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Quote by David Graeber

“Debt - like sin - implies that one party in the transaction didn't live up to expectations, at least in the moment, and has done something wrong.”

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David Graeber

David Graeber is an American anthropologist known for his research on economic anthropology, anarchism, and critical theory. His work explores the issues of economic relationships and power structures in modern society. more

“People don't have an ongoing relation unless it's a form of debt because everything is an exchange, so ongoing relationships are incomplete exchanges, and therefore one party is probably to blame - more likely than not, both are. Sociality itself seems to become like a matter of sin, and inherently wrong.”

People Matter Seems Form Sin Party Relation Blame Debt Ongoing Incomplete

Author:David Graeber

“If you imagine that everything is an exchange, then we're supposed to just transact and walk away. If we haven't walked away and we still have a relationship, it's because there's a debt.”

Ifs Stills Walks Imagine Havens Debt Imagine That

Author:David Graeber

“Even in the most market-obsessed society, we're still spending half of our time on something other than just getting cash.”

Stills Half Spending Obsessed Our Time Cash

Author:David Graeber

“Capitalism is like this fractal thing where anything that contains an element of capitalism anywhere inside it is just something that turns into capitalism. It is an incredibly defeatist attitude. If you choose to look at reality that way, I suppose you can, but you have to do enormous violence to reality to do so consistently.”

Ifs Way Looks Reality Turns Attitude Violence Elements Capitalism Enormous You Choose Consistently Fractals

Author:David Graeber

“The thing about being famous is, it's weird. The only people who get how weird it is are other famous people.”

People Fame Being Famous

Author:Margot Kidder

“Free market ideology - does anyone know where it first comes from? It comes from medieval Islam, and specifically, Shari'a. Because Shari'a provided this commercial law that is independent from the state.”

Knows Firsts Doe States Law Independent Islam Ideology Free Market Medieval

Author:David Graeber

“There are markets extending from Mali, Indonesia, way outside the purview of any one government which operated under civil laws, so contracts weren't, except on trust. So they have this free market ideology the moment they have markets operating outside the purview of the states, as prior to that markets had really mainly existed as a side effect of military operations.”

Way States Moments Government Law Sides Effects Military Ideology Operations Contracts Free Market Indonesia Extending Side Effects Military Operations Mali

Author:David Graeber

“Adam Smith actually took all his best ideas and lines from sources from medieval Persia. But one thing he doesn't take is the underlying assumption they have that the basis of a market is mutual aid.”

Ideas Lines One Thing Source Bases Aids Assumption Mutual Adam Medieval Persia Mutual Aid

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.”

Thinking Needs Different Order Cutting Competition Throat Stopping

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.”

Ifs Thinking Knows Way Needs Giving Ability Demand Connected Handle Another Way Supply And Demand We Need Each Other

Author:David Graeber

Quote by David Graeber

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