Gifting: A new approach to Economy

Gift Economy is a novel concept of addressing the various evils of capitalistic economy and addresses various socio-economic problems being faced by the current world.

A probable application of this concept of gift economy could be in the form of an organization, an NGO, primary goal of which is to provide a platform for the gifting. A non-profit organization, it would bring together people from all walks of life and apprise them of various gifting opportunities. It would be a medium wherein people can gift, which can be used by other in need. These gifts needn’t be physical goods but can also be services. For instance, a person who has registered, can donate his unused or used electronic gadgets, clothes etc. Alternatively, a person can gift his dancing skills, music skills, managerial expertise, or anything the person is good at. Today, the desire is there to donate or give to the society, and there are several NGO’s for this as well. For instance, there are toy banks, there are NGO’s which collect and distribute old and used clothes and so on. However, this is limited to the domain in which the organization operates, and the operations are usually localized in nature. These organizations fail to connect the giver and the receiver. Thus we need a medium which connects the giver and the receiver by providing them a common platform.

Moreover, we need to build an organization, which can also further the reuse and recycling of goods. Thus doing a value-add to the good and increasing its shelf life. Very often, a small problem in the working of an electronic gadget, or availability of fancier gizmos forces us to dump these goods into the waste bin. However, with small repairs, these become good enough to be operational for some more time. A person, who can’t afford such a good, would be very happy if he gets to have that product in working condition. A small personal example, I had an old desktop at my home in a good condition, lying unused. With small repair, it was gifted to a sweeper having a meager monthly salary of $100. His joy knew no bounds as he got access to a computer, which was a dream come true for him.

The point to be made is that there is a lot of scope for re-use and recycle of products and goods. Besides, this value addition to the goods has the potential to generate employment opportunities for people as well, and this could be supported by government welfare schemes. Based on a not for profit model, this organization can be run by volunteers, who can gift their time and render their services. Apart from their services, people can also gift their fully functional or part-functional devices. These can be further refurbished by people with suitable skills and then gifted to the needy people. These skilled persons can be the individuals who have the required technical know-how and have volunteered. Additionally, corporates under their CSR initiatives can impart technical know-how to refurbish the goods and add more value to them.

Today, the leaders talk of the need to transfer the technical know-how from the developed nations to the developing ones in order to solve the climate issues. The solution, the vision for an organization that is presented in this paper can very well be a means to achieve that.

Usually, an entrepreneur is defined as a person who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods. However, this is only one view. An entrepreneur is much more than that. He is one who has a vision and transform it into reality at any cost and braving all challenges and oddities. Being entrepreneur is not just starting a business of your own, its about the experience, the patience, the perseverance, the learning’s when you fail and joy when you succeed. It is very easy to follow someone or an already established system or to walk on a path already trodden. However, it is an entrepreneur who shows the courage to do something new, something creative and something innovative. He can be someone, who starts a new venture, or someone who brings a change in the society.