"Every time a child is born, the quantum world of possibility is magnified and folded by powers of 10. If you could visualize flower-like geysers of networked opportunities. The raw potential that each human creature possesses distributes their worth beyond the priceless. Human capital is the world’s untapped wealth that today’s monetary oligarchies have failed to recognize, which will be their demise."
me
![theatlantic:
Why You Should Give Away Free Stuff To Your Neighbors
Freecycle launched in Tucson, Arizona, back in 2003 as a local email list with the simple premise of helping people unload junk they no longer wanted – furniture, clothing, office supplies, you name it – onto nearby people who did. The system came with one rule: Whatever you’re giving up, you can ask for nothing in return. Everything must be free.
Today, the online network of Freecycle communities has nearly 9 million members around the world all collecting hand-me-downs from each other’s doorsteps. These people have gone even further than “collaborative consumption” or a “sharing economy.” They’ve created a massive gifting economy.
Sociologists have long been intrigued by these kinds of benevolent “generalized exchange communities” (if you’ve ever given blood or participated in a Secret Santa, you’ve been a part of one). What motivates people to participate in them? And what happens to a community when its members willingly give to each other with no expectation of getting anything in return (at least not immediately)?
Read more at The Atlantic Cities. [Image: Lomiere/Flickr]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m53mw9PUIe1qcokc4o1_500.jpg)
Why You Should Give Away Free Stuff To Your Neighbors
Freecycle launched in Tucson, Arizona, back in 2003 as a local email list with the simple premise of helping people unload junk they no longer wanted – furniture, clothing, office supplies, you name it – onto nearby people who did. The system came with one rule: Whatever you’re giving up, you can ask for nothing in return. Everything must be free.
Today, the online network of Freecycle communities has nearly 9 million members around the world all collecting hand-me-downs from each other’s doorsteps. These people have gone even further than “collaborative consumption” or a “sharing economy.” They’ve created a massive gifting economy.
Sociologists have long been intrigued by these kinds of benevolent “generalized exchange communities” (if you’ve ever given blood or participated in a Secret Santa, you’ve been a part of one). What motivates people to participate in them? And what happens to a community when its members willingly give to each other with no expectation of getting anything in return (at least not immediately)?
Read more at The Atlantic Cities. [Image: Lomiere/Flickr]
