This content originally appeared on Go Make Things and was authored by Go Make Things
Growing up, we’re taught that before money, people used to barter for everything.
You want fish. The person selling fish wants tomatoes, which you don’t have. The person with tomatoes wants corn and not fish, so you trade your corn for some tomatoes that you trade for some fish.
Money, we’re told, was created to make this whole exchange easier.
Except… that’s a myth.
Well, at least partially. That kind of barter was common among people who didn’t interact very much, and money does make that kind of exchange easier.
But for a lot of precolonial and indigenous cultures, a more common practice was mutual reciprocity.
It works like this: you need fish, and I have more fish than I need, so I give you fish. At some point in the future, if you have something I need and you can part with, you let me have it.
There’s no formal tracking of who owes who what and how much it’s worth and it’s been 6 months and you still haven’t paid me back. There’s no expectation you’ll be repaid in kind.
I help you, and at some point in the future if I need help, you’ll help me.
Or maybe not even you. Maybe someone else.
I might help a stranger who I’ll never see again, knowing that if they have the means in the future, they’ll help someone else. And at some point in the future, someone I don’t know might help me.
Mutual reciprocity is the idea that we’re all in this together.
Barter and money reduce relationships to transactions. I want a thing. I give you money. We’re done and I never see you again. Mutual reciprocity creates bonds of connection among community, and strengthens relationships with your neighbors.
The Buy Nothing Project feels like this.
A lot of folks post stuff they’re getting rid of, but nearly as many post things they need, and someone nearly always steps up to fill that need. Sometimes it’s a want, like a recliner or basketball or something. But sometimes it’s a need, like, “I can’t afford diapers for my kid until my paycheck next week and I’m about to run out.”
And people step up. Always.
Libraries feel like that, too. You need a thing. You get the things. Often the thing is books, but many modern libraries are filled with other things, too: sewing machines and DVD players and games and puzzles, often donated by the same people that use the library.
Capitalism robs you of imagination.
It’s hard to picture a world without money or barter because it’s mostly all we know. But there are examples all around, if you know where to look or are lucky enough to stumble into it.
The rest of our culture could be like that, too.
If you want to learn more about this topic, I strongly recommend how the barter myth harms us and it’s time to abolish debt, two great videos from Andrew Sage.
Like this? A Lean Web Club membership is the best way to support my work and help me create more free content.
This content originally appeared on Go Make Things and was authored by Go Make Things