The “Gift economy” is another vision of mutual aid.
Most traditional societies were practicing a form or another of gift economy, basically the idea is that when you are gifted something you feel obligated to return another gift.
So if your neighbor gives you the extra apples he gets from is orchard, then you feel obligated and later you might give him extra potatoes, or offer to help him if you see him find work in his roof …
The constant gifting and reciprocating gifts is how this traditional form of economy runs. Unlike what economists are thinking, bartering was very rarely used in the economy of traditional societies.
This form of economy is building and consoliding communities.
No ethnographic studies have shown that any present or past society has used barter without any other medium of exchange or measurement, and anthropologists have found no evidence that money emerged from barter.
In other words, people don’t barter unless they are used to money, but don’t have it.
The “Gift economy” is another vision of mutual aid.
Most traditional societies were practicing a form or another of gift economy, basically the idea is that when you are gifted something you feel obligated to return another gift.
So if your neighbor gives you the extra apples he gets from is orchard, then you feel obligated and later you might give him extra potatoes, or offer to help him if you see him find work in his roof …
The constant gifting and reciprocating gifts is how this traditional form of economy runs. Unlike what economists are thinking, bartering was very rarely used in the economy of traditional societies.
This form of economy is building and consoliding communities.
Wikipedia states it well,
In other words, people don’t barter unless they are used to money, but don’t have it.