The Root of Gratuity is Gratitude

Business - A Two Party System

I have a friend whose net worth is greater than 1,000,000. When he was a child his mother would have him bathe his face in a bowl of clean pennies. He told me it was an abundance ritual. Statistics tell us that people who have less give more. Now why is that? "Having enough" is psychological, not a measure of how much someone has.

48% of people with a net worth over 1 million feel like they don't have enough. What this tells us is that: It's not the amount of money that matters, (unless you don't have enough for your basic needs). But your relationship to what you already have. Money is a neutral energy taking on the intention of the holder.

In a time before monetary exchange, before the barter system, The Gift was the method in which members of a community got their needs met. In most ancient languages they did not have a word to distinguish the giver from the recipient. This form of exchange is a modern invention. Modern Business practices can't help but separate every transaction into two parties. That is why it is a common practice not to mix business and relationships.

Business can't help but split relationships into two. The "Self" and The "Other," The Buyer and Seller, The lender and the recipient. Drawing the chasm of separation further and further apart. Think about the English Language or "the language of business." To use a noun separates the subject and object. From there it is easy to apply a category and eventual ownership.

From the 6th Century to the 21st Century

Money (as we know it today) first took its form in the 6th Century, Greece. This is around the same time the first Philosopher's emerged. Pythagoras elevated numbers over everything. This was the first time that cultural thought made a divide between the abstract and the concrete. Human symbols once stood as one with what they represented. During this era they became distinct.

Spirituality and Materiality split. The Gods left the world to sit in the skies, judging what happened below. Plato was a major player in separating essence and appearance. Putting emphasis on the immaterial and it's importance in human thought. Socrates (his mentor) made clear of a universal aim with money as a metaphor.

He put intelligence above all other goals. But what is the measurement of intelligence? How do you know when you achieve a refined intelligence? This aim has no end. In an endless pursuit we are always chasing. Still running that direction is our modern thought, sprinting forward for "betterment.”

Think about the effect it would have on your spirituality if you gave up on a projected future goal. A goal you believed was the key to everything. How would it feel to give up on your endless journey to improve yourself. To just EXIST, PLAY and BE instead of mentally fixed in the future. As a starting point, then to build from that place.

How has the universal end game effected our religious thinking? That the aim of life lies in some remote part of the Cosmos, salvation. Or "I am not good enough" until I achieve Enlightenment (or any other end goal). Our projecting of an end goal has othered us from the experience we are having now.

Did the philosophy of those times change the trajectory for the future of economics and finances? I say, Yes. Your thoughts have a profound effect on the world around you. You're responsible for what you think. Economics and Consciousness are intertwined.

Money as the Universal End

Money is no longer a means to end. It is an end. It is the beginning of every project (investment) and the end to everything we build (liquidation). The financial sector of the economy no longer reflects the resource economy.

In 2020 (during the lockdowns) on paper the economy was thriving. While many businesses were at a production stand-still. People had more time to buy goods in stock and the economy boomed. Money no longer represents tangible production.

Money is our new abstract aim. Where the most profitable positions are not the laborers and traders but the Wall Street Warlocks. Who do nothing but sit in front of a screen and manipulate symbols we made, driving home Pythagorean belief, "All is Numbers."

This brings us to the Materialist Movement of Galileo and Newton. Who removed the Gods completely from the workings of the Cosmos. To replace it with an impersonal clock of mass and force. But who wound the clock?

This is now explained as The Big Bang, which most Astrophysicists no longer believe to be the origin of our Universe. Where does that leave us? With money, of course, the new force that makes the world go round. This has transformed into the wealth gains and grind culture, money as the new belief. is called Liquidation. The institutions that hold money are called Banks. Sources of income are referred to as Streams. Your money should not be held or else it grows cold like ice - a frozen river is unable to flow. It should not burn a hole in your pocket either or it will evaporate into steam - lost to the winds.

The Gift Economy

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to get rid of money or economics. What I am saying is money is a tool that we have yet to master and find balance with.

Can we bring the Gift back into the Economy? Arising out of the awareness toward bettering our communities. To bring the Gift back into the flow of exchange. Creating time to make gifts standardized currency cannot. Like a sewn shirt, a knitted scarf or a carved wooden spoon.

I want to make a distinction between gifts and the Gift. During the holidays we get many gifts but how many of them are as invaluable as the items I have mentioned above. Few.

This holiday season think about where you are buying your presents. Can you help local businesses or a local crafts-person? Are you buying from massive Companies? Is your gift imbued with sentiment or is it something to fill an ornamented box?

This is a micro-step forward. When we can be mindful towards the goods we buy, we can be intentional of what we consume. Money has created an anti-materialism. Where it is cheaper to send a duplicate product rather than return the broken item to fix. Everything is dispensable.

In The Gift Economy you should be able to buy standardized products. Also, you should have the time and freedom to use your hands and create crafts. Technology should be standardized, our gifts should not. Sentiment has no value money can measure. It is rooted in our hearts and the care we extend to the receiver. It is intimate, it connects us in a more profound way with each other and our world.

Money is a tool that should be working for you, not against you. Not just for the select few but for the greater good of society and the world as a whole. You should not be a slave to money. Allow it to serve you as originally intended.

How? You might ask. Let's talk about it. I want to hear your thoughts (they have value too).

My thoughts - start a business. Finding a skillset (could be something you've been practicing on your own or as a career). Providing guidance, through that business, to help create solutions to human problems. With the internet this makes being an entrepreneur even easier. No matter if you're alone in your vision.

I've had two solo-businesses. One as a Reiki Practitioner & Medical Massage Therapist. The other as a Peer Support Specialist. I handled everything on my own. It is possible, and right now we need to create income to think creatively. Why not create that income being of service to the betterment of others. As opposed to suffering in a dead-end job, where you are expendable.

We can start here, and together, I want to explore more ideas to create The Gift Economy, so reply, engage, think deeply. We have to master the Free Market to change it.

I'm dropping an offer - Alchemize Monetize. To guide personal transformation and teach how you can turn that into a business. (Collecting Beta-testers, email me if interested).

Hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

Benji Faun