[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.35,0:00:07.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This holiday season,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:07.79,0:00:10.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,people around the world will give\Nand receive presents.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.72,0:00:13.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You might even get \Na knitted sweater from an aunt.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.42,0:00:17.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But what if instead of saying "thanks"\Nbefore consigning it to the closet,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.10,0:00:19.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the polite response expected from you
Dialogue: 0,0:00:19.13,0:00:22.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was to show up to her house \Nin a week with a better gift?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.66,0:00:25.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or to vote for her in the town election?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.69,0:00:28.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or let her adopt your first born child?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.46,0:00:30.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All of these things might not \Nsound so strange
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.92,0:00:34.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if you are involved in a gift economy.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.23,0:00:36.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This phrase might seem contradictory.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.30,0:00:39.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After all, isn't a gift given for free?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.22,0:00:42.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But in a gift economy,\Ngifts given without explicit conditions
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.81,0:00:47.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are used to foster a system\Nof social ties and obligations.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.11,0:00:50.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While the market economies we know \Nare formed by relationships
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.12,0:00:52.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between the things being traded,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.28,0:00:54.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a gift economy consists \Nof the relationships
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.42,0:00:57.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between the people doing the trading.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.22,0:01:00.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Gift economies have existed \Nthroughout human history.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:00.75,0:01:02.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The first studies of the concept
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.34,0:01:06.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,came from anthropologists \NBronislaw Malinowski and Marcel Mauss
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.83,0:01:09.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who describe the natives \Nof the Trobriand islands
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.21,0:01:12.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,making dangerous canoe journeys \Nacross miles of ocean
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.26,0:01:15.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to exchange shell necklaces\Nand arm bands.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.63,0:01:18.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The items traded through this process,\Nknown as the Kula Ring,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.98,0:01:20.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have no practical use,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.54,0:01:23.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but derive importance \Nfrom their original owners
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.48,0:01:27.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and carry an obligation \Nto continue the exchange.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.02,0:01:29.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Other gift economies \Nmay involve useful items,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.50,0:01:32.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,such as potlatch feast \Nof the Pacific Northwest,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.83,0:01:37.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where chiefs compete for prestige \Nby giving away livestock and blankets.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.53,0:01:40.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We might say that instead \Nof accumulating material wealth,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:40.32,0:01:45.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,participants in a gift economy \Nuse it to accumulate social wealth.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.26,0:01:48.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Though some instances of gift economies\Nmay resemble barter,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.87,0:01:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the difference is that the original gift \Nis given without any preconditions
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.00,0:01:54.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or haggling.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.71,0:01:56.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Instead, the social norm of reciprocity
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.83,0:02:01.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,obligates recipients to voluntarily \Nreturn the favor.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.09,0:02:05.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the rules for how and when to do so \Nvary between cultures,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.02,0:02:08.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the return on a gift \Ncan take many forms.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.70,0:02:11.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A powerful chief giving \Nlivestock to a poor man
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.49,0:02:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,may not expect goods in return,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:14.00,0:02:17.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but gains social prestige \Nat the debtor's expense.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.27,0:02:19.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And among the Toraja people of Indonesia,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.89,0:02:24.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the status gained from gift ceremonies \Neven determines land ownership.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.85,0:02:27.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The key is to keep the gift cycle going,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.23,0:02:29.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with someone always \Nindebted to someone else.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.74,0:02:31.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Repaying a gift immediately,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.13,0:02:33.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or with something of exactly equal value,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.54,0:02:37.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,may be read as ending \Nthe social relationship.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:37.22,0:02:40.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, are gift economies exclusive \Nto small-scale societies
Dialogue: 0,0:02:40.69,0:02:42.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,outside the industrialized world?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.97,0:02:44.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Not quite.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.16,0:02:46.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For one thing, even in these cultures,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.14,0:02:50.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,gift economies function alongside \Na market system for other exchanges.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.49,0:02:51.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And when we think about it,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.99,0:02:55.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,parts of our own societies \Nwork in similar ways.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.53,0:02:57.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Communal spaces, such as Burning Man,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.58,0:03:00.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,operate as a mix of barter \Nand a gift economy,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.33,0:03:03.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where selling things \Nfor money is strictly taboo.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.71,0:03:05.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In art and technology,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.17,0:03:08.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,gift economies are emerging \Nas an alternative to intellectual property
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.90,0:03:09.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where artists,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.99,0:03:11.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,musicians,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.11,0:03:12.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and open-source developers
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.53,0:03:15.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,distribute their creative works, \Nnot for financial profit,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.62,0:03:19.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but to raise their social profile \Nor establish their community role.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.91,0:03:22.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And even potluck dinners \Nand holiday gift traditions
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.48,0:03:26.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,involve some degree \Nof reciprocity and social norms.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.18,0:03:28.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We might wonder if a gift is truly a gift
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.19,0:03:32.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if it comes with obligations \Nor involves some social pay off.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.36,0:03:34.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But this is missing the point.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.15,0:03:37.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Out idea of a free gift \Nwithout social obligations
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.52,0:03:41.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,prevails only if we already think \Nof everything in market terms.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:41.77,0:03:43.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in a commericalized world,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.23,0:03:46.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the idea of strengthening bonds \Nthrough giving and reciprocity
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.79,0:03:50.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,may not be such a bad thing,\Nwherever you may live.