From:
http://www.burningman.com/preparation/e ... ips07.html
"A Gift Economy Is A State of Mind — OK, let's get this straight. Burning Man's gift economy is often misinterpreted as some sort of ancient, utopian barter system. Um, no. A gift economy doesn't mean you should empty out your junk drawers and hand out cheap trinkets to your fellow burners, hoping for something valuable in exchange. A gift economy simply means that you give something of yourself, whatever you deem that to be. Basically, it's about sharing. You remember how to share, don't you? Gift someone with your time, a spontaneous song, a drink of water, or help out your neighbor if they need assistance with something. For additional info on gifting, read up on the 10 Principles of Burning Man."
Many years ago (90's) Burning Man had an area called "Barter Camp". Like all things at Burning Man if there was a rule or a change, there is usually a darn good reason for it.
Barter Camp became a source of contention and stress. Sometimes, someone would come to Barter Camp for something that they really needed. Let's say someone's only pair of sunglasses broke for example, and they're getting headaches. They went to barter camp and would find someone with a couple of extra pairs up for trade. Depending on who you were trading with, a $5 pair of sunglasses could end up costing you $50 in stuff, and often causing people to sacrifice something they needed just a little less, but still needed, like sand goggles. If you came with a bottle of vodka, and the guy with the extra sunglasses hated vodka, you're screwed.
The gift economy works much better. People may ask around if someone has an extra pair of sunglasses if theirs broke. Someone may gift someone the sunglasses. And, if they gift something back, great. They may ask you what they can do to reciprocate with a gift. If not, Karma tends to work on the playa and someone will often gift or loan you something you need later.
I get the "Barter Town" connection, I've seen all the Mad Max movies. I loved seeing the Thunderdome last year when I watched a few DPW folks settling setup grudges. It was awesome, and a great idea. I didn't stumble upon the camp this year, but I heard you guys were back, and glad to hear so.
I can't really connect with using the 'Barter Town' system at Burning Man though. Basically, if a gift isn't cool or interesting enough, and not booze, or they can't get girls to go battle with in the dome, then someone is excluded. Exclusion and payment / bribes aren't really up there with what I think about in the spirit of Burning Man.
If I take the model of exchanging booze for entry to something on the playa, it can become a real money maker. If I can get 1000 people a day to give me $5 in booze each to get into a camp over 7 days, I can truck out $35,000 in booze. That's a pretty attractive way for any college fraternity to start off the school year!
I'd love to see the Thunderdome back next year. But, I hope you see why you shouldn't be requiring any goods for entry. If you want to keep Barter Town as part of the Thunderdome please make it intangible items like singing a song, telling a great joke, sharing a Burning Man story, a quick massage, juggling, or something similar.
Now we have to make some more... 