GiftEconomy

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When people have everything they need, money will not buy you much. In order to gain influence, you will have to gain non-monetary values: Respect, Reputation. Reputation is gained by giving things away: Material things, knowledge, inventions. This is called a GiftEconomy. Contrast this with OpenCulture.

See also:

[blog post] by TaraHunt?. We say that we live in a "MarketEconomy?", but do we actually live in a combination of Market and gift economies? Could the MarketEconomy? survive without the GiftEconomy?

We live in a predominantly market economy. Gift economies are much more attractive when they work, but I don't think we're ready for it just yet. Basically, people aren't nearly generous enough, today. When generous communities such as Meatball and Groklaw become rich, and when people start deciding en masse that the life of a child in the third world is more important than a daily trip to Starbucks, then it may be time to reconsider. -- NathanielThurston

: A lot of wealthy people use gifting in a business sense and is part of networking. More thoughtful gifts have more impact. So in a way the gift economy is already here to an extent. --AaronPoeze

I am practicing GiftEconomy in my local community, in my [open CommunityOnline], and here. Mitt er Þitt -- use it well. -- NathanielThurston

Discussion