The gift economy

one day
the baker forgot to ask for money
when she sold the bread
laughing she gave out the bread
to the surprised people
how lovely, said the miller
and he gave the baker a sack of flour
so kind, said the farmer
and she gave the miller a sack of grain
wonderful, said the landowner
and he gave away all the land that he owned
to people who wanted to make use of it

from that day on
more and more people forgot to take money with them
because no one asked for it any more
from that day on
only one sort of economy existed
the gift economy!

why didn't we do that earlier?
sighed the people
we were afraid, said the people
we didn't trust each other
we wanted money for our goods and goods for our money
many of us thought only of ourselves
though others wanted honest barter

once selfishness had gone
and distrust was no more
once everybody saw that the best for us all
was also the best for each one
then money was forgotten
even bartering - forgotten
as gifts flowed endlessly between us
ever more

Atalanta 1990
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