614 - Granting Autonomy to The Logic of Money 1 (Capitalism, Debt and Banking)

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Episode #614 - Granting Autonomy to The Logic of Money 1 (Capitalism, Debt and Banking)

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"It wasn't me, it was my money..."

⌚ Sat 28 July 2012  ☻Ivan Illich, Ahijab, David Graeber (reading)

Download Hour1 Download Hour2We left off our reading of David Graeber with the statement that "The logic of money was granted autonomy. Political and military power were then gradually reorganized around it". This week we look in more detail at what that meant, focusing mainly on the USA in the 19th and 20th centuries. As well as reading more from Debt, The First 5000 Years we hear a few words from Ivan Illich and the first half of a radio adaptation of a video on the Banking Cartels and the US Federal Reserve.

What is "the logic of money" and what does it mean to "grant autonomy" to it? That autonomy comes at the expense of other actors such as individuals who are forced to follow orders from 'the man'. Governments regulate the most flagrant abuses by profit-seeking corporations as a sop to allow the majority of corporations to continue their unholy work unchallenged. Where is "the (psychopathic) logic of the money" even mentioned, never mind challenged? Not in the commercially-controlled media, that's for sure. This week we fill that gap, starting with a brief reminder from Ivan Illich on the gradual genesis of Homo economicus. Then we take a refresher course in the hidden history of colonial exploitation and secret societies, on some of big money's darker corners, such as the f(o)unding of USA's richest dynasties with a radio adaption of the first half of a video entitled The true history of the Banking Cartels and the Federal Reserve. We conclude with David Graeber, reading the majority of chapter 11, Age of the Great Capitalist Empires (1450-1971). Graeber looks this week about the financial instruments developed during the European colonial powers' ventures such as the South Sea Bubble. Dutch Tulipmania and the London, mixing as usual anthropological and economic observations with psychological musings on topics such as the class division between credit and cash and the psychological impact of money on society.
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Source archive: The true history of the Banking Cartels and the Federal Reserve (88 min) Ahijab Homo economicus (3 min) Ivan Illich

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