New Orleans January Evolver Spore: Give It Up

DESCRIPTION

Debt-based currencies controlled by closed syndicates of private banks are not the only way that humans can make an economy.  Many tribal cultures have organized themselves around an entirely different way of exchanging value: The gift. Where our financial system expertly moves resources from the many to the few, gift-based cultures like to share what they have – as writer Lewis Hyde noted, “The gift moves toward the empty place.” At a time when billions are enslaved by passionless work while inequity reaches new historic heights, we are seeing a postmodern revival of sharing and gifting, with examples ranging from the open source movement to the annual Burning Man festival.
 
In this Spore, we explore the abstract theory and practical dynamics of gifting, the challenges of implementing this innovative, yet archaic, way of getting what you want and wanting what you get. We invite fellow Evolvers to bring their precious gifts – whether it be witticisms or wood-carved totems to the Spore and spread them around.  We will be screening “Burn on the Bayou,” a mini-documentary chronicling Burners without Borders gifting efforts during seven months of relief work in the Katrina-battered Gulf Coast towns of Biloxi and Pearlington, MS. Since that time, BWB has grown into an international, grassroots organization whose projects are based on the principle of gifting.

PRESENTERS
Summer Burkes is a longtime worker for the Burning Man festival outside Reno, Nevada, moved to New Orleans on April Fool's Day of last year. Interested in seeing how the things she learned at That Place In The Desert could translate into the real world, Summer chose to migrate back home to the South to see what was up in the Lower Ninth Ward and how she could help. Currently, she has started working with Burners Without Borders and the Lower Ninth Ward Village to initiate a program called "Where's Your Neighbor?"

James Oroc is an author,extreme sports journalist, and art car builder. His book Tryptamine Palace: A Journey From Burning Man to the Akashic Field has been gathering rave reviews since it's publication. He has been on panels with Daniel Pinchbeck and Alex Grey among others. 

WEBSITES
http://www.realitysandwich.com/evolver_spores_give_it
http://summerburkes.wordpress.com
www.jamesoroc.com