Barter Economy is a Myth

theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/02/barter-society-myth/471051/

so apparently currency and debt was not preceded by a barter economy, but rather a "quid pro quo" community system where everyone gave what they could to anyone who happened to be in need

what does Veeky Forums think of this? the article suggests that the concept of currency was a freak idea that happened to spread out succesfully, and is now so firmly embedded in our collective mindset that we retroactively think bartering came before it

is money just an evolutionary mistake? do debt and currency allow for too much subjugation of the people? should we set up a "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" system instead?

I still don't understand the difference between barter and banter. English is a retarded language.

>i don't understand thing so its dumb

t. Anglo

> what does Veeky Forums think of this?
I think this is very plausible, but for the short distance exchange only. Long-distance trade had to be some kind of barter for obvious reasons. Still, money was created by (and still exists because of) a State, who needed to pay to solders and collect taxes in some practical way.
> is money just an evolutionary mistake?
No? Money lead to more complex social and political entities, international trade and specialization of labor. You can argue that money was the reason classical Greece became the center of commerce and culture in the 5th century BC, Greeks being one of the first nations to adopt currency.
> do debt and currency allow for too much subjugation of the people?
People was subjugated by other peoples long before money was invented, there is nothing special about money here.Monetization brought many changes in every aspect of human life, but it's wrong to ascribe all the evils of the modern world to money.

Barter: trading goods for other goods rather than some form of currency. Example: I'll trade you 10 eggs from my chickens for a bucket of milk from your cow.

Banter: What you do with your friends while enjoying a naughty Afro-Portuguese chicken based meal. Example: Your mum m8.

One thing they don't go into is there are examples of money existing as an accounting unit before being a means of exchange. Ancient Irish law has blood prices listed in cumals, which was nominally the value of a slave woman and was set as being worth three cows. Other livestock, commodities, and objects were priced in cumals so they could also be used to pay fines, so it's not just a roundabout way of listing the fine in terms of cattle.

Looks like I'm not the only one who read 'Debt' by David Graeber

> the article suggests that the concept of currency was a freak idea that happened to spread out succesfully

Coinage was originally invented in Lydia and then spread to Ancient Greece because it was easier to trade coins for goods than ship the goods all the way to foreign lands for bartering. Ironically this came into being after the post bronze age collapse as civilization recovered and rich people wanted to enjoy exotic luxuries that were now available again. Our current system of debt is based on the vast proliferation of what you could call "luxuries" i.e shit we dont *really* need, mainly technology.
This proliferation of debt and luxuries is influenced by governemnts which themselves are influenced by big business (the rich) to milk ordinary people as hard as possible. For example: forcing people to buy new cars by penalising perfectly good old cars with crippling tax and insurance, expensive gadgets with no resale value as they are obsolete in a few years.
The current system is absolutely nuts and cant last even a single human lifetime. We will likely see a return to slavery in the future, at the very least debt-slavery.

ITT: Rousseau

muh noble savagery

Luxuries arise due to having plenty left over, but I guess affluence is bad to people who hate markets and money

Feel free to go innawoods, and kill yourself when you can't even manage that

The luxuries arose from landlords with huge estates worked by slaves, a massive wealth disparity. Though I doubt that back then those slaves were defending their owners and the slavery system in their miserable shitshack like you do from your trailerpark.

Luddites and communists predict the end of capitalism...again:The thread

Nicholas' servants died with him. Orders of rank take courage/

And despite the disparity overall quality of life and lifespan have increased. What's the matter, are you stuck on crab mentality?

Perhaps they're shumpeterian, conclusion-jumper-too-er.

Asking your neighbor for a cup of sugar isn't a gift economy.

Adam Smith said that the barter period was short, people would start using another common item like rice or salt as a medium of exchange thereby eliminating the problem of having to wait until you have a particular item the other person wants before you can make an exchange. Countless hunter gatherer societies trade pigs and cows and such with members of other tribes for various reasons.

I think the author is fixating too much on a minority of reported cases, the Iroquois had lots of interesting ceremonies and customs that might have been a substitution for barter between people they knew for years, while at the same time used tobacco widely in trade with other tribes.

Interdusting

>is money just an evolutionary mistake? do debt and currency allow for too much subjugation of the people? should we set up a "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" system instead?
Amazing non-sequitur m8

Literally a bunch of "labor" """""""""historian""""""""""" revisionism.

>we're like all slaves man we need to unite against our capitalist overlords man, stop being a class traitor you trailer trash brainwashed right-wing conservative voter-against-your-own-interests redneck

>Other academics, including the French sociologist Marcel Mauss, and the Cambridge political economist Geoffrey Ingham have long espoused similar arguments.
Mauss' biggest work was about how gifts in a gift economy were never free, and Ingham is a communist.

Some old white "muh noble savages were gommies just like us xD" anthro cunt claims barter economies never existed, that's blatantly false. California natives used acorns almost like a currency, trade routes and common bartering items are documented. Those are the only cultures I've studied but I'm sure barter economies existed everywhere.