This neatly fits into the history of economies as described by Graeber in Debt: in a close knit society gift economies are a logical extension of how families share resources so barter or trade only really arose when different societies had to interact with each other (with the alternative being war) because those societies did not have the same level of shared mutual trust as each group had within itself.
Under late stage[0] capitalism we're incentivized to think of all relationships as transactional. All interactions between friends are or should be transactions. We spend time, pay attention, give and expect a return. If you're wasting time just having fun instead of working on your side hustle, you're falling behind. Your girlfriend breaking up with you is a learning opportunity you should turn into a blogpost about leadership skills and human resources. If you trust a stranger enough to fall for a scam, that's your fault for being naive. This even manifests in fintech: the entire selling point of blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies is "zero trust". But of course the hyperindividualized individual is also the perfect consumer: alone you lack communal spaces so you go somewhere you pay to be in order to talk to other people who paid to be there or have interactions with people you pay to talk to.
I guess I'm not surprised why religion is still so widespread in the US. Tithes and charity aside, churches and their communal spaces are rare opportunities to spend time with people without spending money or expecting anything in return.
[0]: There must be some unwritten law that anyone talking about present day capitalism will always think it's "late stage" with the expectation that it has developed to a point where it is so clearly self-destructive it must change into something else soon. Even the early 20th century communists were convinced capitalism would collapse under its social stresses any moment now and allow them to have communism rise out of its ashes.
Under late stage[0] capitalism we're incentivized to think of all relationships as transactional. All interactions between friends are or should be transactions. We spend time, pay attention, give and expect a return. If you're wasting time just having fun instead of working on your side hustle, you're falling behind. Your girlfriend breaking up with you is a learning opportunity you should turn into a blogpost about leadership skills and human resources. If you trust a stranger enough to fall for a scam, that's your fault for being naive. This even manifests in fintech: the entire selling point of blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies is "zero trust". But of course the hyperindividualized individual is also the perfect consumer: alone you lack communal spaces so you go somewhere you pay to be in order to talk to other people who paid to be there or have interactions with people you pay to talk to.
I guess I'm not surprised why religion is still so widespread in the US. Tithes and charity aside, churches and their communal spaces are rare opportunities to spend time with people without spending money or expecting anything in return.
[0]: There must be some unwritten law that anyone talking about present day capitalism will always think it's "late stage" with the expectation that it has developed to a point where it is so clearly self-destructive it must change into something else soon. Even the early 20th century communists were convinced capitalism would collapse under its social stresses any moment now and allow them to have communism rise out of its ashes.