Nature practises a gift economy
» Nature
produces food from herself and gives it to her living creatures.«
–
Joytopia
The members of nature do what they do because
of an internal stimulus. The busy bee collects nectar which the flower freely
gives it because it is consistent with its being. It can’t do any differently.
It follows its inner motivation, its instinct. Along the way flower pollen
sticks to its hairy legs. And while it flies from flower to flower, it carries
on the flower pollen and helps pollinate other flowers. Fruits grow from the
pollinated flowers – apples, pears, plums, berries, tomatoes peas, beans…, delicious
food for humans and animals – all free gifts.
The animals, in their turn, run or fly around
and drop their heaps wherever they like (as did our human ancestors). The seed
falls to earth embedded in valuable dung and can grow up into a new plant. So
that all this can happen the sun gives us warmth and rain falls from the
clouds. Worms and other organisms make the soil fertile and solubilise the nutrients so that they can be taken up by
the roots – just like that.
Has any of the living creatures made an
agreement with the others? Have they taken out a loan or set conditions? – Who
has thought up this wonderful teamwork? Chance? Hardly, for »God doesn’t play
dice«. God gives us the most valuable thing we possess – our life. So nature
practises a gift economy. Not a market economy, not communism or capitalism –
nothing but a gift economy!
We humans have preserved a few relicts of the
gift economy. We can still find something of it in our cultures and religions:
»It is more blessed to give than to receive« with the Christians, generosity
with the Buddhists, the proverbial hospitality of the Orientals, the gift
festivals of the Indians. And also citizens’ voluntary commitment, donations,
compassion…, qualities and activities, without which our modern society would
not function anymore.
Abundance
»When nature is in order, abundance
prevails, i.e. there is more food available than is needed. Food is perishable
and can only be stored for a certain amount of time«.
– Joytopia
Not only does nature freely give us what we
need; she also gives it to us in abundance. When we sit by a river, fresh water
constantly flows from one side, far more than we will ever need. All the water
we don’t need goes on flowing. That was at least the primitive situation before
industrialisation used, polluted and contaminated water on a large scale. At
that time people could bathe in the rivers and drink the water from streams and
rivers.
Another example is a healthy apple tree which
bears a lot of fruit. Animals (as long as they do not invade as pests) do not
consume the entire crop but eat what they need and leave the rest on the tree.
Here too, nature supplies more than is needed. The unconsumed apples rot and
re-enter the natural cycle.
An interesting observation is the fact that the
use of a resource in nature often creates added value. Plants and animals that drink water grow and
reproduce or at least keep themselves alive. Furthermore, the consumption of
fruits also serves the reproduction of the plants that have produced the fruits
– as thanks from the beneficiary to the
donors.
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