In this quest to find ways of better living with the communities we find ourselves in I believe we are in many ways still looking for the right question and at times we catch glimpses of the answer to that question. In a way it's like the number 42 in the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. We need to peruse the right question, but in a strange turn of method I've decided to dedicate the next 25 posts to entries that delve a bit deeper into some of the things I believe are part of the answer. None of these are THE answer nor to the 25 make up the whole of the answer, but there are principles we can learn from each of these that we can take with us on our journey. I start with on that I hold central to my most familial relationships;
An economy is normally seen as the entirety of the system of exchange within a group. We frequently hear about two predominant 'models' for economy (i.e. capitalism and socialism) but these are two of many and among that vast variety of others lies one that we all have participated in at sometime, though may not have thought to stop and thing about. That is the economy within a Family. In a very small system, for example one with simply parents and children there is a method of exchange that isn't explicitly one-on-one. Instead we find a sort of 'gift economy' where things are given and taken from the family as a whole. Whether it be the money or resources collected it is the entirety of the family who uses or benefits from their application. For a large number of families it is the parents early on who's input is significantly higher than that of their children but as the years pass that relationship often changes and it is the children who in turn care for the parents. The point of this example is that it is the community that is most important, by being apart of the community one benefits and receives from the community, and not just in a physical sense. In some ways we are taught to expect it differently but the experience of Family teaches us otherwise.These gift economies go a step further than socialism and capitalism in that it forces one to see that everyone's needs vary depending on who they are within the community yet it does not place anyone outside the circle, nor above it, making them primarily into individuals in and of themselves.
Recently my wife and I visited a part of the U.S. neither of us had really spent any time. While we were there we stayed with some extended family of mine I had never met (at least since I was 4). Despite this lack of relationship the family band made it so that they look after us, showed us around, fed us and generally acted as if we had always been normal to do that.It's quite interesting to ponder these experiences of 'gift economy' that we all have had and try to find ways of translating these principals into a wider group. What happens when we expand the term 'family' to all of those friends and relations of are whom we regularly relate to. In theory it should change the way we relate to one another and makes exchange, of any sort, much more purposeful. There are still working examples of this around the world, from the Ubuntu principal in sub-saharan areas to 'blood banks' and organ donation here in the west. Even rural Amish communities in the U.S. have a community insurance pot which holds these principals. There are gems to be found in this and it begs for further thought from all of us. I leave you with an example I observe on a daily basis and another that many of us have never seen.
(1) The Gift Economy of a Family
An economy is normally seen as the entirety of the system of exchange within a group. We frequently hear about two predominant 'models' for economy (i.e. capitalism and socialism) but these are two of many and among that vast variety of others lies one that we all have participated in at sometime, though may not have thought to stop and thing about. That is the economy within a Family. In a very small system, for example one with simply parents and children there is a method of exchange that isn't explicitly one-on-one. Instead we find a sort of 'gift economy' where things are given and taken from the family as a whole. Whether it be the money or resources collected it is the entirety of the family who uses or benefits from their application. For a large number of families it is the parents early on who's input is significantly higher than that of their children but as the years pass that relationship often changes and it is the children who in turn care for the parents. The point of this example is that it is the community that is most important, by being apart of the community one benefits and receives from the community, and not just in a physical sense. In some ways we are taught to expect it differently but the experience of Family teaches us otherwise.These gift economies go a step further than socialism and capitalism in that it forces one to see that everyone's needs vary depending on who they are within the community yet it does not place anyone outside the circle, nor above it, making them primarily into individuals in and of themselves.
Recently my wife and I visited a part of the U.S. neither of us had really spent any time. While we were there we stayed with some extended family of mine I had never met (at least since I was 4). Despite this lack of relationship the family band made it so that they look after us, showed us around, fed us and generally acted as if we had always been normal to do that.It's quite interesting to ponder these experiences of 'gift economy' that we all have had and try to find ways of translating these principals into a wider group. What happens when we expand the term 'family' to all of those friends and relations of are whom we regularly relate to. In theory it should change the way we relate to one another and makes exchange, of any sort, much more purposeful. There are still working examples of this around the world, from the Ubuntu principal in sub-saharan areas to 'blood banks' and organ donation here in the west. Even rural Amish communities in the U.S. have a community insurance pot which holds these principals. There are gems to be found in this and it begs for further thought from all of us. I leave you with an example I observe on a daily basis and another that many of us have never seen.
1. 'Can I have a fag (ciggarette)?' - Smokers frequently give away fags when they have full packs and turn to asking others for them when they are out.
2. A Barn Raising - What happens when an Amish or Mennonite barn burns down;
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