I like the article in the url below because it explains how market forces are being used to solve a societal problem. The problem is the misallocation of resources (people have more of certain things than they need and other things they don't want), but solves it through the barter system (instead of the exchange of money):
"Who on earth wants fish tank wastewater, chicken poo, tumble-dryer lint, loo roll tubes, 'a plaster mould of a Komodo dragon's foot' or half a broken toilet? No one, you might think, but the Buy Nothing community begs to differ: these are all real 'gifts' snapped up by more than 5 million members worldwide, who give away their unwanted items in the local community."
For example:
"There is nothing unique or original about giving and getting stuff for free. It's a practice as old as humanity. The juggernaut giveaway network Freecycle was founded in 2003 – but what distinguishes the Buy Nothing project … is that the emphasis is less on stuff, per se, and more on community. In what Buy Nothing describes as its 'hyperlocal gift economies,' users are encouraged to let items 'simmer' rather than giving them away to the first person who asks, perhaps suggesting they share a joke or provide a story explaining why they would like the item. In addition to 'gifts' and 'asks,' users are encouraged to post 'gratitude,' with a message or a picture showing what a gifted item has meant to them."
The project has radical roots:
"It's a 'social experiment,' explain the project's founders, Rebecca Rockefeller and Liesl Clark, from their respective living rooms in Washington state, effecting a fundamental shift in our attitude to material goods by building a sense of community, and treating items as community-owned and shared. 'If you come at it from an angle of joy and human connection,' says Rockefeller, "you're more likely to inspire lasting change than when you come at it from telling people: 'You have to do without this.'"
And, the underlying philosophy appears to be realistic, rather than idealistic:
"There's no expectation or even aspiration that users will somehow forge a fully cashless economy. Indeed, during the pandemic, Buy Nothing changed its rules to allow members to give gifts of cash. 'Quite literally, that's a lifesaving gift you can give another person in a lot of cases,' says Rockefeller. 'This was never meant to be an exercise in purity: that doesn't serve us well. What serves us well is flexibility. A banana, a chunk of concrete or $10 – those are all good gifts.'"
For more on the buy nothing phenomenon, see: https://youtu.be/T2Saa_NVotY
Take care
David
David Chandler
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'A banana, concrete – these are good gifts': The recycling group turning strangers into friends
By Emma Beddington
January 13, 2022
The Guardian
