"Ethical Loss": Whether it counts as a gift

The exchange of gifts can be traced back to the ancient clan society. It is actually a moral economic-social behavior. In other words, the items to be exchanged and exchanged have taken the form of gifts. However, exchange of gifts is not exchange of goods, but a kind of reciprocal behavior regulated by moral rules. Its starting point is not to pursue the maximization of "net income", but to maximize the "net expenditure" because the purpose of gift exchange is the reproduction of social relations.

In the exchange of goods, the exchanges and returns of the two parties are synchronized and the exchange is completed at a common point in time. For example, at some point, A gives B a sheep (expenditure), but A also gets a cloth from B (reward). Under the conditions of monetary economy, both parties exchanged money in one hand and delivered in one hand. However, unlike this, the “disbursements” and “returns” of gift exchanges are not synchronized but are two separate periods separated by time periods. For example, A sent to B a sheep, is the first stage. Then, in the second phase, some uncertain time in the future, A can get some form of return (return) from B. There is a “time difference” between the latter and the former. To minimize the risk of Recipient B's refusal to return, the gift exchange must have some kind of contract. However, in ancient societies, gift exchanges did not take the form of “clear contract” but took the form of “hidden moral contract”. In other words, the exchange of gifts has become moral.

The French anthropologist, Moss, believes in the book “Gifts” that, subject to the inner sense of morality, the gift exchanger regards gift giving and return as a kind of obligation. In the exchange of gifts, not only is the gift of gifts an obligation, but the acceptance of gifts is also an obligation. Refusal to give gifts or gifts is like announcing a war or breaking a relationship. After the ceremony, returning to the ceremony is an obligation, otherwise it will degrade a person's reputation or face.

Obviously, under the prerequisite of the moralization of gift exchanges, the risk of no return after giving gifts is greatly reduced. However, it is interesting to note that in a traditional society, the purpose of gift giving by a gift giver is, on the level of its consciousness, not for the sake of the giftee's future return, but out of obligation, or for obtaining fame and face. However, the gift giver's gift-giving behavior objectively placed himself in the position of “human creditor” and also placed the recipient in the position of “human debtor”. Under the control of the gift of morality, the recipient receives some kind of moral pressure, that is, the pressure of return. Accepting the gift means accepting "human debt" and "human debt" must be repaid. Returning to courtesy has become a way for Literators to offset their "human debt" and the giftee's "human rights debt." It can be seen that, from the point of view of the gift giver, it is not a matter of gift-giving act “for the purpose of returning the giftee”. In fact, he will receive the material reward (reward) of the recipient. In layman's terms, the "subjective GiftMarketing53 sales and marketplace GiftMarketing53 sales and marketing for others" (gift giving) behavior, get the "objective for yourself" (rewards) consequences.

From "moral investment" to "material investment"

From a modern rational point of view, gift giving is a kind of “moral investment,” and its return method is gratitude (moral gain, ie, reputation) and return (substance benefit) by the gifler. The gift economy is nothing but a moral economy. However, in the modern commodity economy, the transformation of capital form does not need to go through the moral capital link, but in the gift economy, the transformation of capital form must go through the intermediary of moral capital, that is, material capital 1 (gift) → moral capital (human rights creditor’s rights And reputation) → material capital 2 (return)

However, unlike physical capital in the commodity economy, physical capital in the gift economy is often not value-added. For example, the gift received by the recipient was a Dogugu. After a period of time, he only had to return to Rokudou or other things equivalent to a valley. If the quantity and quality of the return gifts exceed the quantity and quality of the original gifts, not only will the returnees offset all their “human debts”, but they will also receive some new “human rights claims”, and in turn will return the original “human creditors”. "Placed in a "human debtor" status.

In traditional societies, the purpose and motivation of a gift (material capital 1) to give a gift is moral capital, not the gift of a giftee (material capital 2). In other words, moral capital is the “obvious purpose” of gift giving, while material capital 2 (back to the giftee) is its “subconscious” (unrecognized).

Today, the traditional gift-giving behavior has continued, but its function and mode of use have undergone major changes. As mentioned above, the traditional gift-giving behavior is moral behavior, and its purpose is to obtain moral capital. However, today's gift giving behavior has been utilitarianized. Its purpose is not to obtain moral capital, but physical capital, that is, return or return of the returnee. Here, the gift giver does not value the moral capital (reputation, such as "friends enough", "sense of loyalty", and "righteousness") brought by the gift, but uses the moral capital as a means and tool to obtain the giftee. Future gifts (eg scarce resources in hand). In today’s economic life, social life, and political life, there have been many phenomena of “grafting” traditional gift-giving behaviors, that is, utilitarian gifts have been transformed. For example, individual officials pass "giving gifts" to superior officials to cultivate "personal feelings" in order to achieve the goal of being promoted in the career. Some enterprise managers pass "giving gifts" to government officials to cultivate long-term "private friendship" in order to obtain The asylum, care, and other benefits of officials; patients give “gifts” (red envelopes) to doctors in order to receive meticulous and safe treatment. This type of gift act is essentially dressed in “human emotions” and “gifts”. Coats of interest trading behavior.

In addition, with the rapid development of modern commodity societies, business practices have penetrated into every corner of human society, with commercial purposes, and commercial gifts with certain emotional elements have also emerged. Americans call commercial gifts special advertisements and are an extension of the advertising promotion function. Appropriate commercial gifts can not only serve the company's advertising role, but also achieve the purpose of thanking customers. At the same time, it can also strengthen and strengthen the existing good relationship between the company and its customers. Appropriate business gifts not only express gratitude, but also don’t embarrass the recipient, and promotions are effective.