Diplomatic Gifts

One of the most famous diplomatic gifts was the elephant 'Hanno', given to the Pope in the sixteenth century by the King of Portugal. Apparently, the Pope was extremely happy with the gift, but he had the resources to accept it (his own personal zoo)!

I'm not sure if this is where the term 'white elephant' comes from, to describe a gift which is both cumbersome and useless.

Eines der berühmtesten diplomatischen Geschenke war der Elefant 'Hanno', gegeben dem Papst im sechzehnten Jahrhundert durch den König Portugals. Anscheinend war der Papst mit dem Geschenk äußerst glücklich, aber er hatte die Mittel, es (sein eigener persönlicher Zoo) zu akzeptieren!
Ich bin nicht sicher, wenn das ist, wo die Frist 'weißer Elefant' herkommt, ein Geschenk zu beschreiben, das sowohl beschwerlich als auch nutzlos ist.

The Gift

In Marcel Mauss' most famous work, 'The Gift', he puts forward the idea that gifts are never 'free' but rather create a sense of obligation in the receiver: "What power resides in the object given that causes its recipient to pay it back?".

In Mauss' theory, the exchange of gifts is about constructing and maintaining social relationships. Is a 'gift' therefore a 'debt'? Must a gift always be returned? What are the invisible qualities connected to the gift (an obligation, a sense of well-being)?

What kind of gift is Robin Hood's stealing from the rich to give to the poor?

What kinds of exchange are taking place when people create and use open-source software?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source