Great thoughts, David. I agree that gifting is the implicit foundation of every society, a ritual of exchange so familiar to us that we scarcely notice our participation in it. Friendships, business relationships, and communities are nurtured and grown through gifting. Gifting creates trust and social capital in addition to personal reputation capital, and social capital is the glue that holds communities together.

Good insight about the relationship between gifting, trust, and resilience. We can see this in agile teamwork. When a collaborative project runs up against adversity, it’s the teams that are deeply invested in the social dynamic created through gifting that are able to re-orient themselves and try something different. As it happens, this is something I am writing on at the moment. If the idea makes it into Medium, I’ll see that you are credited!

I love the idea that forgiveness is a gift! It is! I must trace the word through its German root to see what I can find.