Every economics textbook says the same thing: Money was invented to replace onerous and complicated barter systems—to relieve ancient people from having to haul their goods to market. The problem with this version of history? There’s not a shred of evidence to support it.
Here anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom. He shows that for more than 5,000 years, since the beginnings of the first agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods—that is, long before the invention of coins or cash. It is in this era, Graeber argues, that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors.
Graeber shows that arguments about debt and debt forgiveness have been at the center of political debates from Italy to China, as well as sparking innumerable insurrections. He also brilliantly demonstrates that the language of the ancient works of law …
Every economics textbook says the same thing: Money was invented to replace onerous and complicated barter systems—to relieve ancient people from having to haul their goods to market. The problem with this version of history? There’s not a shred of evidence to support it.
Here anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom. He shows that for more than 5,000 years, since the beginnings of the first agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods—that is, long before the invention of coins or cash. It is in this era, Graeber argues, that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors.
Graeber shows that arguments about debt and debt forgiveness have been at the center of political debates from Italy to China, as well as sparking innumerable insurrections. He also brilliantly demonstrates that the language of the ancient works of law and religion (words like “guilt,” “sin,” and “redemption”) derive in large part from ancient debates about debt, and shape even our most basic ideas of right and wrong. We are still fighting these battles today without knowing it.
Debt: The First 5,000 Years is a fascinating chronicle of this little known history—as well as how it has defined human history, and what it means for the credit crisis of the present day and the future of our economy.
Review of 'Debt: The First 5,000 Years' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
A thoughtful dive into the history of currency, what we all owe each other, and the philosophies of equality and merit we take for granted underpinning everything. Ultimately, Graeber critiques capitalism without suggesting any quick fixes.
He ascribes a considerable amount of intentionality and architecting to our current system, and his historical storytelling sometimes invisibly transitions into factually unsubstantiated musing, but his ideas are gristle for thought, and good leads into more reading on the philosophy of value.
Un antropólogo analiza los preceptos de la economía mediante el estudio de comportamientos y culturas reales, destruyendo el mito del trueque y mostrándonos una historia compleja y sumamente interesante de los fenómenos económicos y sus a veces terribles consecuencias.
Everyone really needs to read this book. I just finished it today and will probably need to go back and read it again to fully process it. But my very, very brief summary would be - Everything you know about the economy is wrong. Debt is not evil, in fact it can be key to human relationships. Barter didn't come before money. There is a straight line connection between cash, government, war, slavery, and the deterioration of all human relationships. We all need to stop being industrious little worker bees and start imagining a different kind of economy before the whole thing goes to shit even more than it already has.
Review of 'Debt: The First 5,000 Years' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Very thought-provoking read. The destruction of the Myth of Barter, and the spanking of the field of Economics for perpetuating it, is the obvious centerpiece for this book. In addition to that, I have to say the de-linking of "the market" and "Capitalism" was another big blow for me. It is obvious to me now that these two are not the same, but Graeber does an excellent job demolishing the foundations of received wisdom.
I will likely read this book again at some point, next time in text, not only to highlight some of the excellent lines, but also to try and grasp his judgement on credit. Though he denounces debt and ridicules coinage, he seems to be okay with credit, at least in its traditional "honourable" sense. Certainly he highlights the predatory, but I think I missed his final stance in the audio.
It was a very interesting and informative read, but a somewhat verbose one as well. You don't really have any choice but to read it slowly so you can be sure to take in everything he is saying. He does build to a very interesting theory in the last couple chapters which makes you really think about what is going on in today's society and how we might not, in fact, be so different from our ancient ancestors.
