A gift economy is an economic system where goods and services are given without the expectation of reimbursement. It can use external incentives such as karmic rewards or social rewards, and is the third major type of economy after market and command economies. Examples include tribal cultures and religious donations. The US economy combines elements of all three types.
A gift economy is an economic system in which both goods and services are offered free of charge, with no direct expectation of reimbursement. A gift economy can make use of external incentives to giving, such as the idea of karmic rewards or an afterlife, or social rewards, such as increased standing in the community through giving. It may also use the idea that a healthier community benefits all members, so that giving to those in need is ultimately self-service and community service.
The gift economy is actually the third major type of economy, along with the market economy and the command economy. In a market economy, things are bought or traded directly, so quid quo pro, so that very little is ever given away. In a command, or planned economy, a central organization, usually the state, takes control of all goods and services and distributes them as they wish. In current practice, very few economies are absolutely one of these typologies and more often combine some aspect of each, with an emphasis on one typology.
In the US economy, for example, we see all three pillars. At its core, the US economy is a market economy, with purchases and sales accounting for the majority of all transactions. At the same time, however, it integrates some elements of a command economy, with things like farm and steel subsidies and social services like Medicare and Social Security. And, elements of the American economy can be seen as embracing the gift economy. Within academia, for example, knowledge is seen largely as something to be shared, making it a kind of gift economy, where gain is social privilege and peer respect, rather than quid gain. quo pro of material benefits.
Some of the best examples of the gift economy are found in the tribal and pre-tribal systems. Most hunter-gatherer cultures, for example, are a gift economy, with food shared freely among group members. This works to ensure the overall health of the group by keeping all members strong and protects individual members from their times of famine. If a group goes hunting, for example, and only one hunter finds game, he might hoard that game, making himself healthier, but dooming the rest of the tribe to malnutrition. From a selfish perspective, this might seem like the best course of action, but if the same hunter goes a long time the following month without finding any game, then he could suffer greatly. A universal sharing system, a gift economy, protects each group member from unwarranted suffering, especially in the relatively abundant environments that characterize most early human habitats.
Many examples of the gift economy can also be found with a religious justification. Religious donations, for example, are widespread in most of the world’s religions and are given without any expectation of a direct direct return. Instead, it is thought that the divine will somehow give a reward for the gift, either in the form of a karmic balance, or in the form of acceptance into a sort of heavenly afterlife, creating a gift economy based on non-material gain. .
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