Gift economies arise from the abundance of gifts from the Earth, which are owned by no one and therefore shared. Sharing engenders relationships of goodwill and bonds that ensure you will be invited to the feast when your neighbor is fortunate. Security is ensured by nurturing the bonds of reciprocity. Margaret Atwood writes, “Every time a gift is given it is enlivened and regenerated through the new spiritual life it engenders both in the giver and in the recipient.” You can store meat in your own pantry or in the belly of your brother. Both have the result of keeping hunger at bay but with
...more
