Gift Economies - Evolver Vancouver Spore

In January, I went to a local meeting with the group Evolver (http://www.evolver.net) where the subject was on Gift Economies. You can see, or scan through, the meeting on this video at ustream.tv, and below is a synopsis of the event.

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Debt-based currencies controlled by closed syndicates of private banks are not the only way that humans can make an economy. Many tribal cultures have organized themselves around an entirely different way of exchanging value: The gift. Where our financial system expertly moves resources from the many to the few, gift-based cultures like to share what they have – as writer Lewis Hyde noted, “The gift moves toward the empty place.” At a time when billions are enslaved by passionless work while inequity reaches new historic heights, we are seeing a postmodern revival of sharing and gifting, with examples ranging from the open source movement to the annual Burning Man festival.

In this Spore, we explore the abstract theory and practical dynamics of gifting, the challenges of implementing this innovative, yet archaic, way of getting what you want and wanting what you get. We invite fellow Evolvers to bring their precious gifts – whether it be witticisms or wood-carved totems to the Spore and spread them around. Local Spores can screen “Burn on the Bayou,” a mini-doc**entary chronicling Burners without Borders gifting efforts during seven months of relief work in the Katrina-battered Gulf Coast towns of Biloxi and Pearlington, MS. Since that time, BWB has grown into an international, grassroots organization whose projects are based on the principle of gifting.

http://docs.google.com/present/view?id=d8sr97 s_161fkr8d6cq&invite=1423372121 (Slide show for opening of the program)

Evolver Vancouver will hold the January Spore at Dharmalab #202 - 1814 Pandora St
Dharma Lab

6:30pm Digital Potluck! Bring portable hard drives, flashdrives, laptops, dvd's, cd's and anything you'd like to share/burn/copy. Bring some finger foods as well to share as well as beverages.

7:30pm Spore begins with excerpts from Burn in the Bayou film, Venus Project and other clips followed by panel discussion with members of 'BurningVan' & 'GVIAS, Burn BC, Free Geek, Ubuntu vancouver LoCo,Zeitgeist Vancouver and more.