Debt: The First 5,000 Years David Graeber
The historical stories make this book enjoyable. However, the author’s theories are inconsistent and more propagandistic than sound. The idea that capitalism is responsible for all the problems the government creates is an aggressive strategy created by the KGB to tear a country apart from the inside out. Yet the author leans heavily into it. For example, how would you define the word communism? The author states that communism is a utopia that has never been achieved. He defines it by the Marxist slogan: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs". He continually claims that whenever someone treats another well without expectation of reciprocation, that is communism. Therefore, brotherly love, Christian service, random acts of kindness are all forms of communism. Essentially, the author has confused the word communalism with communism. So not only has communism never been achieved by a government, and no longer is a form of government, it is now disassociated from historical context and a form of morality being used daily by esteemed virtuous individuals. This redefining of words is another strategy developed by the KGB. It is called ideological subversion. Just redefine the word communism and gone is the problematic associated history of genocidal governments.
The author claims that he wrote the book to dispel the myth of barter once and for all. His argument being that economists such as Adam Smith who stated that before money there was barter as common knowledge, have no evidence of this claim and before money existed there was debt, not barter. The problem with this argument obviously is that debt is money. Individuals wanting to exchange with other individuals in order to obtain a current need will exchange whatever they can, by whatever means necessary, this would include indebtedness. And the process of exchanging goods would be referred to as bartering. Without barter there would be no need for money, neither presently available nor that expected to be obtained in the future (debt). Why the author even brings up this fact later in the book, acknowledging that the US dollar is in fact debt, but fails to realize that debt has and always will be a form of money is beyond me.
So to be clear, the author put out a straw man argument, that debt existed before money, when debt is in fact money.
The most disturbing aspect of this book is how in depth the author goes into slavery, human chattel, blaming capitalism for it (even though slavery existed long before capitalism), then goes on to demand that the economic system needs to be changed in order to be more fair than capitalism. The reason for this is that people should not be forced to have to work, those who want to spend the majority of their time producing that which they want rather than what others are willing to buy should be allowed to do so. One may argue that they are already allowed to do so under capitalism. The problem he has is that they aren’t paid to pursue their own interests if those interests do not result in anything beneficial to themselves or anyone else. So people who want to sit on the beach all day, and socialize with friends and family should be compensated to do so. By who? The government of course. But the government obtains its money by taking it from it’s citizens via taxation and inflation. So, in essence, he is suggesting that the government take money from those who produce more for society and give that money to those who would rather live a life of leisure than work towards producing anything desired by the society in which they live. Which sounds a hell of a lot like slavery. What a life? If this were the case why would anyone work ever? Everyone would eventually unburden themselves and choose not to work. This is exactly the series of events which have happened time and time again in communist countries that attempted to make the economy “more fair” as the author desires. Which also led to mass starvation and poverty, not the product of capitalism. We are talking about hundreds of millions of people starving to death under the genius of the government’s economic decisions. But in order to study these unintended consequences you would first have to admit that communism exists.
If this isn’t enough irony for you, this bleeding heart for the poor author is selling this book for $32. Another communist enjoying the benefits of living in a capatalistic economy while bad mouthing the invisible hand that feeds him.
