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Do they have gift bailiffs who come and take your couch if you can't give an expected gift at some point? What's the interest rate on gifts? I'm not sure how t

Do they have gift bailiffs who come and take your couch if you can't give an expected gift at some point? What's the interest rate on gifts? I'm not sure how to make the above sound less snarky - I'm genuinely interested in how this stuff compares to more formalized systems of debt in modern societies.

fsloth 5y ago
The main difference is I suppose is the gift giving perceived as an obligation or an expression of caring and love. If you are culturally conditioned on one of these interpretations I presume the other feels plain wrong. If it's an obligation, then I suppose the retributive action (if any) from not meeting this obligation probably depends on the society and the event. Different societies have different responses to individual who don't play by the rules. In general even non-literate human societies are pretty good in carrying a common ledger of who-owes-what-to-whom. I suggest the book "Debt the first 5000 years" by David Graeber on the details. But overall, when traveling, check the local customs around gifts from a cultural guide :)
lelanthran 5y ago
> Do they have gift bailiffs who come and take your couch if you can't give an expected gift at some point? Small groups of people (tribes, essentially) can and do use peer pressure (ostracisation) to enforce the agreed upon social contracts. IOW, if you get a reputation as a non-giver amongst your group of friends and family who are all givers, they'll soon stop associating with you.
marcosdumay 5y ago
> Do they have gift bailiffs who come and take your couch if you can't give an expected gift at some point? You become a bad neighbor and everybody stops helping you. Things may get as bad as nobody trusting you at all, and you becoming the escape goat for some problem. People organize this way up to today, even in mature economies. There's mystery to solve.

fsloth 5y ago

The main difference is I suppose is the gift giving perceived as an obligation or an expression of caring and love. If you are culturally conditioned on one of these interpretations I presume the other feels plain wrong. If it's an obligation, then I suppose the retributive action (if any) from not meeting this obligation probably depends on the society and the event. Different societies have different responses to individual who don't play by the rules. In general even non-literate human societies are pretty good in carrying a common ledger of who-owes-what-to-whom. I suggest the book "Debt the first 5000 years" by David Graeber on the details. But overall, when traveling, check the local customs around gifts from a cultural guide :)

lelanthran 5y ago

> Do they have gift bailiffs who come and take your couch if you can't give an expected gift at some point? Small groups of people (tribes, essentially) can and do use peer pressure (ostracisation) to enforce the agreed upon social contracts. IOW, if you get a reputation as a non-giver amongst your group of friends and family who are all givers, they'll soon stop associating with you.

marcosdumay 5y ago

> Do they have gift bailiffs who come and take your couch if you can't give an expected gift at some point? You become a bad neighbor and everybody stops helping you. Things may get as bad as nobody trusting you at all, and you becoming the escape goat for some problem. People organize this way up to today, even in mature economies. There's mystery to solve.