Can a Large Economy be Based on Sharing?

Hunter gatherer societies achieve almost complete economic equality largely because their economy is based primarily on sharing not exchange or command.

Our exchange economy inevitably creates inequality because people with something more valuable can exchange for more of the stuff other people have. 

In a sharing economy your goods and skills are shared with the group, everyone contributes what they can, even though some can and do contribute more, no one worried about that, as long as everyone tries. If you are too young old or disabled to contribute you still get the same access to stuff. I have not found accounts of able people habitually contributing nothing, they will skip work sometimes if they don't feel like it, I expect they would be face dire consequences if persistent. 

Hunter gatherer societies are 1) relatively small, 2) everyone knows everyone and are usually related, 3) there is minimal division of labor and 4) everyone can see what everyone else is doing and what they have.  

The question is are these things essential for a sharing economy or can a large, even global, economy do the same and so enjoy both equality and complex technology? What would such an economy be like, would it be happier, or seem much the same once we get used to it? Surprisingly I have not come across much attempt to answer this, I will try to make a start here.

1) Scale. Is smallness necessary for sharing?

 Public libraries are based on sharing easily moved non-perishable objects, and with inter-loan form a global system. They work pretty well. Food banks work in large cities, so sharing of perishables, things that can't be returned, also seems to work on a large scale. Roads are shared over vast distances, so immovable infrastructure also works. It is not clear what would happen if everything in an economy was treated like this at the same time, especially things that are rare and valuable.  

2)  Is it necessary for everyone to know everyone and be related? 

Again libraries, food banks and roads do not involve everyone knowing everyone, libraries and roads do require identification, library cards and drivers licenses, I expect most food banks identify individuals, at least from memory, to make sure no one takes more than their fair share. 

Many people do care less about people they do not know, or even hate foreigners or different ethnic, racial or other groups. It seems unlikely large scale sharing would be adopted or work as long as this is true. 

3) Is minimal division of labor necessary for sharing? 

People voluntarily share all kinds or skills and all kinds of goods in modern society, one off acts of sharing like this would probably work on a large scale, much like shopping in an exchange economy. I am not aware of a large factory or corporation being run voluntarily, where large numbers of people interlock in the same roles over a very long period, it may happen with aid organizations like the Red Cross. If people are basically free, have free access to resources for survival though sharing, have equal access to land and housing, do not have to make money, it may be hard to find workers for unpleasant or boring interlocking jobs especially over long periods.

It is also hard to see how a large factory or corporation could be efficient without a hierarchy, a chain of command. If every major decision required an egalitarian (the aim of this essay) consensus or majority, common sense would say it would take forever and nothing would get done, unless perhaps there was an extraordinary leap in human maturity and rationality.   

It seems like it could only work if people were very motivated to do good for the community or humanity, the planet, if that ever happens finding workers to make slot machines, nuclear weapons or hard drugs might be impossible. Basically I find this factor the most difficult and am still thinking about it. 

4) Is it necessary for everyone to see what everyone else is doing and what they have?

 In a large economy it is impossible for everyone to see directly what everyone is doing and how much they have because of distance and privacy. It would be possible to keep an electronic transaction of all, or most, sharing transactions as is done electronically with exchange today. This could be monitored, perhaps by anyone, or automatically, personal identification would not be essential if privacy is need for security for instance, as is the case with number plates today.  

This electronic record would require the internet and computers, something much like the banking system, as mentioned above I am not certain we could maintain such a complex technological and administrative system if people are not desperate for money or personally ambitious (ambition would be rarer when everything is shared, no personal fortunes being possible). But again I am unsure about this and will have to think about it. 

Given the uncertainties it would seem any real world attempts at large scale sharing systems should be limited and reversible, along side proven exchange systems.

Feel free to share your thoughts below. 

References.

The Semai. A Non-Violent People of Malaya. R Dentan.1968.

Anthropology and the Economy of Sharing. T Widlock. 2017.

Hunters and Gatherers. Property, Power and Ideology. Ingold, Riches, Woodburn. 1988.

The Hadza. Hunter Gatherers of Tanzania. F Marlowe. 2010.

  

    

         

New Green Cities in Countryside for New Zealand

A possible alternative to more urban high rise apartments, in already overcrowded lonely cities, I have not heard floated in New Zealand is completely new human-scaled cities in the country between existing cities.

Cities designed from scratch to be completely green.

Roads wide enough for bike, bus and scooter lanes.

15 minute city neighborhoods: work, play, essential shops, rest, heath care, social-communing space, nature, participatory politics within walking distance or short commute.

Self-sufficient in energy with renewables including gas from sewerage.

A genuinely diverse economy geared at least as much to self-reliance as external trade (reducing, at least to an extent, the usual need to be located near a port).

High rise minimal and scattered evenly to increase local community self-reliance rather than centralization.

Sections with large gardens or nearby community gardens should be easy to to get.

Schumacher on science solving problems

 "I have no doubt that science can solve any individual problem when it's clearly defined. But my experience is that as it solves problem A it creates a whole host of other problems. It's quite a thought that there are more scientists alive today than there have been in all previous human history taken together. What do they all do? They solve problems very efficiently. Aren't we running out of problems? No. We have more and more"

E F Schumacher. Good Work. 1979. P 98.   

I suspect he is talking mainly about corporate funded science, which focuses on profit for the company not wellbeing of society or ecosystem. I think more democratic control of what scientists do, such as approval from experts in other fields, or public, that might be affected. This would slow science down but make it less destructive. 

Agora for every suburb

Ancient Athens was a genuine democracy partly because of the physical existence of agora, circular or semi-circular seating designed for all members of the community to come together as one and collaborate in decision making.

Such public structures are rare or non-existent in representative "democracy" in an effort, perhaps often instinctive and unconscious, to keep the population divided and isolated in their private lives, to consolidate and facilitate the power monopoly of the so-called elected "representatives".

Public seating, if it exists at all, is invariably for small groups facing away from each other. Most public space being for motorized transportation or walking between private places or recreation, not politics. Protest marches often seem annoying or inconsiderate as there is no specific space for them so they inevitably end up blocking traffic. 

The closest thing to public agora in recent history was the occupy movement which had to resort to commandeering parks illegally.

It was also ironically plagued by desperate and dysfunctional, often homeless, people created by the system they were opposing. This issue would unfortunately have to be addressed with security and/ or help, perhaps even agora group therapy, until issues of casualties of capitalism are solved.

Sports fields and stadiums, designed to divide the population and preoccupy them with vacuous animalistic trivia and preparation for war might be better reversed in design to become modern agora, community hubs for creative collaborative participatory democracy.  

--‐--

A similar version of this was sent to the mayor and councillors of Wellington City and got the following response:

Good morning David

 

Many thanks for this and I'm always looking for better ways to increase democracy and inclusiveness in our society.  However, the costs of running this city are also placing increased costs that are making it unaffordable for many residents and businesses.

 

Building Agora infrastructure in every suburb would be tremendously expensive, much less even finding the space to do this. 

 

However, I do agree that this idea has merit and will copy this to our EMQ to get feedback from our planning team.

 

Cheers Ray

 

 

 

Rayward R Chung

Wellington City Councillor

Onslow Western ward

Wellington City Council

Hi again

 

Yes cost of making agora from scratch in every suburb would be great, but might be an investment. 

 

As I suggested sports stadiums might double as agora, also university lecture theatres and school halls maybe, central city concert halls could perhaps be shared, used in rotation by different suburbs.  

 

I think try one or two before introducing them in every suburb, to see if people are interested, they may be more interested in escaping reality online

 

thanks again for considering my idea

 

David

----

Hi David

I would say that to proceed with this, we'll need to put this proposal into the Long-Term Plan and so it'll need to be an agenda item.  I'll discuss this with the officers.  We might be able to re-purpose some of our existing facilities as you suggest, like school halls and existing community facilities?

Cheers Ray

Retiring Councillor Nīkau Wi Neera also expressed support for idea in a private message.   

People having the power to directly shape their local community and economy through agora might reduce the migration crisis throughout the world. At present for many migration seems the only hope for improving one's situation, it shouldn't be.

I think direct local democracy is likely to be more interesting, manageable and comprehensible, so more successful, if developed in conjunction with more diverse, self reliant local economies. The book 'All those in Favor Rediscovering the Secrets of Town Meeting and Community' ( in Vermont) says town meetings work considerably better in small towns than big cities, this may be why, great scale may be good for the ego but gets unwieldy. Perhaps suburbs could be more self reliant and complete like small towns.

Developing creative collaboration skills and attitudes ( Robert Kelly. Collaborative Creativity. 2020.) rather than seeing politics as a competitive, often destructive, game is also probably essential for success of agora.

Also the book 'Slow Democracy' points out town meetings have to have some real power, as in Vermont and New England, if politicians stage town meeting for show but then ignore what people say in them, people will stop turning up.  

Finally agora meetings would go a long way towards creating community, which is often non-existent in industrial "society".

Gestalt combinations as vegan/vegetarian meat substitutes.

I find no single vegetarian or vegan food on its own comes close to meat for its multiple pleasurable qualities. I find I need a combination of at least five different types of food mixed together to equal or even surpass the extremely complex experience of meat.

So far I've found I need a nut, a fruit, a root crop (or similar above ground substantial, satisfying crop such as pumpkin) a mushroom and a bean of some sort are necessary chopped up and fried together as one. For me frying is essential to get the sumptuous of meat, perhaps because cooking oil resembles animal fat. A bit of hot chili often as well. Together they form a whole greater than the sum of its parts (a gestalt). 

I always combine this with uncooked salad and mix that up with it. A sauce such as caramelized onion briefly fried with it just before serving tends to complete it. Small quantities of cheese if acceptable, not essential.

I find this no different to doing a painting, you go by feel: this goes well with that, a little too much here, a little more there, somethings missing here, this should balance that out.

I am not entirely sure why I think each type contributes some aspect of meat. Mushrooms seem luscious like meat, nuts rich, beans satisfying, chili intense, root crops substantial, fruit fleshy in texture. I just know they work together to equal or even surpass meat for me.

Note: After two weeks on this vegan diet, along with vegan eating out I developed severe and painful indigestion, combined with constipation. 

A dietician advised me later on that a sudden change from low fiber to very high fiber could explain this. 

Aloe arborescens flower stem edibility

 

In addition to the edible uses for Aloe arborescens listed on the Plants for a Future website

 https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Aloe+arborescens

I find if you peel off the mature or immature flowers the remaining stem is edible, pleasantly crunchy, a bit like water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis) in texture, free of fibers and only slightly bitter. I also regard the immature flowers as edible, like the flowers of several other Aloes, they are essentially tasteless. I think the mature flowers are non-toxic but they have small fiddly inedible bits that are annoying and have to be removed from the mouth by hand so only of survival value.  

Scientific concerns have been raised about long term heavy ingestion of parts of this plant so moderation wise.  

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6349368/

It is also worth noting the only edible use for it in its native Africa is sucking the nectar.  

Aloe arborescens is a fairly common "weed" here in New Zealand.  

Solar Dishes to Evaporate Wellington Municipal Wastewater

Wellington City Council are looking at 1.8 billion to upgrade our antiquated wastewater/sewerage system (1). 

More crippling rates for everyone.

I am not an expert in parabolic solar dishes but the technology is very simple in principle so I am going to make a suggestion.

I wonder if large solar dishes could be used on individual properties, or shared by neighborhoods, to evaporate wastewater by boiling it with concentrated sunlight, instead of spending billions on underground pipes. This would require very little power, mainly pumping of water, which could possibly be done with windmills.  

The water could be allowed to escape into the atmosphere, perhaps speeding up cloud formation, which may slow global warming due to increased cloud cover reflecting sunlight back into space. Or perhaps water could be captured and recycled locally as it will have been effectively distilled.  

Solid waste would have to be filtered somehow and/ or a composting toilet could be integrated with the system, the main concern here is how to get rid of the great volume of waste liquid most households produce.

I expect this would be a lot cheaper than new pipes if it could work. Perhaps individuals or streets that do it on their own initiative could get a rates reduction for reducing strain on the sewer system, or refuse to pay some of their rates. 

It seems likely WCC consultants have not considered this due to professional bias.

Feel free to comment/refute below, especially if you (think you) have expertise in the area. 

I have shared this idea with the Wellington City Council, no reply so far.

Reference.

1) https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/509817/almost-half-of-wellington-wastewater-pipes-poor-or-very-poor

Bromeliad flower stem as food

 

I find the peeled lower part of the immature flower stem of the epiphytic bromeliad Aechmea distichantha glaziovii is good to eat, white, free of fibers, of good texture and inoffensive in flavor, so I regard it as edible. A bit like bamboo shoots.

It seems to be the consensus online that the only known toxicity in bromeliads is the unripe fruit of pineapple. 

I have not tried this with any other bromeliad yet, but will. 

The only record I cold find of a similar use in a bromeliad is the young inflorescence of Bromelia pinquin, which is used as a vegetable in Puerto Rico (ref: Bromeliads: Edible & Therapeutic by Michael Spencer).

I find Aechmea distichantha glaziovii grows okay outside here in Wellington, New Zealand, but it does not seem to get hot enough for it to produce the edible fruit.  

I have tried many edible epiphytes in temperate Wellington, thinking they might be a good way to get a harvest from a niche not often used, (attached to) the sides of a house. 

I've tried orchids, cacti, bromeliads, Astelia, ferns, Vaccinium, although most survive and look good, so far most have produced little or no harvest, probably because most are really suited to warmer climates in the case of cacti and bromeliads and dry winters in the case of orchids. The occasional mucilaginous flowers of Epiphyllum probably the most productive so far.  Astelia "widow maker" kept growing too big and heavy for its supports, should have seen that coming. Summers were too dry for Vaccinium delavayi. It also seems improbable anything growing without much soil could be highly productive. I have not tried Monstera as an air plant, probably the epiphyte with the "best" or most commercial crop, which is reasonably productive in Wellington. I worry the roots could damage a house.           

   

Eating Taro spadix

 

It appears the spadix of taro, Colocasia esculenta, is rarely eaten. But the book Cornucopia II by Facciola (1998) says the spadix (phallic looking bit in middle of the flower) was roasted with pork or fish in Japan as a delicacy. I could only find one online paper reporting its use as food, in Dali, China, it is deep fried then stewed or stir fried with pork and chili peppers (The Diversity of Edible Flowers and its Biocultural Role in Local Food Systems in Dali, South West China. Zhang et al 2025).

I decided to try the spadix of the variety Black Magic that had produced flowers in an outdoor water tub in Wellington, New Zealand.  

I chewed and spat out a bit raw, as expected it produce the sensation of burning needles in the mouth due to toxic calcium oxalate crystals common in aroids. So I boiled it for an hour with two changes of water, I then found it bland in flavor but with an interesting creamy texture. There was still a very slight numbing and tingling, perhaps that is what they like about it in Dali and Japan, like the numbing and tingling enjoyed when eating the puffer fish in Japan, due to traces of toxin almost entirely eliminated through cooking. Combined with the heat of chili peppers, as in Dali, the cooked spadix would be rather intense and unique. 

Apparently lengthy cooking does not completely remove toxic calcium oxalate crystals in taro, corms included. The idea is to reduce it to a basically harmless dose. But people with kidney problems and rheumatoid arthritis are best to avoid taro and other aroids unless they are fermented, which is the only way to completely eliminate the crystals (Discovering Vegetables and Herbs and Spices. Susanna Lyle. 2009.)

Rhaphiolepis umbellata seeds edible

 

According to Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World 1976, the seeds of Rhaphiolepis umbellata are crushed, ground into flour and made into dumplings in times of famine (spelt Raphiolepis in the text). 

I tried some seeds, with thin flesh still on. Raw they are really too hard to eat, but after brief boiling they become soft enough to eat. They are similar to a peanut in texture, slightly crunchy and firm. The taste is bland, a bit nutty. Not delicious but not bad. Skin can be removed easily after boiling. There were sometimes a few annoying little basically inedible bits left in the mouth after swallowing, from some part of the skin or stem perhaps. 

Perhaps worth including in a coastal edible garden, mainly as shelter for less tough crops with bonus of passable snack or something to add bulk to a stir fry or dumpling. 

It grows wild here in New Zealand, I gathered these seeds from a wild plant near the sea. 

  

Canna x generalis stem pith edibility

 

I find the peeled young stem pith of Canna x generalis is edible and good to eat. Crisp and crunchy like water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis), of reasonable size, with little to no flavor but pleasant and refreshing. 

The inner youngish stem pith is fiber free and white, you really need to cut away the outer fibrous layers, it is not visually obvious where the fibers start and stop. Probably best raw or very briefly fried, boiling does not really add anything. 

Productivity is pretty good.

It seems a little strange there seems to be no record of the stem pith of any Canna being eaten by humans, unless references to the shoots being edible mean this, more likely they refer to the very young leaves. I can find no record of toxicity in Canna. The roots, seeds and and shoots of some species are well known as food.

I have not tried any other Canna stem pith yet, some at least are likely to be similar.  

Boiled they turn green

(At least some) Dianella nigra berries not bad to eat

There are several unreferenced sources online saying Dianella nigra berries are toxic to humans despite being popular with birds. According to the book "The Poisonous Plants in New Zealand", by Connor, the berries were suspected of causing the death of a child in the nineteenth century but there was no evidence the berries were the cause. This is probably the origin of the unlikely theory they are toxic. Connor goes on to say there is no evidence they are toxic.

Low (1) says all (Australian) Dianella that taste good are safe to eat in small amounts, he does not actually say large amounts are harmful, he may just be playing it safe.

 

I have been eating the purple berries of what I'm pretty certain is Dianella nigra planted at the parking lot of Appleton Park, Karori, Wellington, New Zealand. They are rather insipid, but of good juicy texture and the seeds have a crunch. I find them reasonably good if you count the interesting color, acceptable added to a salad, more of a small vegetable than a fruit as they are not sweet. I think worth having in the garden as a salad backup, especially for a shady spot. Left to dry and shrivel they resemble raisons in texture. I think one of the better native berries to eat, admittedly that's not saying much.

Interesting Crowe (2) says they are not known to be toxic but are unpleasantly bitter, I did not find them to be bitter at all. Perhaps I have been eating an edible Australian Dianella but this seems unlikely (see photos of what I've been eating below). 

It seems more likely there is variation in taste of berries, recently Dianella nigra was divided into three distinct species that can interbreed (3), Crowe may have sampled a different species or strain to me, the berries can vary in colour so variation in taste seems possible.    

 

References.

1 Wild Food Plants of Australia. T Low.

2) A Field Guide to the Edible Native Plants of New Zealand. A Crowe 

3)  https://www.oratianatives.co.nz/catalogue_extras.php?article_id=215&catalogue_id=305