Most of the cuneiform tablets found in the ancient near east of the second millennium B.C. are remnants of business deals. And business deals typically involve one party going into debt to the other. When the business deal was concluded and the debt repaid, the tablets were smashed. Both parties were thus released from the agreement and were thus free to walk away. As such, these business deals contained underlying assumptions about the parties involved. First, there is the assumption that the parties were equal. They each begin with a clean slate upon which to make their marks and entered into the transaction freely. The second is that the agreement is impersonal. Once the deal is completed each party can walk away without any sense of obligation to the other. Thirdly, it must have been assumed that each participant in the agreement acted solely for his own benefit, caring little or nothing about the other party. An agreement may have been conceived of, in the abstract, as benefiting both parties, but it also must have been acknowledged that each party would have to look out for his own interests. The notion that an invisible hand guided economic transactions is a relatively modern idea.
Of course, whenever there is debt there is the danger of non-payment. A common occurrence was for farmers to borrow against their upcoming harvest. But if a harvest was bad then the loan could not be repaid and foreclosure would ensue. As ownership of the land transferred from small farmers to wealthy lenders, farmers became tenant farmers on large estates. Thus arose landed aristocracies. What Graeber supposes is that the existence of these debt transactions were so pervasive, so common, and the consequences of failing to repay these debts was so dreadful, that it played a profound role in shaping the psyche and worldview of the people of those early times. He goes into great detail describing how the language of debt and business covenants seeps into the language of the world religions. Debt wasn't just a dark cloud hanging over early civilization, but pervading smog. If one was foreclosed upon one stood to lose his livelihood. He might have to sell his children, his wife, or himself into slavery.
All of this gets ramped up with the introduction of coinage. What is money? David Graeber approaches this question by telling us the story of money's origin. Money in the form of coins stamped out by governments first appears in different parts of the world simultaneously, around 600 B.C. In each case the pattern was the same - coins were produced to pay soldiers. With the promise of payment huge armies could be raised. Armies, of course, need to be outfitted and supplied. This was accomplished by requiring taxes to be paid in the form of the newly minted coins. Farmers and artisans now needed to acquire the coins, and so had to provide for the military since it was they who had coins to spend. To this end, markets arose where goods could be exchanged for money. Thus we see how money, militaries, and markets arose in tandem as inventions of the state.
Money represents the power to make purchases. Money separated from its social context has no value, whether it is gold or paper. Even gold has no intrinsic value. And so if a farmer is not used to the medium, then what is there to force him to accept it? Answer: the requirement to pay taxes in that medium. And with an army standing behind the king, resistance to the edict is futile. Money in this sense is like an I.O.U. It is debt. When I offer up this token, you must provide me with goods. In the marketplace the purchaser is the creditor, and the seller is the debtor. The general population must bear the burden of this debt - this national debt which is war debt.
Armies are expensive to maintain. And an early form of competition was that to raise the biggest, baddest army around. And so there was great incentive to invade one's neighbors to plunder their gold and silver which could be melted down and minted into more coins. A prime target would be gold and silver mines. The conquered peoples would be enslaved to work those mines to produce ever more gold to pay the growing army. Slavery, then, became an integral and substantial part of this militarized money system.
Monetary values become attached to everything under the sun. Since land foreclosures are used to satisfy monetary debts, monetary values are attached to the land. Land, therefore, comes under control of moneyed interests. Slavery becomes commonplace as human beings also have monetary values attached to them.
Besides submitting passively to this sorry state of affairs, the population of farmers and artisans might respond in one of two ways. First, they might abandon civilization and head for the hinterland where they might fend for themselves away from the clutches of dynastic rulers, huge armies, and predatory merchants. Or they might stage a rebellion. And Graeber shares the observation that populist rebellions in ancient times always carried with them two demands - relief from debt and a redistribution of land.
The realities of money and debt pervaded all aspects of ancient society. Graeber writes about the great religions which arose in this era, all of which struggle with notions of debt. ("Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.") What do we owe God? What do we owe our king or nation? What do we owe our parents? Each of these questions represents an attempt to quantify the unquantifiable. Be they social questions or spiritual questions, they represent the materialization and quantification of the intangible. One has to wonder what the influence is upon our modern science where nothing is said to be real that cannot be quantified - that cannot be counted, weighed, or measured. In all aspects of culture we seem to be witness to the alienation of the human being from the spirit. Indeed, Graeber characterizes this period as one of increasing materialization.
The economic, political, and social ethos of debt and money has been so pervasive for so long in our society that it is hard to imagine how things might be different. Graeber spends a great deal of time surveying various "human economies" that contrast to the patterns of debt-riddled, predatory civilization. He demonstrates how it was not barter that preceded money economies, but rather various systems of credit that amounted to mutual assistance. Before money people did not come to the market to trade and barter goods for goods. No, markets are a thing created by money as we have seen. Rather, before money and markets business was typically done on credit, but not in an impersonal way, for in the small town or village there was no walking away, though if you proved too much of a deadbeat you might be driven away or ostracized. In a human economy everyone was beholden to everyone else. If a hunter had a big catch, he shared it with everyone. A human economy is a gift economy. Relationships are personal. It would be offensive to go around and settle all of one's accounts, because it would be understood that you no longer wished to be beholden to anyone. But for a community to truly function perpetual cooperation and involvement with one another is a necessity. Graeber looks to these ancient and so-called primitive societies for clues as to how modern humanity might shape a harmonious, peaceful society on a sounder footing than we currently have, and have had all these centuries.
In today's modern age the business mentality is pervasive and the challenge to come up with alternative attitudes seems insurmountable. Economic ideology promotes impersonal self-centeredness as if it were the last word on the human condition. Greed is said to be good and corporate dictatorships the most expedient economic forms, and the current system the best of all possible social and economic systems. Money is debt and originates in war debt. The government sides with creditors who argue against any notion of debt restructuring, debt forgiveness, or default. But the strength of a creditor's claim is nothing without the implied violence of government and law. If the threats that stand behind the debts were to vanish, perhaps the financial hegemony that rules the world today would crumble under its own weight. Or perhaps all that is needed is a jubilee as was declared in Biblical times. If the debt of the world would vanish by means of such a governmental decree, then the true economy may gain by it. The true purpose of economic activity, after all, is to match production with consumption, but this process is interfered with by the very things that are supposed to facilitate it - markets, finance, and mediums of exchange. Ancient rulers, perceiving the degenerating state of the kingdom, sometimes would impose a jubilee - a canceling of all or most debts - typically against the wishes of the landed aristocracy. But it seems that a jubilee would only be of temporary benefit if the same practices and attitudes regarding money and debt continued.
At this juncture, we owe a debt of gratitude to David Graeber for framing the issue with such insight and understanding. Graeber seems to have hit upon an archetype against which all of history, including modern history, is to be measured. All of our modern social relationships and institutions have been infested with a selfish, impersonal, and predatory mind-set which seems to be fundamental to civilization. We are left, however, with wanting a solution that calls for more than just debt cancellation. All business deals are deals with the devil as long as we make them with the same lack of humanity we've done since before the introduction of coinage. Our very sense of morality has seemingly been framed by predatory lenders. How can we find our humanity again?
Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
There is a newer edition of this item:
Discover the latest buzz-worthy books, from mysteries and romance to humor and nonfiction. Explore more
Frequently bought together
$29.99
Get it as soon as Monday, Feb 19
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
Similar items that may ship from close to you
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Top reviews from other countries
René Michaud
One of the very best books I have read
Reviewed in Canada on November 7, 2014Erik Pattison
Good for Christians who do not believe in blessed capitalism
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2012