“I think if the general exodus that seems to be going on occurs it's going to be a disaster,.” IfsThinkingSeemsDisasterExodus Author:David Graeber
“You can't have cutthroat competition when there's no one stopping you from actually cutting each other's throats. In order to build up trust we also have to think about each other's needs and it creates an entirely different dynamic.” ThinkingNeedsDifferentOrderCuttingCompetitionThroatStopping Author:David Graeber
“We need each other to do things that we can't do for ourselves. If we are intimately connected with each other, we just give things to each other; if we don't know each other we find another way to handle it. If you think about it, each according to his or her abilities and each according to his or her needs is sort of the same thing as supply and demand.” IfsThinkingKnowsWayNeedsGivingAbilityDemandConnectedHandleAnother WaySupply And DemandWe Need Each Other Author:David Graeber
“Now, we're used to thinking of communism as being once-upon-a-time-all-things-were-owned-in-common, maybe-someday-this-will-come-again. And people agree that there is a sort of epic narrative going on here. I think we should just throw this narrative out, it's irrelevant anyway, and who cares who owns things? I don't. You know, we all own the White House. So what? I still can't go in, right?” PeopleThinkingKnowsShouldStillsCareUsedHouseWhiteCommonAll ThingsAgreeCommunismNarrativeSomedayWhite HouseEpicIrrelevantWho CaresOnce Upon A TimeMaybe Someday Author:David Graeber
“I think we need to think of capitalism as a very bad way of organizing communism. Much of what we do is already communism, so just expand it.” ThinkingWayNeedsCapitalismCommunism Author:David Graeber
“The best way to think about anarchism is as a combination of three levels. On the one hand, the sort of instinctual revulsion against forms of inequality in power; on the other hand, a reappraisal of what one is already doing in egalitarian relations; and then the projection of these principles on all sorts of relations.” ThinkingWayHandsFormThreeLevelsPrinciplesRelationBest WayInequalityCombinationProjectionAnarchismRevulsion Author:David Graeber
“What we're already doing is communism. The first step we have to make is to realize that we're already closer to it than we think.” ThinkingFirstsRealizingStepsCommunismFirst Steps Author:David Graeber
“You would think that if neoliberals were in any way honest, after the collapse of the Soviet Union the first thing to do is get rid of the Red Army and the KGB, and build up the economy. Instead, they just get rid of the economy and keep the military and the KGB.” IfsThinkingWayFirstsEconomyHonestMilitaryRedArmyUnionsThings To DoSovietCollapseSoviet UnionKgbRed Army Author:David Graeber
“I came to the conclusion that most people in America would really like to be able to get a job where they think they're doing something noble and nice and good and it isn't just for the money. But the reason they hate what they call the cultural elite is that they see it as a class that's grabbed all the jobs where you can get paid to do something that isn't just for the money - if it's art, if it's charity, if it's intellectual, if it's political, whatever it might be.” PeopleThinkingArtReasonPoliticalHateNiceIntellectualCharityConclusion Author:David Graeber
“Consensus isn't just about agreement. It's about changing things around: You get a proposal, you work something out, people foresee problems, you do creative synthesis. At the end of it, you come up with something that everyone thinks is okay. Most people like it, and nobody hates it.” PeopleThinkingEndsProblemHateCreativeOkayCome UpAgreementConsensusProposalSynthesis Author:David Graeber
“It's true that most American citizens think of themselves as living in a democratic country. But when was the last time that any Americans actually sat down and came to a collective decision? Maybe if they are ordering pizzas, but basically never.” IfsThinkingCountryLastsDecisionCitizensDown AndDemocraticSatCollectivesLast TimePizzaAmerican CitizensDemocratic Country Author:David Graeber
