My initial response to the question of whether a large-scale (global) gift economy is even REMOTELY possible for us to achieve: People have differing perceptions of the meaning of the term impossible. Most people are overly dependent on convenience and simplicity. That is probably because convenience and simplicity are two of the main factors that capitalist industry tries to build into its products and, then, use as selling points, when marketing those products to consumers. Lets take gasoline as an example. It is such a CONVENIENT fuel! Just imagine how much more complicated and how INconvenient ones life would be, if one decided to refuse to use gasoline. Disclaimer: If youre poor, and you have no other option than to use public transportation (or, if you live in New York City and are not averse to public transportation), the comments, below, probably wont be relevant to you. Electric cars may sound like a perfect solution, to some, but a car that runs out of energy after 70 miles, in the summer, and after only 40 miles, in the winter, can be a bit problematic in the sprawled out, designed-for-gasoline-car-travel layout of our built environment (homes, workplaces, stores, etc.) Besides, the main reason for avoiding gasoline, is usually a desire to reduce ones carbon footprint, or to reduce ones personal contribution to air pollution, in general. Well, driving an electric car doesnt really solve that problem, if you charge its battery with energy from the electric grid, a large fraction of which comes from power plants that burn coal or natural gas. To get around THAT problem, one would have to install solar panels at ones home, to charge the electric car (or, at least, to offset the grid power used, if one needs to charge the car at night, when one is not at work). Then, one still has to carefully plan ones trips, and either live within the limits of the cars maximum range (which may often involve plugging the car into a charging station, and waiting for it to finish charging, before being able to return home), or set up car-swapping relationships with friends who have extended-range, gasoline/electric, plug-in hybrid cars, that you can borrow for occasional, longer trips. It all sounds WAY too complicated and inconvenient! I mean, ...actually expecting other people to share their cars with you!! That sounds like COMMUNISM!!! Oh, wait... That whole story describes what I am already doing! Its NOT impossible! I have many more examples of doing things the hard way, when that way achieves something that really is NOT POSSIBLE any other way. ...and, thats the point of this argument: That which is PERCEIVED to be impossible, by those who are dependent on convenience and simplicity, is just another welcome challenge to those who have made the paradigm shift to the mindset that says, If its not complicated and doesnt involve some sacrifices of convenience, then its probably a false solution (born of a desire to generate profits) that causes greater harm, in the long run. Although this argument is focused on changing ones personal use of technology, the same thing is true of changing social/cultural norms. The conservative/capitalist dogma includes a strong focus on individualism and personal freedom. The mindset is that we should focus on changing our own, individual behavior, or, perhaps, at most, promoting the idea of voluntary changes that others in our local communities (any wider than that, and even suggestions become an infringement on that precious, imagined, personal freedom) might choose to make, ...if they really, really wanted to. Lets face it, being part of a society, where most people are immobilized, because they have become entangled in a large, dense web of FALSE paradigms, is not quite the equivalent of being trapped in a society of people, who have valid ideas that merely stand in opposition to our own valid ideas (of how people should conduct their interactions, economic and otherwise). Attempting to hold down an entire society, with a web of false paradigms, is an inherently unstable situation. Its a house of cards. It requires a continual input of faux news, propaganda, and endless wars, started under false pretenses, just to maintain a high enough level of confusion, fear, and mutual finger-pointing, to keep those fingers from ever pointing upward, to the fat cats, sitting at the top of the big pile of blood-stained cash. Now, I think were ready to seriously consider your question: ... is it within reason to suggest that such a thing (a gift economy) is even possible on a large scale? Lets start by considering the long list of false paradigms that are currently holding down many of those who WANT a different kind of economy, but dont see any practical possibilities: https://facebook/notes/arthur-brenner/we-as-a-species-might-survive-if-we-can-make-these-22-paradigm-shifts/470969929604678
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 17:57:57 +0000
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