Key Messages
Discover The Fascinating History Of Money And Debt: How Credit Precedes Coins And Religion Helps Curb Debt
In Debt: The First 5,000 Years, David Graeber takes a look at the fascinating history behind money and credit.
Going back to the first agrarian societies, he traces how our ancestors used debt as a concept and how it has evolved over thousands of years.
From peace to war, from village life to city life, this book gives insight into how collecting coins and dealing with debt has changed drastically.
This informative read is filled with interesting facts that unravel the complexity of where this idea originated from.
Dive in and learn about the classic Rosetta Stone, an ancient document which granted amnesty for debtors, as well as how religion affected people’s ability to pay off debts.
You’ll also find out why during wartime soldiers were paid cash while family friends issued credit – all part of understanding the past so we can shape our future.
Whether you’re looking for a perspective on finances or simply curious about our economic system today, Debt: The First 5,000 Years offers a unique approach that’s sure to be eye-opening.
The Barter Myth: How Credit Preceded Money In Ancient Societies
Long before coins, bartering, or other forms of payment were used, people were already utilizing systems of debt and credit.
This is backed up by historical and anthropological evidence that goes back over 5,000 years.
In ancient Mesopotamia (around 3500 BCE), silver shekels served as the universal system of accounting to keep records of all debts and taxes.
Despite this fact, traditional economic theory holds that bartering came first-even though there’s no evidence to support it.
Further anthropological research shows us that virtual money, or credit, was being exchanged long before coinage appeared in society.
The famous Pukhtun people from northern Pakistan have a form of barter called “adal-badal” which is done among those who do not have any social obligations to each other.
Money Is More Socially Than Economically Important: How Violence Reduces Us To Commodities
Market economies rely on violence and the decontextualization of goods and people to function properly.
In pre-industrial societies, these concepts were not necessary to achieve a human economy, as each person was valued in their unique social web.
However, when such societies move towards market economies with their exchange of objects or money, the idea of an individual’s worth being equal to a certain mathematical value begins to take its place.
This also works through violence with the institution of slavery.
Since slaves must obey the orders of their captors they are seen as debtors of this absolute debt, meaning all of their previous ties to friends and family no longer matter.
This process is often necessary for exchanging goods or currency because it helps in assigning an abstract exchange value for goods or money when it is removed from its context.
Therefore, when people buy items such as corn from a market, those things have no context attached to them: something that is different from when you receive corn from your own grandmother.
This results in violence and decontextualization being necessary for market economies in order to work efficiently and effectively.
The Link Between Violence, Money, And War: The Theory Of Chartalism
The evidence suggests an intimate relationship between markets and the state – specifically, war.
Chartalism shows us that coins were invented by the state to make it easier to conduct wars.
The rulers would distribute coins to their soldiers, who could then trade wherever they were stationed or where they were fighting.
This way, rulers could demand that every family within the state pay back some fixed amount of coins.
This created an efficient system of taxation and a new value resource – coins which then introduced the idea of markets.
Since ancient times, we’ve known that markets often emerged right after armies appeared near palaces or military outposts.
This shows us that nickels, dimes and markets didn’t just randomly happen; they’re directly tied to the interests of the state.
It was this connection between money and violence which has been behind the development of our modern economic system over centuries.
War And Bullion: How Societies In Turmoil Turn To Hard Currency For Protection
History has demonstrated a clear preference between payment methods when it comes to war and peace.
In times of social stability, people were more likely to engage in credit-based transactions.
However, during periods of war or unrest, bullion (or coins) were the preferred payment method.
This is because credit relationships are complicated and difficult to manage when there are a lot of itinerant soldiers around.
On the other hand, cash is something that can be easily acquired by looting soldiers and had a set value in society despite its source.
Merchants then sought payments for goods and services directly in bullion.
Thus, it appears that cash is the preferable form of payment when a society is wracked by war or instability; while peace and trust favor credit relationships instead.
Ancient Societies Pioneered Credit And Debt Transactions Even Before The Advent Of Coinage
In the first agrarian empires (3500-800 BCE), most business was done using virtual money and not tangible physical currency.
In ancient Mesopotamia, temples and palaces kept stores of silver ingot which served as a basis for their monetary system.
But instead of physically exchanging coins, taxes and debts were calculated with abstract units which represent the value of silver.
Furthermore, people also conducted most of their transactions in local markets through credit accounts.
Inn and tavern workers ran accounts for regular customers, while vendors built lists of trusted buyers who would then settle payments at harvest time.
Major debtors issued clay tablets that promised future payments and could be used to pay other debts as well.
Finally, borrowing money with interest became common in order to guarantee payment when dealing with someone outside one’s community since there wasn’t a lot of trust involved when trading with outsiders.
Ultimately, this is how our modern system of credit originated in the ancient world – something we still use today!
The Axial Age Reveals The Rise Of Coinage, Markets, And Religions In Response To Societal Change
The Axial Age (800 BCE – 600 CE) was a significant period in human history, marked by the emergence of powerful ideas from great thinkers such as Pythagoras, Buddha and Confucius.
During this era, an important development occurred that would have profound implications for both future commerce and religion: the rise of coinage.
Coinage wasn’t intended to facilitate trade; instead, it was first developed by rulers to pay their mercenary soldiers.
Precious metals such as gold and silver were extracted from enemy palaces and temples to mint the coins and used to compensate fighters who had returned home with loot and plunder.
Paying soldiers in metals was far more reliable than paying them in livestock or issuing promissory notes.
The invention of coins sparked a rapid growth in markets as goods were now exchanged based on physical objects rather than abstract values like debt and credit.
The shift towards materialism possibly encouraged the emergence of major world religions that opposed these commercial interactions, such as Buddhism, Judaism and Christianity.
All rallied against the worldly preoccupation with tangible objects instead advocating for spiritual beliefs that transcended materialistic pursuits.
Religion And Commerce Merged In The Middle Ages To Form A More Trustworthy Marketplace
In the Middle Ages (600 -1500 CE), virtual money made a comeback as markets and societies changed.
In particular, the Middle East saw a return to virtual money in the form of debt or credit, due to Islamic values influencing mercantile exchanges.
Lenders stopped charging interest on loans, which furthered trust amongst people and allowed merchants to operate over a larger area.
Europe too shifted from relying on bullion to using checks, tallies, and paper money due to lack of precious metal reserves.
religious groups such as the Knights Templar emerged as regulators of these alternative currencies.
In China, Buddhist monasteries demanding donations sparked economic chaos causing the state to crack down on monasteries and take control of transactions by introducing standardized paper money into their system.
This encouraged merchants away from utilizing bullion and instead store capital in local banks and write checks for payments.
The Global Bullion Run Of The 15Th And 16Th Centuries: How China Reshaped Global Economic Relationships, Led To The Birth Of Capitalism, And Established Debtors’ Prisons
The Age of European Empires (1500-1971 CE) was an era marked by the emergence of cash as king again and the birth of capitalism.
It all began with popular movements in China that resulted in their government abandoning paper money and returning to silver coinage.
In order to keep taxes paid, they sought out silver from other parts of the world, including the gold found in the New World.
The majority of these metals were only exchanged through Europe on their way to China.
This created a bullion run worldwide, especially since Chinese silk and porcelain goods were used to pay for it.
This new obsession with metal changed currency and religion forever, allowing money to become integrated into state systems.
States normalised monetary exchange by creating legal codes, with debt now seen as something negative and defaulting on it becoming criminalised.
Debtors’ prisons emerged as more people looked down upon debt, weakening the bonds in society that had made it possible previously.
This environment gave rise to capitalist principles, where personal interactions had transformed into mathematical exchanges motivated solely by self-interest – as seen through Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan theory – eliminating any sense of social context or relationships in money transactions.
Challenging Our Legacy Of Violence To Reimagine Debt And Human Relationships
Since President Richard Nixon abolished the U.S.
gold standard in 1971, we have seen a return to virtual money with fewer controls for protecting people from debt.
This shift has left individuals vulnerable to the fluctuating market conditions that are often unpredictable.
Unlike other eras of virtual money, current regulations do not offer jubilees or put religious restrictions on interest rates, leaving it up to individuals to exercise caution and make wise financial decisions.
Unfortunately today, many take too great a risk and end up reeling from the illusion that their wealth is greater than what it really is.
This can have disastrous results in terms of financial security and stability of communities both big and small all over the world.
In order to create an equitable financial system, we must move away from the legacy of violence that has been propagated through traditional thought about debt, money and markets.
We must take a step back and consider different alternatives that allow all people access to fair and reasonable credit systems, in addition to more robust safety nets in case something does go wrong.
By doing this we can construct a society that works for everyone – free from extreme poverty due to overwhelming debt burdens caused by virtual money with few controls.
Wrap Up
At the conclusion of ‘Debt’ by David Graeber, the overall message was simple: debt does not have to be a prison.
The modern notion of debt as a calculable burden is something of a historically-constructed idea that has become so deeply rooted to violence and power.
We can redefine debt as a way to promote living value over monetary gain and create a shift in society.
With understanding, empathy, and mindful intention we can move past this toxic legacy and strive towards liberation from all forms of repayment oppression.
