article mentioned above a bit closer. I believe it was arguing that gift-based economies were the origin of debt based economies (aka money) instead of money originating from bartering. Stupidly I had misunderstood what was being written, and then I attacked that imagined position by making the same argument as they were actually making :facepalm:

by zizee 5y ago

mikem170 5y ago

> This "gift economy" sounds someone trying to put a nobel spin on a debt based economy. I saw that same connection myself. Gifts, aka favors, aka "you owe me one", aka debts. > This gift based economy just sounds like a passive aggressive debt based economy, and it doesn't sound real. I brought this up initially (near the top of this thread) in response to someone who couldn't imagine an economy without without money. Such things have existed, as per anthropologists.

zizee 5y ago

Weird, I thought i deleted this comment. I deleted it because I took the time to read the article mentioned above a bit closer. I believe it was arguing that gift-based economies were the origin of debt based economies (aka money) instead of money originating from bartering. Stupidly I had misunderstood what was being written, and then I attacked that imagined position by making the same argument as they were actually making :facepalm: