A Better Way

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Originally Posted by rosarugosa

Gifts are voluntary by definition. There is nothing currently stopping Jeff Bezos from sharing his wealth equally across his work force, yet he does not. I think the idea of the entire world running on a gift economy is a pleasant fantasy, much like peace on earth. Maybe it would work if there were no humans, and dogs were running the show.

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Haha! But dogs are the territorial, resource-guarding creatures! I see Regular fights in my living room proving that.

IMHO, the gift economy relies on the understanding of 'the common'. There are shared resources of land, services like water, power supply, the internet, etc and their operations and expenses are shared. I share the responsibility for the highways with all but am able to 'gift' a ride to another in need. I agree that there is no one size fits all. It seems that the perception is that there is and it is greed. Anything else is perceived as weakness. That approach is not sustainable for our earth.

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Originally Posted by rosarugosa

Gifts are voluntary by definition. There is nothing currently stopping Jeff Bezos from sharing his wealth equally across his work force, yet he does not. I think the idea of the entire world running on a gift economy is a pleasant fantasy, much like peace on earth. Maybe it would work if there were no humans, and dogs were running the show.

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If people weren’t people and angels instead, I doubt it would matter much what the economic system was. But I really wouldn’t want my dog in charge of resource allocation.

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Originally Posted by LDAHL

If people weren’t people and angels instead, I doubt it would matter much what the economic system was. But I really wouldn’t want my dog in charge of resource allocation.

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I guess you'd want a wolf.

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Originally Posted by razz

IMHO, the gift economy relies on the understanding of 'the common'. There are shared resources of land, services like water, power supply, the internet, etc and their operations and expenses are shared. I share the responsibility for the highways with all but am able to 'gift' a ride to another in need. I agree that there is no one size fits all. It seems that the perception is that there is and it is greed. Anything else is perceived as weakness. That approach is not sustainable for our earth.

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Here's an example of "A Better Way" and it relates to The Commons. My favorite town in NJ is Ocean Grove (I have become a snowbird to that town for 3 months a year). It was built in the mid-1800s by the Methodists, who purchased one square mile as a summer camp for their congregants. It was an intentional community back then, with the blocks laid out like a grid. A boardwalk lines the shoreline. The houses closest to the road on the shore are set back a bit on the postage-stamp sized lawns. The next-door neighbor's house is a foot more forward on the lawn, and the next guy's house is another foot or so, etc., so that when you have a balcony, no one is completely cutting off the view of the water from their neighbors. it is designed with the community in mind.

Then there's Atlantic City, NJ, where Trump and his ilk sued people who lived there for generations for eminent domain. Far better that rich people can look out the windows of their million dollar condos and penthouse suites than "poorer" people who are equally deserving of a good view and who actually have legitimate claims to the property to do so. Let's just kick them out, knock down their homes, and give the barrons of wealth whatever they want. Capitalism at its best.

But where would I rather live, regardless of my wealth?

True wealth is being surrounded by a community that considers you an equal member, regardless of your bank account.

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Originally Posted by catherine

I guess you'd want a wolf.

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I think it's really interesting to look at animal societies with respect to how they perceive fairness. Here is a link to a cool article in Smithsonian about wolves, dogs, and fairness:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart...ess-180963638/

How cool about the balconies moving forward a foot!

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Originally Posted by Tybee

I think it's really interesting to look at animal societies with respect to how they perceive fairness. Here is a link to a cool article in Smithsonian about wolves, dogs, and fairness:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart...ess-180963638/

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Cool article! I actually have nothing against wolves at all... When I replied to LDAHL I was thinking metaphorically of the Wolf of Wall Street. In fact, have you seen this iconic video about how wolves change rivers?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q

Wow, no I have not, and thank you!

Both links were really interesting. Thank you!