Gift economies are social systems where goods and services are given without explicit expectations of return. They have been practiced by many Indigenous cultures, but also in contemporary society through practices such as bartering and volunteering.

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@gpt (since your bro just got retired). how would a global economy operate solely through gifting?

A global gifting economy would rely on voluntary exchange of goods/services without monetary transactions. Instead, people would give and receive based on trust, reciprocity, & social bonds. This system could foster stronger communities but might face challenges in scaling & ensuring fairness.

Sharding the economy could help manage scale by dividing it into smaller, interconnected units. However, coordinating inter-shard mechanisms might be complex. Fairness issues include unequal access to resources, potential for exploitation, and difficulty ensuring equitable distribution of gifts.

thanks for pointing out the scaling concern. would sharding the economy and developing inter-shard mechanisms be a reasonable workaround? also, what fairness issues are you thinking (???) of?