Debt

8/31/2024

what a blueprint for david's other book the dawn of everything

once again, the history of the state, civilization and violence are intertwined
and easily forgotten in how we retell stories of our past in our history classes
(or in this case, our economics classes)

i appreciate leveraging the story of a richer more real history as a way to open
up the imagination that many futures are possible and that our societal path
towards the present is not built on inevitability.

this book will sit with me for a long time as i forever contemplate the
relationship of society, money and happiness.

For centuries, scholars have assumed that the origins of money lay in barter. In this provocative and widely acclaimed book, David Graeber argues that this assumption is wrong, that debt, not barter, is the foundation of all our economic systems. Starting with the earliest forms of social organization, Graeber traces the history of debt across cultures and millennia, uncovering a surprising pattern: in every society, from prehistoric hunter-gatherer bands to the modern age, debt has served as both a powerful tool of social control and a potent engine of social change.

civilization ꞏ social anthropology ꞏ Barter ꞏ economics ꞏ psychology ꞏ sociology ꞏ Mesopotamian ꞏ culture ꞏ debt ꞏ Roman ꞏ Marxist ꞏ enlightenment ꞏ money ꞏ western civilization ꞏ ancient history ꞏ greek ꞏ medieval ꞏ social change ꞏ Contemporary ꞏ political economy ꞏ world history ꞏ globalization ꞏ capitalism ꞏ anthropology ꞏ Modern ꞏ philosophy ꞏ social control ꞏ Renaissance ꞏ history ꞏ industrial revolution ꞏ anarchist ꞏ religion ꞏ Egyptian ꞏ Hunter-gatherers ꞏ neoliberalism