>Heh. I've been thinking for a while now that the habitual power of the
>haves to "give" or not to the have-nots originated in humanity's hominid
>ancestors. Some big ape pissed a circle around something to say "mine",
>fended off comers to "his" treasure, then only permitted those who were
>prepared to make deference to him to make use of what is "his."
>
>Todd
Gifts?
"How dare you give them. We wish to be self-sustained. We do not quite forgive a giver. The hand that feeds us is in some danger of being bitten.... We are either glad or sorry at a gift, and both emotions are unbecoming. Some violence I think is done, some degradation borne, when I rejoice or grieve at a gift. I am sorry when my independence is invaded...and if the gift pleases me overmuch, then I should be ashamed that the donor should read my heart...For the expectation of gratitude is mean, and is continually punished by the obliged person. It is a great happiness to get off without injury and heart-burning from one who has had the ill-luck to be served by you. It is a very onerous business, this of being served, and the debtor naturally wishes to give you a slap."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
but, of course, Emerson was to exemplary of romantic individualism