really really free

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Nov 19, 2006

Moneyless exchanges a twist on free markets

 

NEW YORK -- The police were prepared for the worst. They had

received word that anarchists were rallying in downtown

Raleigh, N.C., one summer Saturday in 2004. Museums were

closed, a Civil War re-enactment was cancelled and parking

meters were hooded. A helicopter circled overhead while

police mounted on horses and bicycles patrolled the empty

streets around the Children's Garden.

 

" There were 40 fully geared-up riot police waiting in the

building next door while we were folk dancing, giving free

massages and exchanging old books in the park, " said Liz

Seymour, 57, a freelance writer and community activist.

 

Dubbed the Really Really Free Market by organizers, the

event did not turn out to be the sort of anti-globalization

protest police had expected. It was, instead, a peaceful

gathering of about 200 people who came to give and get free

stuff and services. There was an old-time string band

playing under a tree, used clothing and knickknacks laid out

like pirate's booty on bed sheets, and a bike-repair

workshop to fix flat tires. Everything was free. That's

right, really, really free -- no trading or bartering and

absolutely no money being exchanged.

 

The purpose of those who began the Really Really Free Market

movement was to offer it up as criticism of the

international free-market economy, which they say exploits

people and resources by lowering trade barriers, reducing

the influence of unions and favoring multinational corporations.

[i hope that they realize that rather than being truly free,

the so-called " international free-market economy " refers to

state-corporate rule.--DC]

 

The first Really Really Free Market took place in Miami

during protests against a 2003 Free Trade Area of the

Americas meeting. Since then, the idea has spread across the

country, taking on a life of its own.

 

From Philadelphia to San Francisco, Really Really Free

Markets are trying to change the way people think about the

economy. Many are advertised with the unofficial slogan,

" Because there's enough for everyone, because sharing is

more fulfilling than owning, because free trade is a

contradiction of terms. "

 

Although Really Really Free Markets are often promoted by

political activists, organizers want to make them

communitywide events, attracting people who don't normally

participate in politics.

 

" It was born out of the idea that protests had become very

reactionary, " said Ryan Empire, a college student in St.

Paul, Minn. " We wanted to be more proactive, to do things

that are relevant to people's lives. "

 

Really Really Free Markets are held throughout the year in

various cities and are heavily promoted at the neighborhood

level. Organizers pass out multilingual flyers and advertise

through social service agencies, community groups and

publications.

 

They appeal to the hip as well. A recent market in New York

City was featured in the arts and entertainment magazine

Time Out New York and in the urban trend-tracker Daily

Candy, a Web site and e-mail newsletter that claims to be

" the ultimate insiders guide to what's hot, new and

undiscovered. "

 

Tracy Hopkins, a 36-year-old corporate Web site editor,

attended a Really Really Free Market at St. Mark's Church in

Manhattan, where about 400 people showed up. She emptied two

large bags of her own clothes, housewares, books and

magazines onto a blue plastic tarp in the sandy courtyard of

the church. Her boyfriend sat in on a print-making workshop

while Hopkins rifled through piles of other people's cast-offs.

 

" People have so much in this city, " Hopkins said. " You don't

need to buy anything because there's too much excess. " She

held up a foot-tall plastic Christmas tree trimmed with gold

ribbon and smiled, " I've been wanting one of these. " She

squeezed the tree into her bag beside black sandals with a

rainbow strap, a flower-print dress and a maroon " Free

Tibet " T-shirt.

 

Aside from stuff, there are free services and workshops at

Really Really Free Markets. People offer haircuts and face

painting and lessons in how to silkscreen or play guitar. At

a summer market in Greensboro, N.C., a woman put up a sign

that said, " I'm a really good listener, and I promise not to

give you advice. "

 

" Her blanket was full all day, " Seymour said.

 

For many marketgoers, the Really Really Free Market is a

social event -- a place to go, something to do. " People need

a place to gather. We've lost that space in our society, "

said Fiona McNeill, 38, a professional writing coach who

offered shaman energy-healing sessions at the market in

Manhattan. " I think people go into stores to be around other

people. We can get that here without spending money. "

 

Since the 2004 market in Raleigh, Really Really Free Markets

have managed to stay free of confrontation. But a monthly

market in nearby Carrboro, N.C., has recently run into

administrative hurdles with the town government. The town

requires a reservation for the use of the Town Commons, the

site where the markets are held. In March, the Really Really

Free Market stopped making reservations because the town

required a $100 fee.

 

" Having to pay to use a public space is contrary to what

we're trying to do, " said Neal Ritchie, a 23-year-old

schoolteacher. " It just didn't feel right to put out a

donation jar at the Really Really Free Market. "

 

A dispute erupted between officials and market supporters

when town staff proposed a new law criminalizing the

advertisement of an event at the Town Commons without a

reservation. Dozens of market supporters went to a town

meeting to protest the new rule, and it was rejected.

 

Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton, who personally paid the

reservation fee for the October market, says he wants to

find a solution. " We're in the process of considering the

possibility of changing " the fee, " partly because they

requested it, " Chilton said. In the meantime, the Really

Really Free Market continues in Carrboro and around the country.

 

Sam Downs, who organized markets in Kansas City, Mo., said,

" It's wonderful to see people from different walks of life

interacting with each other: eating, sharing clothes,

listening to music, hanging out in the sun. "

 

Marcelle Hopkins is a master's candidate at the Columbia

University Graduate School of Journalism.

 

 

 

As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances,

there's a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in

such twilight that we must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest

we become unwitting victims of the darkness.

William O. Douglas