A Gift Economy

Yesterday, I posted a video on Facebook about a new way of looking at money. (If you didn't see it and would like to, here's the link: http://www.upworthy.com/theres-a-new-old-way-to-think-about-money-are-you-ready-for-it?g=3&c=ufb1) 

If you think about it, the way our system has become monetized is a relatively recent development, which got going in full swing, especially in rural areas, around the time the railroad "came to town." The way the system is now, and is headed toward more every day, is starting to not work very well. A return to simpler times could provide a way forward.
 
Before there was a way to readily get goods from long distances, people grew/made/did what they needed and grew/made/did extra so they could exchange the excess with neighbors. Farmer John grew more wheat than his family needed. He took it to Jack's mill. Jack ground the wheat and kept some for his fee. By doing that for everyone in the community, Jack had more flour than he needed, so he traded some of it with Sam for pumpkins or whatever.

That way of doing things was not foreign to our country's way of doing business all the way through WWII. For example, many ration books -- which were meant to be used for certain items in short supply -- were exchanged on the black market. Money didn't mean as much when you couldn't buy what you needed and people did what they needed to do to get by.

When those who made it through the war came home, the money started flowing freely and people were buying up a storm and who could blame them? That generation deserved a break. But it had a downside. There were new televisions to watch, why bother to grow a garden? Go the store and buy what was previously grown/made/done and exchanged with neighbors. (That's when the quality of our food supply went downhill, too. Processed junk food sure was convenient and who knew it was bad for you?) The "Leave It to Beaver" (or perhaps "Father Knows Best") way of doing things has persisted for a few decades, but the tide is turning. Money isn't flowing so freely these days. A new economy is already developing. It's referred to in the aforementioned video as a gift economy.

For example, people don't need to come to a print shop to buy business cards. They print them off themselves using home computers. And why does anyone really need a business card? Contact information is readily shared on a little thing called the Internet, which is free (or mostly/can be). Computer software which cost hundreds of dollars a few years back is available as freeware. People are buying fewer and fewer greeting cards, envelopes, postage stamps and just about anything else printed on paper. Anyone can be a journalist/writer/author and they're willing to do it for free via blogs, websites and online books. Some of them are pretty good, too. And who wants to pay $39.95 for new a hardbound book, when it'll be available on Amazon for $3 with free shipping soon enough? Brick and mortar book stores, publishing houses, printing companies, paper mills, etc. All casualties of an economy which is changing.

And that's just in one industry. People are gardening again and exchanging produce, seed and all kinds of things. More and more are living off the grid. Barter is alive and well. Many people in my daughter's generation have embraced this attitude and way of living and are derided for it by some who really don't understand what's happening. Millions of people have figured out what is important and what is not so much. Those who haven't figured it out are likely to get a dose of it soon enough. Might as well figure out how to make the best of it.

Oh, and let's not throw the 's-word' -- socialism -- around. Because this is capitalism at its finest. Private individuals, rather than governments, own property and businesses. The business models just look different, smaller and more practical, than they have in recent years. Our level of success is up to each of us. No one is forced to share, but it's a natural choice to make because it is ultimately in everyone's best interest.
 
As for the notion of "keeping up with Joneses." the Joneses aren't as admired as they were in times passed and there are fewer and fewer of them. Globally the richest 10 percent own 86 percent of the wealth, while the top 1 percent own 46 percent of all global assets. (The numbers are about the same for the U.S.) Fewer and fewer people want to keep up with the Joneses because some of them (not all, of course) aren't very nice people. 

The sense of community, which Christians need to recognize is a New Testament model, is going strong in many circles. Ever-widening circles.