The Modern Gift Economy

Image via Wikipedia

As I have begun this site this year I have been thinking about the Gift Economy in modern society and have been surprised at how common this type of interaction is. In the realm of the internet 'free' is almost a given and gifts are given every second of the day through Open Source Software, free ebooks, sharing of comments and ideas and more. Even large organisations like Google operate some of their programs this way as you can see with this blog being published through google's "Blogger" platform.

 The other heartening thing to see is the amount of people willing to give their time and energy to helping others. Volunteer work is still popular and many people now look for ways to increase their 'self worth' by doing something meaningful in an increasingly meaningless society. This brings up an important point that most human beings want a world where people are cared for and resources are shared but are tied to old economic structures of profit and greed. 

 As I have mentioned in a previous post even world governments (albeit with self interest at heart) operate a very large gift economy throughout the globe under the name "economic aid" which does confirm that the current structure of world economies will never sustain human life on this planet as it creates the need for greed and self interest. This ties into the developed world's notion that economies must always grow and expand which of course is impossible in a world with limited resources. 

 As you continue through this blog or throughout the internet and into your day to day lives just take a look at how much 'giving' is going on. Especially in the lead up to Christmas you will see this as a most beautiful pinnacle of human endeavour: the ability to give of ourselves so that others may survive. I hope you all receive the gifts that you need and if you have everything you need why not consider changing someone's life with a gift you are able to give?

-KJ Halliday 

Author of Gift Economy Australia

Editor of kjwriteleft.com

Ideas Don't Change the World. People Do!

A Gift Giving ceremony. Image via Wikipedia

After starting this experiment I thought about the ideas that have changed the world for good and for evil. That is why I am happy this is not a new idea as 'gift economies' operate in our everyday interactions. Although just putting ideas out there seems to change very little. Marx and Engels put forth ideas and that mushroomed into Communist Russia. These types of upheavals will be unlikely to occur because of this blog! Although little things to make the world of difference. That is why (while having this idea) I had been setting up my new websites and thinking about what I could do with spare time and resources if the business was successful. So here you have it, I am giving away assistance with website design and probably more to demonstrate a gift economy.