There are different income brackets in here, so going out to purchase items isn’t the most feasible.

  • TheConquestOfBed
    6·
    3 years ago

    If you’re trying to make a gift economy you no longer have a gift economy. Keeping tabs on exchanges is how you end up with debt and credit etc. Gift economies are a completely natural phenomenon and will appear without effort if you change the mindsets of the participants.

    In order for it to work you simply need to remove expectations of repayment and root out individualistic hoarding. A high level of trust is integral. Formal contracts and currency are, by contrast, trustless systems. If you have a decent level of trust with some prosocial people a gift economy will appear out of the aether.

    Maybe you have some books you want your friend to have so that you can talk about them together. Maybe share a meal to spend time with them. Maybe you’re out of gas sometime and need their help getting a couple gallons. That’s how things used to work before chain stores took over everything.

      • TheConquestOfBed
        3·
        3 years ago

        I mean, that’s kind of the point? You’re trying to take an anthropological concept about unselfish resource sharing in small tribal villages where everyone grew up together, and apply it to disparate people habituated to a capitalist economy where many of the norms that uphold a gift economy are very dead. In order to make it work you have to recreate the conditions that give rise to gift economies.

        Now, if you want to use barter you can increase the reach of the system to people you don’t know directly. And it would be much less dependent on mutual trust.

          • TheConquestOfBed
            1·
            3 years ago

            Barter only requires trust at the point of contact that the trade will be fair, so it’s technically available to anyone, but has geographic limitations since physical items are used.

  • greensand
    4·
    3 years ago

    You don’t have to buy new stuff, you can lend out books, clothes, tools… whatever you don’t need anymore, but too good to throw away

  • Drpoopoo@lemmygrad.ml
    2·
    3 years ago

    Perhaps the percentage of monthly income method could be used to determine a relative monetary impact?

  • Bigbongus
    1·
    3 years ago

    Look into “really really free markets”, theyre probably similar to what you’re looking for. Generally, just provide a space/time/event for people to bring the things they don’t need, and enable them to keep in contact if they want to share just as a standard thing.

  • southerntofu
    1·
    3 years ago

    Do you have a collective space to organize? If so, a freeshop in a corner is a good way to get started. Spare clothes, a fridge full of skipped food, maybe leftover bread from the local bakery?