
Debt - Updated and Expanded
The First 5,000 Years
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Narrated by:
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Grover Gardner
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By:
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David Graeber
Now in audio, the updated and expanded edition: David Graeber's "fresh...fascinating...thought-provoking...and exceedingly timely" (Financial Times) history of debt.
Here, anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom: He shows that before there was money, there was debt. For more than 5,000 years, since the beginnings of the first agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods - that is, long before the invention of coins or cash. It is in this era, Graeber argues, that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors.
Graeber shows that arguments about debt and debt forgiveness have been at the center of political debates from Italy to China, as well as sparking innumerable insurrections. He also brilliantly demonstrates that the language of the ancient works of law and religion (words like "guilt", "sin", and "redemption") derive in large part from ancient debates about debt, and shape even our most basic ideas of right and wrong. We are still fighting these battles today without knowing it.
©2014 David Graeber (P)2015 Gildan Media LLCListeners also enjoyed...




















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However the long middle of the book is an academic treatise on several historical societies. I'm sure the author has a clear vision of how these meandering surprises connect to the core theme of debt, but I found myself frequently unable to see their relevance. So that part of the book was a tedious slog for me.
I am going to try rereading it without the middle chapters to see if I can gain a better understanding of the main arguments of how debt relates to violence and social organization. I think there is an important message here.
Great insights but theme is hard to follow
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Recommended
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Would you listen to Debt - Updated and Expanded again? Why?
I have to listen again, because Grover Gardner read much too fast for me to grasp the important facts. I should really read the actual book. It would be worth the effort.What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?
The book contains important information for everyone who has ever or will borrow money or use a credit card.Have you listened to any of Grover Gardner’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
First and last time for Grover Gardner as a narrator.What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?
The war in Iraq was not about weapons of mass destruction but Husain's drive to use the Euro instead of the US dollar for OPEC transactions.Reader
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Good overall, but anti-capitalist at the end
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More to the book than I thought there'd be.
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an excellent Anthro look into money and markets
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Fascinating.
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mind-blowing
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harrowing, and I dare say, pretty dang messed up.
incredibly damning stuff
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Required Reading
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