As covenants define the honoring of private property so traditions define the scope of identity. The boundary of the decision-making unit is a function of gift exchange.
Gifts are intrinsically exercises in a form of self-restraint. Gift exchanges are the transaction in the embodiments of mutual identity. The logic of a gift is based on similarity rather than otherness. Rivalry occurs most intensely among the most similar.
The gift-giver offers something that is of value to giver. In so doing he teaches the recipient of the gift what is valuable to giver.
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