Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

The Origins of Debt, Money, Slavery and Empire
21 Sep 2011
🖨️ Print Article

Like most of us, you probably learned in school that people invented money to replace barter, markets are guided by The Invisible Hand, and a debt is a kind of sacred promise.  Like much else you learned in school, says anthropologist David Graeber, this is wrong.  Markets are constructed by states, while the appearance of debt, slavery and money in human affairs coincide with the appearance of violent empires, and recede when empires are in decline.  Debts are only sacred, Graeber explains, when the poor owe the rich, and there are key distinctions between debts and promises.  Graeber, the author of Debt: The First 5,000 Years is interviewed by C.S. Soong on KPFA's Against the Grain...

The Origins of Debt, Money, Slavery and Empire

An Against the Grain Interview by C.S. Soong and Sasha Lilley

KPFA.s Against the Grain is consistently one of the best interview shows around.  We at BAR steal ideas from them all the time.  You can find a link to Debt: The First 5,000 Years here.



Your browser does not support the audio element.

listen
http://www.againstthegrain.org/files/files/atg/atg_2013.01.07_graeber.mp3

More Stories


  • VOA Burkina Faso mural
    Netfa Freeman
    Is U.S. Imperialism Maneuvering Toward “Humanitarian Intervention” in Burkina Faso?
    01 May 2024
    As Burkina Faso attempts to move away from neo-colonial domination by France and the United States, the possibility of intervention via "humanitarian" channels grows more likely.
  • Alliance of Sahel States
    The Coalition for the Elimination of Imperialism in Africa
    For the Defense of the Alliance of Sahel States, for Revolutionary Pan-Africanism
    01 May 2024
    The Coalition for the Elimination of Imperialism in Africa, calls on all of us to stand in support of the Alliance of Sahel States, which is clearing the way for the unification of Africa.
  • Abayomi Azikiwe
    Palestinian Casualties in Gaza Mount
    01 May 2024
    The United States Congress and administration agree to allocate over $95 billion for wars around the world.
  • Report on New York Times memo on the Gaza war
    Ramzy Baroud
    Cruelty of Language: Leaked NY Times Memo Reveals Moral Depravity of US Media
    01 May 2024
    The recent leak of a New York Times memo reveals its unethical journalistic practices and the organization's commitment to upholding the state line on support for Zionism.
  • President Joe Biden and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky
    Tyler Durden
    Biden Looks To Prevent Future President From Ending Ukraine War With 10-Year Agreement
    01 May 2024
    The agreement Presidents Biden and Zelensky are attempting to put in place is another means by which this administration plans to circumvent the democratic process and continue to propagate war.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us