THE GIFTING ECONOMY OR THE CONSUMER ECONOMY — Which shall it be?

There is a natural law of economics by which all Nature lives, including all natural People. It is that the Mother of all, the Earth Mother, provides. No one has to toil or save, or reap or sow. The abundance is just there. And it keeps increasing on its own. Life is a continual feast.

There is another law of economics which was invented by People. It is called the consumer economy. It is based on the concept that there is a limited amount of goods to go around. So People must compete with each other for them. These goods will cease to exist unless they are saved. And one must labor to create more.

The gifting economy is based upon the giving of gifts. Life is a gift. Life’s needs are freely given. This engenders an air of cooperation and sharing amongst People. This is in marked contrast from the consumer economy where competitiveness for limited resources drives People to be self-centered, suspicious and hoarding.

The inherent abundance and sharing of the gifting economy creates community and forms the basis of culture. Whenever a gift is given, good feeling is generated. A feeling of belonging, of being cared about. So a gift is given on two levels. From hand to hand, and from heart to heart. Trust is being generated and friendship. This is the basis of community. 

The consumer economy is based on exchange rather than gifting. The exchange is based on value, which is created by scarcity and demand. The exchange rate causes People to be cautious and calculating. Sometimes even suspicious: “Is this worth the money they’re asking?”  “Do you think that car salesman is honest?” The exchange tends to isolate us more. The more we exchange and the more we hoard what we have exchanged for, the more isolated we become, and the more our community and our culture erodes. 

In the gifting economy there is a vitality and abundance that is spontaneous and needs no organization or looking after. Peace, happiness and self-fulfillment are the natural results of such a system. The consumer economy can just offer us substitutes for this natural state of bliss, and they have to be purchased. “Eat this food and you’ll feel good.”  “Wear these clothes and you’ll look good”  “Get this degree and you’ll be somebody.”  “Buy this house and you’ll be the king of your own castle.”         

The choice is ours, each of ours. Will it be the consumer economy — the one most of us are already trapped in and suffering dearly from. Or will it be the gifting economy — the good life, Bimaadiziwin, as described in the first paragraph. Most of us are already feeling too isolated, too alone and mistrusting to pull together with others and rejoin the gifting economy. We have become too passive to speak our needs and desires. Our need to be who we are intended to be now only shows in our addictions and our consumerism. Clever advertising has conditioned us to use consumer goods and entertainment to make up for the emptiness that comes from not feeling fulfilled, from not having community. The choice is ours. Our fear can keep us in the consumer economy. Our courage can bring us to the abundance of the gifting economy. The Earth Mother beckons us to listen and emulate her loving example.