Most people in modern society use too many words, resulting in little added value and few good deeds. The overload of information and misinformation, combined with the freedom of speech without accountability, diminishes democracy, culture, and justice, fostering passivity within the intellectual elite, which in turn reduces the likelihood of creating added value and positive behavioral patterns that shape culture. 

The modern world subtly generates a range of paradoxes. Knowledge has never been more accessible, yet in many ways, it feels increasingly scarce. Technology is advancing at an exponential rate, while the human brain can absorb and adapt to that progress only linearly. At the same time, as social beings, people seem to be increasingly losing the need to belong to a community. The community is gradually ceasing to be an integral part of one’s personal identity. Research indicates that social connection is one of the most important factors in human longevity, which raises an important question: Is the “safe micro-world” we strive to create truly a brave and meaningful solution?  

The goal of this Manifesto is economic development through social development. 

The Giving Economy is an approach grounded in the skill of creating added value and giving. 

The Giving Economy rests on two paradigms and ten principles.  

Paradigms: 

 1. Creation of Added Value 

2. Givers Create Givers 

1. Creation of Added Value

The creation of added value is a mindset and way of acting that: 

• Reflects the ability of individuals, teams, and organizations to systematize existing knowledge and potential so as to generate new knowledge and new value; 

• Involves the use of material and immaterial resources to create new products, services, or processes, or to innovate existing ones, making them more valuable. 

The result of creating added value can be material, reflected in measurable market value, or immaterial, expressed in intangible values such as reputation, trust, and integrity. 

2. Givers Create Givers

Giving is an ethical choice that should drive positive change. When speaking of giving, the reference is not to money but to an attitude – a way of relating to others and to society. People can generally be observed as givers, matchers, or takers. These three groups differ in their orientation: givers seek to contribute more to others and to society than they receive; matchers aim to keep things balanced, giving as much as they take; and takers strive to gain more from individuals or society than they are willing to give in return. 

Givers, matchers, and takers can all achieve success. However, the focus here is to emphasize the virtue of being a giver. When a giver helps someone, they increase the likelihood of creating another giver, as the recipient of that support experiences and understands the culture of giving. In this way, givers can spark a domino effect of giving and positive change, expanding the giving economy and strengthening the potential for development through resource exchange. 

10 Principles of the Giving Economy: 

1. Giving initiates a domino effect of giving and the potential for positive change.
2. True giving expects nothing in return.
3. Everything in the world is borrowed.
4. One cannot be fully human without another human.
5. The creation of value strives for further multiplication of that value.
6. It is better to work for free than to be idle for free.
7. One should be part of the solution, not the problem.
8. Gratitude and awareness are steps toward positive change.
9. Do not seek gratitude for doing what is right. Rightaction is normal behavior. 
10. Integrity (the adherence to principles and values) is more important than loyalty (the adherence to centers of power).

This Manifesto draws inspiration from people of good will, from the experiences of entrepreneurs, leaders, creators, and givers, and from the wisdom of Stoicism, the Ubuntu philosophy, and Adam Grant’s book Give and Take. 

Aleksandar Plavšin, September 20th, 2024