Freedom from gift

Early on in his The World of the Gift , Jacques Godbout offers this intriguing vignette: “A retired civil servant, an atheist and rationalist, totally secular, does volunteer work with a religious order that cares for the poor. ‘You know, I receive more than I give,’ he is quick to say, as though to justify his giving way to such behavior before the court of utilitarian reason. ‘Often I don’t say a thing, it’s the person I visit with who does all the talking.’ The message is clear: as long as he receives more than he gives, everything’s all right – he’s not violating the code of modern freedom.”

Godbout adds: “Note in passing a surprising detail: to speak is construed as a gift. Perhaps the first gift.”