A few posts ago, I wrote about alternative economic systems aided by social media, specifically the trend of Time Banking. Just this week the Open Source/Open Culture students have been examining gift culture in the software development community, and I found an article about how this concept relates to a Santa Fe Time Bank in Sustainable Santa Fe Magazine. I have now found several Time Banking options in the Santa Fe area.

Stella Osorojos gives an interesting historical and theoretical perspective of these ideas in this article on Reality Sandwich.

She says:

Time Banks are the brainchild of Dr. Edgar S. Cahn, a Yale-trained lawyer who cofounded the National Legal Services Program and founded the Antioch Schoolof Law. In 1980, while recuperating from a heart attack, Cahn thought up the concept of Time Dollars as a way to redress the chronic lack of funds availableto solve important social problems. If money was getting in the way of fulfilling needs, he reasoned, why not just make up a new currency?

she continues to discuss gift culture in this context:

In “The Ascent of Humanity”, Charles Eisenstein talks about how our ideas about separation have contributed to this culture of isolation as well as how to heal it. He argues that we must remember and embrace a “gift culture,” in which our personal gifts are expressed and shared freely. Basically, gift culture says that if we do what our hearts long to do and everybody else does too, the rest will take care of itself. Reciprocity is ensured by our trust in the inherently generous nature of the universe. While I subscribe to this idea, I think that Time Banks and organizations like it help people transition to that level of trust.

Here are some links to more information:
http://santafe.timebanks.org/
http://www.santafe.com/article/santa-fe-time-bank
http://www.santafetimebank.org/SF_Timebank/Home.html
http://www.hourworld.org/