Abstract This paper examines why Beyond Barter, the Los Angeles Skills Pool, is a good example of a functioning gift economy. The paper points out that the organization is an example of a group offering and receiving services without using money to facilitate the transaction. The "value" of each received service is not compared to the services one contributes to the group. The paper explains that members of the pool are geographically concentrated, mainly by the constraints of service exchange, and form a community gift economy that fits the general model put forth in the theory on the subject. The paper maintains that the organization survives because it is useful and provides services to its members at a lower cost than the market. The paper concludes with an analysis of threats to the future of Beyond Barter and other gift economies.
Outline:
Introduction
What is a Gift Economy?
Why Are gift Economies such as Beyond Barter Viable?
Beyond Barter Conclusion
From the Paper "In The Global Idea of the Commons, Nononi defines the social commons as "access by users to social resources created by specific kinds of human labor." This includes such activities as caring of the young and elderly, household upkeep, and activities undertaken by the state, such as infrastructure and policing. Looking forward to our example, Beyond Barter allows members to trade these social services without attaching a price to each act. The end result is a community that realizes higher utility as a whole than individually, because the lack of capitalist allocation did not exclude some members from service. The positive externalities of the structure also improve welfare in the community as shown in the clean drinking water example. The trickle down of positive effects from the skills pool improves the lives of its members both financially and personally. "Besides saving a great deal of money, members enjoy meeting a lot of terrific people.... The L.A. Bargain Book's editor is in her second year as a Beyond Barter member and speaks highly of the group (Hunter)." This enthusiasm highlights a key attribute of the skills pool- member involvement and satisfaction. The pool allows members to interact with others in a more personal manner than traditional capitalism. The absence of monetary exchange personalizes the transaction."
Abstract This paper explains that, because gift giving and bartering can interfere with the power relationship between the counselor and client, professional organizations and licensing authorities place strict guidelines on the acceptance of gifts in these practices. The author points out that gift giving in the therapeutic environment may represent issues, such as a perceived imbalance in the professional relationship or as a tip, homage or sacrifice for professional services. The paper discusses a model for assessing a gift-giving situation and determining an appropriate response based on the interaction of therapeutic meaning and significance and ethical concerns. The paper also explains that, although bartering can be appropriate in the cases of economically deprived clients and may be used as a therapeutic tool, it can present significant therapeutic and ethical concerns due to its inherent nature to produce dual relationships.
Table of Contents:
Gifts
Bartering
From the Paper "Most therapists do not view client's gifts of small value as an ethical problem; however, expensive and inappropriate gifts are universally viewed as an ethical problem. Despite the gift, therapists need to evaluate all gifts on a case by case basis to establish the client's potential motivations and clinical implications. The client's personality, culture, economic status, and history need to be evaluated. A client may simply offer a gift as a ritualistic gesture during a holiday or as a means to express gratitude. Such gifts usually enhance the therapeutic alliance."
Abstract By underscoring the propensity to truck, barter and exchange, Adam Smith intends to establish laws of the market and the principles of governing individual interests. Individuals acting in their self-interest can guide society toward common goals, but their self-interests are driven by their comparative advantage.
Abstract The paper begins with an introduction from "Wealth of Nations", explaining Smith's view that human nature is to trade and barter between resources. The paper continues with a number of subjects in the economics field, showing how Adam Smith's theories relate to them. These topics include protectionism, political uncertainty and infrastructure.
From the Paper "In Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith recognized that human beings have a natural propensity ?to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another.? Smith saw the free trade of goods across borders as an extension of this human instinct. People exchange products and services as "free agents" in pursuit of their own individual interests. In the process, people become part of an international economy, connected across national borders, as if guided by an ?invisible hand.?"
Tags: economics, protectionist, infrastructure, barter, invisible, hand
Abstract This paper explains what money is and how it works. The paper begins by providing a history of money, from the original barter systems to the cash currency we know and use today. The paper then shows the different uses for money in today's economy and how money has become a complex system of acquisition, investment, and status.
From the Paper "The uses of money is of course as versatile as money itself. The most common use is of course as unit of exchange. Money is used to buy every items such as clothing and food. As a unit of account, money is used to measure the value of goods. Using its monetary value, the value of the good is determined compared to the value of all other goods. This is the same system by which the value of money itself in terms of global currency is determined. Finally, money as store of value means to determine the ability of a good to maintain its value over time."
Abstract For many years, science fiction writers and futurists have predicted the end of the cash-based society. Advances in the technology which supports financial transactions has already greatly reduced the amount of cash necessary for many everyday events, and most individuals conduct at least some cashless transactions on a regular basis
From the Paper "Introduction
For many years, science fiction writers and futurists have predicted the end of the cash-based society. Advances in the technology which supports financial transactions has already greatly reduced the amount of cash necessary for many everyday events, and most individuals conduct at least some cashless transactions on a regular basis. The move toward a cashless society has occurred over centuries, but the technology of the twentieth century has propelled it faster than ever before. Yet despite the rapid technological advances of recent years, a cashless society remains well in the future. This research examines the factors which have moved society away from an entirely cash-based system as well as those factors which prevent society from being entirely cashless today."
Abstract This paper discusses the history of the Arabian and Islamic business culture. It explains the history of bartering and trading that was common in the Middle East and examines how this culture expanded to modern day business practices.
From the Paper "Visit New York and walk Wall Street, fly to London and stroll down Oxford Street. In every great city, in every great culture there is a marketplace. From centuries ago to modern day, people have always converged on a common locale to do business and to exchange goods and services. The Middle East, in fact, helped define the future of economics by pioneering new business tactics and concepts that vastly improved the primitive trade and bartering of the medieval period. The Islamic economy was founded on the trade of goods and relied heavily on foreign suppliers to bring in foods, spices, cloths, precious metals, exotics, and even livestock. This continental trade created a need for a new innovative way of commerce and the Islamic nation rose to that task creating a trading hub that linked Asia with Europe and Africa."
Tags: arab, arabian, business, east, economic, government, loans, middle, nights, taxes, west
Abstract This paper examines how the art of scrimshaw is an art of idle hands that dates back to the early part of the 19th century, when sailors on long, idle, whaling expeditions would use the leavings of the hunt to create art. It looks at how the art was mostly made from the teeth end bone of the whale, the non-desirable portions of the kill, and how scrimshaw is carving away lines and then darkening them with ink to create a contrasting picture. It also examines how some sailors became very proficient and were able to create very detailed representations of their subjects, often nautical themes, but also patriotic themes, portraits of women, and, sometimes, even erotic art. These pieces were often bartered around the world as an early form of currency.
From the Paper "The whale was desired mainly for its blubber, used to make lamp oil and its baleen, the plastic of the 19th century, used to make products like corset boning and fishing rods. (Paszkiewicz 1) Mostly made from the teeth end bone of the whale, the non-desirable portions of the kill, scrimshaw is carving away lines and then darkening them with to create a contrasting picture. Some sailors became very proficient and were able to create very detailed representations of their subjects, often nautical themes, but also patriotic themes, portraits of women and sometimes even erotic art. These sailors faced countless dangers and could sometimes be gone for as long as five years, the need to recall home, fill idle hours and even create gifts and expressions of love for those back home, or even fulfill erotic desires through the mind, filled the idle hours with the development of this sensational folk art."
Abstract Doctors and patients alike are faced with ethical dilemmas with regard to several aspects of the cosmetic surgery industry. This paper explores several of these ethical issues, namely, factors in the decision to have elective surgery, deceptive marketing strategies, and bartering professional services for publicity. The analysis for each topic includes research from the professional societies, the general public, and the author's own subjective opinion.
From the Paper "Plastic surgery has a very long history. As early as 1000 B.C.E., the first plastic surgery was reported in India, where a person's nose might be cut off as a form of punishment or, in the case of an adulterous Hindu wife, bitten off by the wronged husband. Procedures, which displayed remarkable similarity to present rhinoplasties, were developed to reconstruct the noses of such errant individuals (Davis 14). Plastic surgery appeared much later on the European continent. In the early fifteenth century, physicians began doing nose surgeries, by using skin flaps taken from the arm. Other forms of plastic surgery began to appear around the early sixteenth century. With the invention of ether and antisepsis, plastic surgery was able to emerge as a full-fledged medical specialty (Davis 15). In the first part of the century, nearly all plastic surgeries were done to alleviate deformities due to disease, birth or mishap; however, in the second half of the century this was no longer the case."
Abstract Adam Smith's seminal text "The Wealth of Nations" stands as a tribute to the value of capitalism. Fundamentally, its author espouses an optimistic faith in the essential rationalism of human society and human desires. The paper shows how Smith believes in the ability of human economic impulses to balance one another in a state of equilibrium involving supply, costs, and consumer demand, if there is no interference by outside forces. Smith suggests that there is an 'invisible hand' that guides market forces in a harmonious way and that the state should not interfere with it. The state should only enforce laws so conflict between human beings is kept to a minimum and so the economy can function. The paper explains that the existence of this 'invisible hand' is not generated purely by the economy, but by the nature of modern, human social life that Smith believes is, in its essence, rational and good.
From the Paper "Smith allows that there is a different kind of value attached by the market to money, as money has a place setting value rather than a value in its intrinsic utility, as in a barter system of goods. Still, Smith believes that the market will always set a fair natural value for a good, based upon the labor required to make a good and the good's costs of production, and the rent expended by the manufacturer. Natural prices made up of wages, profit and rent may be distinct from the market price as determined by supply and demand but the natural price and the market price usually or eventually meet in a state of equilibrium."
Tags: division, of, labor, barter, system, sovereign
Abstract This paper examines the assumptions that (1) Holocaust victims received differential treatment based on gender (2) gender differences affected the victims' overall survival skills and coping mechanisms and (3) the unique hardships of each sex ultimately affected how they experienced the Holocaust. The author points out that Nazi policies, which stemmed from Hitler's racist and sexist ideologies, emphasized punishing Jewish women specifically for the crime of spawning the "anti-race" and humiliated them by forcing the women imprisoned in concentration camps to exist in tattered clothing, which barely covered their bodies. The paper concludes that gender variances experienced by victims of the Holocaust, help to better understand that, though all people are equal, gender does influence the type and the extent of treatment received from oppressing forces such as the Nazis.
From the Paper "Aside from the variances in the types of violence men and women were subjected to, there roles within the ghettos and concentration camps often differed. Men were more likely to be deported to labor camps; the women typically lingered behind in the ghettos and struggled to carry on with domestic duties while attempting to secure enough food for the children, before they too were moved to concentration camps. Many women who were believed to be working against the best interest of the Third Reich were immediately executed rather than deported along with the men.Throughout this period of time, women also served as couriers and liaisons in resistance operations."
This paper analyzes plays by two English satirists: William Congreve's only play "The Way of the World" (1700) and Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of being Ernest" (1895).
Abstract This paper explains that literary critics believe that English social satire flourished because there is so much to satirize; from William Congreve to Oscar Wilde, the so-called "pillars of aristocracy" tend to be pilloried, to the enjoyment of audiences who always tended to think that the satire was about someone else. The author points out that Congreve's "The Way of the World" is a version of that eternal battle between men and women; scattered throughout the play are some witty aphorisms such as "friendship without freedom is as dull as love without enjoyment, or win without toasting." The paper relates that Wilde's "The Importance of being Ernest" is a witty and comic commentary on the fastidious earnestness of turn-of-the-century society whose snobbishness and prejudices deserve to be pricked .
From the Paper "Perhaps the highlight of the play is what is now called "the bartering scene" between Mirabell and his beloved, Mrs.. Millament. It may well be the first real "pre-nuptial" agreement except it is the bride doing all the demanding. "Though I am upon the very verge of matrimony," she tells her soon-to-be husband, "I expect you should solicit me as much as if I were wavering at the gate of a monastery, with one foot over the threshold....Oh, I hate a lover that can dare to think he draw's a moment's air, independent of the bounty of his mistress. There is not so impudent a thing in nature, as the saucy look of an assured man, confident of success.." Not only does this seem to make her the first "liberated woman", but also seems to turn the noble Mirabell into a henpecked husband, surely something no male-dominated society has seen before."
Abstract The paper examines the philosophy of money in human civilization. The paper discusses how it is evident that money has changed over time as societies have become more sophisticated and complex. The paper relates that ever since the emergence of ancient cities and empires, it has always served as a means of measuring the value of work, possessions or services. The paper explains that it still serves that purpose today, even though it is now defined and understood in many different ways because of the nature of capitalism. The paper discusses that in the earliest societies, money did not exist since a simple barter system was used in which people traded something they had a surplus of, for something they needed.
Abstract In this article, the writer notes that according to the guidebook 'The Manager as Negotiator', the very essence of negotiation is creating and claiming value. The writer explains that every person in a negotiation strives to advance his or her interests and maximize his or her advantages. Further, the writer points out that the goal of the process is ultimately to attempt to bridge the gap, ideally, between two different points of view by creating a more equitable solution that improves upon either party's narrowly advanced interests. The writer concludes that this dilemma between the producers and the musicians highlights the difficulty of negotiation when two parties approach the issue not simply with two distinct interests, but from two different philosophical paradigms of who owns the art that is the essence of both side's livelihood and lives.
From the Paper "David Lax's and James Sebenius' illustration of this principle is that of bartering. For example, two persons with different material goods, such as bananas and pears, are able to come to an better agreement if they can arrive at a fair price, than they would be had they refused to trade at all, as both will have more variety of foodstuffs in the long run. However, this example can prove difficult when one party attempts to transpose this assumption onto the field of the arts. In business negotiations, finances tend to dominate. No matter how divided the two parties are in terms of how they see an issue, usually the crucial matter involves dollars and cents. Likewise, in a divorce settlement, emotions and the welfare of the children often dominate the proceedings, even though finances are also an issue. Regardless, both parties tend to view the proceeding from the same paradigm - either primarily from a professional or a personal standpoint."
Abstract This paper reviews various peer-reviewed academic and professional literature relating to chocolate in Mayan and Aztec society. It looks at how chocolate or 'cacao' was used by both the Mayan and Aztec cultures for various purposes including as a base of drink mixtures for consumption generally by the elite in society and as well was consumed on special occasions such as engagement and wedding ceremonies. It also examines how at one time chocolate was a form of currency in trade and bartering among peoples and nations.
Outline:
Introduction
The Origin of Chocolate
The Uses of Chocolate
Chocolate and Societal Status
The Science of Chocolate
Chocolate: Trade
Summary and Conclusion
From the Paper "Chocolate was additionally a food consumed during ceremonies celebrating engagements and marriages. Visiting dignitaries were given gifts of chocolate as well. Chocolate is stated by Norton to have been "associated with a lifesource, originating from or strengthened by its blood red coloring achieved by adding achiote." (2004; 3) Norton states that chocolate not only played a central role in Mayan and Aztec cultures as the basis for a drink of status but also was additionally "embedded in a range of social, diplomatic, and religious rituals." (2004; 3) Norton relates that the Europeans first encountered chocolate during the voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1502."
