I am currently reading a book that keeps stopping me in my tracks and causes me to ponder, wonder and imagine another way. The book is called “Braiding Sweetgrass, Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants” by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I am just beginning what promises to be an interesting adventure in reading and have already found that it is making me want to add some thoughts to my blog.

One of the first chapters is called “The Gift of Strawberries”, it talks about the gift that the wild strawberries in her childhood gave her and her relatives. Actually, it is about the idea of an economy based on the idea/culture of gifting rather than selling and purchasing that is the market economy we all live in these days. An example of how this works is that in the traditional native American ways, sweetgrass braids can’t be bought or sold – they can be gathered, braided and given; and they can be accepted as gifts but not “sold” because they don’t actually “belong” to anyone. Wild strawberries are the same, the earth gives strawberries, people pick them for food and/or gifts but nobody “owns” them. Of course there are some people that sell sweetgrass braids, and many that sell strawberries – but those transactions are examples of the market economy, not the native American ways. As Kimmerer says; “In material fact, Strawberries belong only to themselves. The exchange relationships we choose determine whether we share them as a common gift or sell them as a private commodity.” In other words, they begin in “the commons” but if they are turned into a private commodity there are no longer any effective social restraints upon there use or abuse.

There is an odd thing that happens in a gifting economy. For one, you tend to not accept gifts that are too large – it is unseemly to do so, and the burden of reciprocity becomes too great. Once you accept a gift you are no longer “free and clear” – the act of gifting creates ongoing relationships and responsibilities. Therefore, people tend to just accept what they actually need. Anything beyond that goes to someone else. However, in a market economy there are no such inherent limitations. The concept of “ownership” allows for an unlimited exchange (you are free to purchase as much as you can afford), and no reciprocity or responsibility is created – once the transaction is done the exchange is completed. This is very unlike what happens in a gifting economy.

At first I thought that she was describing some sort of Socialism, but as I think about it that is not the case. Socialism implies an organized government to work out the negotiations and trades – but it is still based upon the idea of ownership and a market. Gifting doesn’t have those ties – they are something much closer to our hearts, and much closer to sharing than buying/selling.

Kimmerer acknowledges that we can no longer survive as hunter-gatherers – but asks a question that stopped me in my tracks. She asks if perhaps, even in a market economy, we can behave “as if” the living world were a gift? She describes the market in a small town in the Andes where she lived for a time doing ecological research. I have seen such markets in many places around the world, markets that are full of vendors, produce, goods of all kinds – they appear to be the paradigm of a market based economy – but it isn’t. The vendors are all friends, neighbors, relatives and while money is exchanged, or goods are bartered, there is something else that is important but that has been lost. There is a balance in the “primitive” markets – everyone understands that what is being shared is of themselves and that the real “gift” of their merchandise is a gift from nature.

I was taken by a her statement that, “When all the world is a commodity, how poor we grow. When all the world is a gift in motion, how wealthy we become.” The question that comes to mind is how can we maintain the connections inherent in gifts, while operating with a market based economy that is necessary for our survival in today’s situation? I am asking myself if I treat my work and my efforts are as “gifts” – or are they commodities to be sold and traded to the highest bidder? I think my work has always had a very strong “gift” aspect to it, which is why I try to provide the very best “product” that I can, while minimizing the resources used to achieve that, and by keeping my prices as low as feasible while supporting my employees and family. I hadn’t really thought about it, but there is something of the feeling of “gifting” when I work for others. I think most of us (at least the lucky ones) have that sort of feeling about their business world. However, clearly there are a great many people that do not based decisions upon such insubstantial considerations.