

The Economics of Pricelessness - spindritf
http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2014/08/12/the-economics-of-pricelessness/

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Terr_
> This gives us four types of transaction [...]

Is there a fifth? I'm reminded of a saying (attributed to the Inuit): "Gifts
make slaves, just as whips make dogs." (IIRC I saw it in _Debt: The First 5000
years_ )

Where does that fit? At first blush, it looks like it's a pure-"trader" view
of things (rejecting the idea of gifts) but I think it's actually assigning a
"priceless" value to a shared idea... The idea that every member of the
community is self-sufficient enough that gifts aren't necessary.

> The transaction is also a cousin of what Clifford Geertz called deep play
> with reference to betting patterns in Balinese cockfighting.

Oh, wow, I'm having flashbacks to a writing class in college where we had to
critique that Balinese Cockfighting thing. Maybe it was just bad
curriculum/prompts, but I've always carried around a "WTF was that shit" chip
on my shoulder against that paper.

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tormeh
This is awesome.

