David Graeber Debt Analysis

In the book Debt, by David Graeber, Graeber provides an alternative to the narratives economist want society to believe. One being the idea that money, a unit for measure, was established after the barter system is a view that Graeber characterizes as a perfectly simple and straightforward answer, which is terribly incorrect. (21) The idea that individual traded item for item runs into a few conflicts which explains the creation of money. For instance, say one neighbor has cows, and the other has chickens. Ideally, these individuals could trade chicken for cow, but the neighbor with the cow doesn’t need any chickens. Does the neighbor with the chicken go home without the cow? The answer would obviously be yes. However, that would be terribly …show more content…
Beginning of with why is the time 800 BC- 600 AD called The Axial Age, we look at the world axial which means “forming or relating to the axis”. Graeber uses this saying from an individual by the name Karl Jasper who finds it astounding that two great concepts like Pythagoras, Confucius, and Buddha were developed during this time, and that on three separate occasions, coinage was also established. Therefore, Jasper entitled it the Axial Age because it was the age were key ideology were created and established within different societies. Moreover, the part that is important about the Axial Age is the effect religion had on everyday life. This effect is a shift into materialism which is the idea that the only thing which is real in this world is matter. The shift towards materialism essentially occurs because of religions. Religions teaches that the here, and now are the things that matters. This ideology of the here and now being important for the sakes of ascending to this wonderful afterlife, begs that an individual life greatly on Earth. At the same time, this could be the spark to materialism. This valuing of matter could be an indicator as to why coinage appeared during this time. Some other things religion affect …show more content…
In cases, where individuals are being ruled by an overarching concept naturally the development of the opposite is created. In this case, it is religion. Religion provides individuals with question as to whether or not it is ok to be engaging in certain behavior. As religion developed, it successfully manage to influence many aspects of societies. Slavery became an action prohibited by the church. Coinage became something that was held in churches or temples, and consequently caused scarcity on bullion. This leads us into the Middle Age. The money that people loved so dearly still existed however in an abstract way. But before continuing on the Middle Ages, an action called usury which essentially give individuals loans at a high interest rate is a concept that needs to be reviewed. What’s the problem? A person gives out a loan to a needy person, and they make some more money than they loaned out. The idea sounds great, however, religion found this idea unacceptable. Assigning value to thing also creates a world where individuals value the acquisition of more money over everything else. This is present when looking at slavery. Totally accept under societies dominated economic growth. Another thing that many religions also put a ban on outside of slavery is usury. It is seen as an avenue for individuals to turn towards acquiring money as the moral imperative instead of charity, or freedom. (p.