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|author=David Graeber | |author=David Graeber | ||
|published=2011 | |published=2011 | ||
| − | |read=Read by [[Robin Upton]] from | + | |read=Read by [[Robin Upton]] from {{ep|576}} to {{ep|629}}. |
| − | |seealso= | + | |wholetext=https://libcom.org/files/__Debt__The_First_5_000_Years.pdf |
| − | |description=[[David Graeber]] takes an anthropologist's view of money and debt, looking at evidence outside the purview of economists such as Vedic texts, and anthropologists' accounts. He finds some | + | |seealso=* [http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/archive/audiobooks/Debt,%20The%20First%205000%20Years/Debt,%20The%20First%205000%20Years.zip The entire audiobook] (488MB ZIP file) |
| + | * {{EP|664}} includes an interview by [[David Graeber]] about this book | ||
| + | |description=[[David Graeber]] takes an anthropologist's view of {{cat|money}} and {{cat|debt}}, looking at evidence outside the purview of economists such as Vedic texts, and anthropologists' accounts. He finds some foundations of {{cat|economics}} to be unsupported by evidence, and goes so far as to reflect on economists' predilections for particular interpretations - making this book a veritable slaughterhouse of economists' sacred cows. | ||
| − | Graeber shows, for example, that not only has there never been any evidence that money evolved from barter, but that for over a century, there has been a lot of evidence that it didn't. Disregarding such conventional wisdom, he describes a very different picture of the world's economic history, one in which money and debt are not | + | Graeber shows, for example, that not only has [[577|there never been any evidence that money evolved from barter]], but that for over a century, there has been a lot of evidence that it didn't. Disregarding such conventional wisdom, he describes a very different picture of the world's economic history, one in which money and debt are not impartial, amoral facts of economic life, but go hand in hand with state sponsored imperial violence and exploitation. |
| − | His exposure of the false dichotomy between states and markets reveals centuries of economic discussions to be vain. Graeber cites a mass of historical evidence that 'the market' is not a quasi-natural phenomenon that | + | His exposure of the false dichotomy between states and markets reveals centuries of economic discussions to be vain. Graeber cites a mass of historical evidence that 'the market' is not a quasi-natural phenomenon that emerges in spite of government, but has frequently required careful manipulation by governments firstly to bring it about at all (usually first in connection with soldiers) and then to maintain it. He mixes insights from psychology, anthropology and history to paint an unconventional but compelling picture of the impact of money, one that differs sharply from the flattering fables spun by highly paid economists and economic historians. Indeed, he suggests we think hard about the very idea of considering 'the economy' to be separate from other facets of life. |
| − | Several themes recur throughout the 5 millennia of history which make up the book, such as the oscillation between credit systems that rely on a degree of social affinity and neighborliness and the use of precious metals and cash which do not. Another main theme with a particular of relevance to the modern reader is the perpetually recurring debt crises in which a huge proportion of the population had been reduced to debt slaves or one form or another. It has favorably reviewed, | + | Several themes recur throughout the 5 millennia of history which make up the book, such as the oscillation between credit systems that rely on a degree of social affinity and neighborliness and the use of precious metals and cash which do not. Another main theme with a particular of relevance to the modern reader is the perpetually recurring debt crises in which a huge proportion of the population had been reduced to debt slaves or one form or another. It has been very favorably reviewed, with [[Charles Eisenstein]] referring to it as "a breathtaking work of scholarship" and another reviewer terming it "a work of immense erudition".<ref>http://www.shareable.net/blog/there-is-an-alternative-0</ref><ref>http://thememorybank.co.uk/2012/07/04/in-rousseaus-footsteps-david-graeber-and-the-anthropology-of-unequal-society-2/</ref>. |
| − | + | ||
|contents=Contents: | |contents=Contents: | ||
| − | # On The Experience of Moral Confusion [[576]] | + | # [http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/archive/audiobooks/Debt,%20The%20First%205000%20Years/5000-debt-01-On-The-Experience-of-Moral-Confusion.mp3 On The Experience of Moral Confusion] [[576]] |
| − | # The Myth of Barter [[577]] | + | # [http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/archive/audiobooks/Debt,%20The%20First%205000%20Years/5000-debt-02-The-Myth-of-Barter.mp3 The Myth of Barter] [[577]] |
| − | # Primordial Debts [[578]], [[579]] | + | # [http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/archive/audiobooks/Debt,%20The%20First%205000%20Years/5000-debt-03-Primordial-Debts.mp3 Primordial Debts] [[578]], [[579]] |
| − | # Cruelty and Redemption [[580]] | + | # [http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/archive/audiobooks/Debt,%20The%20First%205000%20Years/5000-debt-04-Cruelty-and-Redemption.mp3 Cruelty and Redemption] [[580]] |
| − | # A Brief Treatise on the Moral Grounds of Economic Relations [[581]], [[582]] | + | # [http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/archive/audiobooks/Debt,%20The%20First%205000%20Years/5000-debt-05-A-Brief-Treatise-on-the-Moral-Grounds-of-Economic-Relations.mp3 A Brief Treatise on the Moral Grounds of Economic Relations] [[581]], [[582]] |
| − | # Games with Sex and Death [[582]], [[583]] | + | # [http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/archive/audiobooks/Debt,%20The%20First%205000%20Years/5000-debt-06-Games-with-Sex-and-Death.mp3 Games with Sex and Death] [[582]], [[583]] |
| − | # Honor and Degradation, or, On the Foundations of Contemporary Civilization [[584]], [[585]], [[587]], [[589]], [[591]], [[593]], [[594]], [[597]] | + | # [http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/archive/audiobooks/Debt,%20The%20First%205000%20Years/5000-debt-07-Honor-and-Degradation,-or,-On-the-Foundations-of-Contemporary-Civilization.mp3 Honor and Degradation, or, On the Foundations of Contemporary Civilization] [[584]], [[585]], [[587]], [[589]], [[591]], [[593]], [[594]], [[597]] |
| − | # Credit Versus Bullion, And the Cycles of History [[597]], [[606]] | + | # [http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/archive/audiobooks/Debt,%20The%20First%205000%20Years/5000-debt-08-Credit-Versus-Bullion,-And-the-Cycles-of-History.mp3 Credit Versus Bullion, And the Cycles of History] [[597]], [[606]] |
| − | # The Axial Age (800 BC-600 AD) [[606]], [[607]] | + | # [http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/archive/audiobooks/Debt,%20The%20First%205000%20Years/5000-debt-09-The-Axial-Age.mp3 The Axial Age (800 BC-600 AD)] [[606]], [[607]] |
| − | # The Middle Ages (600 AD-1450 AD) [[610]], [[611]], [[612]] | + | # [http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/archive/audiobooks/Debt,%20The%20First%205000%20Years/5000-debt-10-The-Middle-Ages.mp3 The Middle Ages (600 AD-1450 AD)] [[610]], [[611]], [[612]] |
| − | # Age of the Great Capitalist Empires (1450-1971) | + | # [http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/archive/audiobooks/Debt,%20The%20First%205000%20Years/5000-debt-11-Age-of-The-Great-Capitalist-Empires.mp3 Age of the Great Capitalist Empires (1450-1971)] [[612]], [[614]], [[615]] |
| − | # The Beginning of Something Yet to Be Determined (1971-...) | + | # [http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/archive/audiobooks/Debt,%20The%20First%205000%20Years/5000-debt-12-The-Beginning-of-Something-Yet-To-Be-Determined.mp3 The Beginning of Something Yet to Be Determined (1971-...)] [[617]], [[619]], [[621]], [[622]], [[623]], [[624]], [[625]], [[629]] |
}} | }} | ||
| + | <references/> | ||
| + | [[category:audiobooks]] | ||
[[category:debt]] | [[category:debt]] | ||
[[category:History Of Money]] | [[category:History Of Money]] | ||
Latest revision as of 05:08, 4 October 2015
Debt, The First 5000 Years, by David Graeber (2011)
Read by Robin Upton from episode 576 to episode 629. List of Episodes
* Whole text online
* The entire audiobook (488MB ZIP file)
- Episode 664 includes an interview by David Graeber about this book
David Graeber takes an anthropologist's view of money and debt, looking at evidence outside the purview of economists such as Vedic texts, and anthropologists' accounts. He finds some foundations of economics to be unsupported by evidence, and goes so far as to reflect on economists' predilections for particular interpretations - making this book a veritable slaughterhouse of economists' sacred cows.
Graeber shows, for example, that not only has there never been any evidence that money evolved from barter, but that for over a century, there has been a lot of evidence that it didn't. Disregarding such conventional wisdom, he describes a very different picture of the world's economic history, one in which money and debt are not impartial, amoral facts of economic life, but go hand in hand with state sponsored imperial violence and exploitation.
His exposure of the false dichotomy between states and markets reveals centuries of economic discussions to be vain. Graeber cites a mass of historical evidence that 'the market' is not a quasi-natural phenomenon that emerges in spite of government, but has frequently required careful manipulation by governments firstly to bring it about at all (usually first in connection with soldiers) and then to maintain it. He mixes insights from psychology, anthropology and history to paint an unconventional but compelling picture of the impact of money, one that differs sharply from the flattering fables spun by highly paid economists and economic historians. Indeed, he suggests we think hard about the very idea of considering 'the economy' to be separate from other facets of life.
Several themes recur throughout the 5 millennia of history which make up the book, such as the oscillation between credit systems that rely on a degree of social affinity and neighborliness and the use of precious metals and cash which do not. Another main theme with a particular of relevance to the modern reader is the perpetually recurring debt crises in which a huge proportion of the population had been reduced to debt slaves or one form or another. It has been very favorably reviewed, with Charles Eisenstein referring to it as "a breathtaking work of scholarship" and another reviewer terming it "a work of immense erudition".<ref>http://www.shareable.net/blog/there-is-an-alternative-0</ref><ref>http://thememorybank.co.uk/2012/07/04/in-rousseaus-footsteps-david-graeber-and-the-anthropology-of-unequal-society-2/</ref>.
<references/>