Althouse: "I'm Proud to Be a Freeloader..."

December 29, 2011

"I'm Proud to Be a Freeloader..."

"Taking is as Important as Giving in Collaborative Consumption."

15 comments:

TosaGuy said...: Lots of overthinking by these folks. We have been doing this in my neighborhood forever, our term of exchange is called the "beer unit."; 12/29/11, 9:07 AM
bagoh20 said...: "...in order for any kind of social exchange to work, somebody has to go into "debt" by being the first to be on the receiving end."

I think we have plenty willing to make this sacrifice.; 12/29/11, 9:13 AM
Joe said...: (The Uncredentialed, Crypto Jew)

Depends:
1) It’s true as far as it goes, he only takes, because no one has asked him for anything, but
2) If the only thing he has to offer is the ability to taxidermy Jumbo Shrimp, or at least that’s the only thing he OFFERS on a list;
3) Then you’d be an idiot to offer anything to him and the market place will shun him.
When I was younger and more dissolute the great thing about smoking Camel’s (Non-filters) and drinking Scotch was that none of my peers did…so I could freely offer a smoke or a drink, confident that no one would take me up on my offer. Then my peers began to tolerate both non-filtered cigarettes and Scotch…the end of the Happy Times, tried to move onto Ouzo, but just couldn’t…just had to share my alcohol.; 12/29/11, 9:16 AM
Phil 314 said...: and if I wanted to borrow my neighbor's chainsaw for 5 days but I had nothing that he wanted to borrow, maybe I could throw in a few dollars?

Pretty soon...; 12/29/11, 9:22 AM
Wince said...: We've heard this one before. David Peel with John and Yoko on David Frost.

I'M PROUD TO BE - A NEW YORK CITY HIPPIE

I'M PROUD TO BE - A NEW YORK CITY HIPPIE
I'M PROUD OF DIRTY FEET - AND DIRTY HAIR !
I'M PROUD OF LIVING - WITH THE COCKEROACHES
I'M PROUD OF LIVING - IN A GARBAGE CAN !!

WE LIKE TRIPPING - SMOKING MARIJUANA WE LIKE TURNING REDNECKS - ON TO JUNK !
WE ARE JUST A BUNCH - OF CRAZY HIPPIES YOU WERE ALWAYS - DUMB AND IGNORANT !!

WE WON'T FIGHT YOUR WARS - OR JOIN THE ARMY WE DON'T LIKE YOU - COUNTRY
WESTERN HICKS ! ALL YOU DO IS BALL - YOUR COWS AND CHICKENS ANIMALS LIKE YOU - ARE FULL OF SHIT !!

WE HATE TO GO TO WORK - WE LIVE ON WELFARE WE HAVE OUR LOVE - AND ALWAYS HAVE
A BALL ! WE HATE YOUR BARNYARD DANCES - AND YOUR MOONSHINE WE LIKE TO HAVE YOU
- UP AGAINST THE WALL !!

WE WANT TO WARN YOU SQUARES - AND ALL YOU REDNECKS IF YOU HATE THE HIPPIES -
FROM NEW YORK ! WE'LL UNIFY THE HIPPIES - FROM THE COUNTRY WE'LL FIGHT UNTIL -
THE SOUTH BECOMES THE NORTH !!

WE'RE THE HIPPIES - THE HIPPIES FROM NEW YORK !!!; 12/29/11, 9:24 AM
Joe said...: (The Uncredentialed, Crypto Jew)

Mostly, this guy is trying justify being a mooch….the point of joining a tool sharing/bike sharing/car sharing collective is NOT to give or receive, but to pool resources, collectively, spreading the cost of overhead out over many persons….Funeral Homes do this with Crematoria or even hearses, not every home needs one (crematoria) and hearses go out of style before they wear out, so one home buys, and the others rent from it…the point is to share out an expensive, little used resource amongst like-minded individuals…not provide gifts or the sense of gratitude derived from giving….it is an EXCHANGE…and right now this guy is GETTING more than he’s giving and so he’s trying to justify the imbalance, by this flimsy psychological/philosophical doge.; 12/29/11, 9:25 AM
TosaGuy said...: "On the other hand, however, there is a danger of stigmatizing those who take before they can give."

I will lend a guy my cordless DeWalt reciprocating saw, but I will question his manhood as to why he doesn't have his own....especially if he doesn't include a pack of new blades.

People who get it provide more blades, bits and other essential disposable elements than they consume. That is the "rent" part of the exchange to make up for the wear and tear. Moochers don't do that, they just mooch.; 12/29/11, 9:37 AM
Bob_R said...: Pride is a counterproductive emotion in his situation. He may not yet have tools to lend, but he can feel pride when he is first in line to shovel the old people's walks and rake their leaves. (I'm sure there will be lots of people willing to lend him shovels and rakes in that case. They can both feel proud.); 12/29/11, 9:48 AM
Known Unknown said...: We've heard this one before. David Peel with John and Yoko on David Frost.

I think John Lennon understood irony more than most. At the least I'll give him credit for that.; 12/29/11, 9:49 AM
edutcher said...: He writes like some of the pseudo-sophisticates that show up here.

WV "sappe" (no kidding); 12/29/11, 10:13 AM
traditionalguy said...: Many partnerships are unequal. The helper likes to be a giver and the taker likes to be a receiver.

But that arrangement requires a voluntary partnership, and it can easily cross over to expectations which means that the helper has been enslaved.

And all slave holders bitterly despise abolishionists and escaped slaves with a cruel hatred.; 12/29/11, 11:45 AM
J Scott said...: "but as long as each gives or lends according to what they have, and asks, borrows and takes according to what they need"

Didn't we just have an 80 year experiment in how this never works?; 12/29/11, 11:45 AM
ken in tx said...: I used to work in a mental hospital. In those days I smoked. It was the 60s. I learned that to keep the patients from bumming all my cigarettes was to start rolling my own. Only a few patients were willing to roll their own cigarettes. I smoked store bought cigarettes at home. If you offer something for free, somebody will take it.; 12/29/11, 12:29 PM
Peter said...: I seem to remember from anthropology 101 that every human culture on the planet has some sort of reciprocity rule.

Of course, the particulars vary. In some you have to reciprocate quickly; in others, not for a long time. In many you have to reciprocate in a certain approved way and so on.

But no one seems to have found a culture in which reciprocity was not the common expectation.; 12/29/11, 1:56 PM
Amartel said...: This person is projecting his real world delusions about credit into a cyberspace playland.
I wonder what happens in the collaborative consumption community when someone doesn't repay the Favabank. Does a Favarep call and harass the Favafreeloader? Does the Favabank send a Favarepoman to the Favafreeloader's house to repo the favas? Does this affect the Favafreeloader's Fava rating? Can the Favafreeloader sue and claim discrimination of some kind in order to get more bigger favas that he will never pay back? Does the entire Favaworld fail spectacularly because of all the freeloaders burdening the system?; 12/29/11, 4:30 PM