Serviceberry
I finished reading Robin Wall-Kimmerer’s Serviceberry this week and was engaged with her connecting the Tragedy of the Commons and a gift economy. The Tragedy of the Commons was introduced to me last year by A. She came across it in her studies at Chewonki and shared it with me. I became fascinated with this idea and came away thinking that I had an understanding of what this was about, but in reading Kimmerer, I have to revisit the connection between the TOC and capitalist economies.
I also would like to figure out how I could be part of a gift economy. As Kimmerer alludes to, this would not be a momentous change, but we can create pockets, or islands or “enlivened pockets to poke holes in the status quo” and offer an alternative to get goods and services to one another. All this is in the face of the apparent reality that the current system is going to fail. Can that transition be gradual, or will it be an abrupt, radical change? Can those working on alternatives to our capitalist system think of it as research, as we might need some tested ideas going into this transition?
It doesn’t seem like the gift economy idea will easily come to our capitalist system easily but on a small scale it might be good for me to think about its possibilities, give it a try and see what comes of it on an individual basis. Are there positive side notes that give one sense of purpose, or community, or peers that are missing for many individuals?
Some quick investigation links: