Advanced

The gift economy and free software

Posted by dave on · 2 comments
NewsForge
Mail this story
Print this story

A "gift economy" is a social system in which status is given by how much one shares or gives to one's community, as opposed to an "exchange economy" where status is given to those who own or control the most stuff. In today's world we're used to the latter economic philosophy, as it has been closely affiliated with the capitalist system since at least the Industrial Revolution and the invention of the corporation. But the Industrial Age is over -- this is the Information Age now, and things are changing.

Full Story

  Nav
» Read more about: Story Type: News Story

» Get new stories by e-mail: nightly or as they are published

« Return to the newswire homepage

  Related stories
» More like this

Comments (2)

worth reading unless...

The Gift Economy

The US is so Capitalist that they naturally withdraw from all things socialist. We are taught from early childhood to be aggressive in exchanges otherwise we look weak. In watching the reviews of President Reagan I was struck by his position on principles. Some how we must move the whole concept of a Gift Economy out of the business frame and place it under Valued Principle!

Post a comment

A free account is needed to post. Write your comment here first: your text is kept in this browser while you sign up or log in, and is waiting for you when you come back.

Your message:
|||||
10
Markdown: **bold**, *italic*, [text](https://link), - lists, > quotes, $x^2$ for math. Formatting help

Sign up and post (it is free)  or  Log in and post