Alternative Economy Quotes

“He had never owned a car. He biked or hitchhiked where he needed to go. He had recently turned against the word should, and doing so had made him a happier person. He found the market economy and it's anonymous exchange boring. He'd like to imagine a farm where no money changed hands, only goodwill and favors. He had a theory that you had to start out by giving stuff away- preferably big stuff, worth, he figured, about a thousand dollars. At first, he said, people are discomfited by such a big gift. They try to make it up to you, by giving something big in return. And then you give them something else, and they give you something else, and pretty soon nobody is keeping score. There is simply a flow of things from place of excess to place of need. It's personal, and it's satisfying, and everyone feels good about it. This guy is completely nuts, I thought. But what if he's right?”
― Kristin Kimball, The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love