Describe the difference between a sharing and a commercial economy. Why does this distinction matter to Lessig's main argument?
A commercial economy is defined as “…an economy in which money or “price” is a central term of the ordinary, or normal, exchange.” (118) For example, going to the store to buy a CD, clothes, food etc.
A sharing economy is defined as “…as an economy, where access to culture is regulated not by price, but by a complex set of social relations.” (145) the concept here is that as part of a community there are social norms set toward giving and we are obligated to perform them for our community members. However, in a sharing economy, there is no monetary value set.
These two concepts are important to Lessigs argument because he claims that society could not function without one or the other. We need both the tangible exchange of money vs this volunteerism idea to function. This in part has been represented by the internet and sites that we purchase from like Nordstrom, lets say, and sites we don't pay for like Wikipedia.
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You explain both economies well, but I'd ask you to think a bit more why this delineation is important to his overall arguments. It's true he thinks both need to exist, but how do they support/sustain/encourage a remix culture and/or how does remix culture support/sustain/encourage certain types of economies?
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