Tweet

Lori Summers

5 Feb, 8 tweets, 2 min read

So I'm reading "Debt: The first 5000 Years" by anthropologist David Graeber and it's kind of blowing my mind. A lot. We all knew money was a construct but turns out it is one in a totally different way than we even thought. /1

Almost all history of money starts with "In the beginning, there was Bartering." Adam Smith, whose "Wealth of Nations" invented economics, starts with this. Joe has a cow and needs shoes, Tim has shoes but needs a cow, etc. This was cumbersome, so money was invented. /2

Sounds logical, right? Sounds familiar? Except for the part where THAT NEVER ACTUALLY HAPPENED? Smith (and the thousands of others who parrot this fairy tale) posited a hypothetical bartering society that has never been found to have actually existed in human history. /3

Humans do engage in bartering, of course, but never in a society where they didn't already have a system of currency in place. It didn't come first, in other words. Humans always needed a way to quantify units of payment (because what's the shoe/cow conversion factor?) /4

ECONOMISTS parrot the bartering-society fairytale, but no historian or anthropologist who actually studies societies has ever found one, historically or otherwise. When people talk about going "back to bartering" like, after a societal collapse, there's no such thing. /5

They don't stop using currency, they just stop using CASH. A "back to bartering" society is still valuing goods and services in terms of money, they're just not using state-issued notes and coinage. There IS NO bartering society to go "back" to. It never existed. /6

So what DID exist? Debt. Money, as it turns out, isn't quantifying value, it's quantifying debt. A coin is an IOU passed from person to person. A owes B $$. A is good for it, so B passes the $$ to C, who passes it to D, etc. And when A is the state? Hello, monetary system. /7

@fricto

The baseline thesis is that all financial systems are based on debt. I'm only 15% into the book but this is a hell of a paradigm shift. @fricto, you should read this book. 8/8

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

More from @madlori

Lori Summers

@madlori

25 Feb

Story time! As I think I've mentioned, awhile back I set my Chromecast (which I kind of just leave on all the time) to display photos from my travels and photography hobby. Best decision. I constantly have a background of reminders of things. ANYWAY. Story from my Norway trip. /1

Part of that trip was a four day road trip. My first stop after leaving Oslo was the Borgund Stave Church. There are 26 intact medieval stavekirken in Norway, this one is the most complete. You've probably seen photos of it. (I took this one) /2

So this is a site of historical interest, so there's a visitor's center and a museum etc. You stop there first and pay. I was there looking around when I overheard a man with a backpacker's pack talking to the lady at the desk about the bus schedule. /3

Read 9 tweets

Lori Summers

@madlori

17 Jan

Here's a fun story. I hope. When I was in college, I directed a bi-college student musical theater production of Fiddler on the Roof. One night after rehearsal I being driven home by Josh, the guy who was playing Tevye. 1/

The guy who was playing Lazar Wolf (whose name I sadly can't recall) was dating a woman who was also in the show, in the chorus. Josh says to me: "Lazar calls his girlfriend something I've never heard before. Have you heard him do that?" 2/

Me: No, I don't think so.
Josh: It sounds kinda Jewish? [Josh was Jewish himself]
Me: Is it like a pet name, like honey or sweetie?
Josh: If it is, it's one I haven't heard. It kinda sounds like...bubbehzaydee? [forgive my attempt at spelling that] Which is like "grandma?" 3/

Read 6 tweets

Lori Summers

@madlori

3 Dec 20

This is a thread about how the much-discussed devaluation of expertise that's plaguing this country is a manifestation of white patriarchy. Ready? Here we go.1/

There's a well-known phenomenon in which professions that women enter in significant numbers become lower-paid and lose social capital. Biology, education, pediatric medicine. This isn't a vague impression, there have been multiple economic studies about this effect. 2/

It also works in reverse; when men decide a previously-female-dominated job is one they want to do, suddenly it becomes higher-paying and more prestigious. Computer programming is the usual example of this. 3/

Read 11 tweets

Lori Summers

@madlori

2 Dec 20

I listen to a lot of true crime podcasts, so there is inevitably talk about victims' rights (which is a whole Problematic Thing, but that's another thread) and how "criminals have all the rights." Well, good, because that's exactly how it needs to be. 1/

Criminals and the accused need the MOST protection of their rights. People seem to think that this is because we all want to protect the pwecious widdle criminals (or something), but this is not to protect criminals but to PLACE CONSTRAINTS ON THE STATE'S POWER. 2/

The accused and the convicted need rights because the state has the most power over their lives and freedoms. When you're subject to incarceration and detention, you better have strong safeguards against state overreach. 3/

Read 7 tweets

Lori Summers

@madlori

17 Nov 20

Hey so I've had some friends/fam ask me, a Science Person, how the new vaccines work. I am not an immunologist, but I speak the Science Language and I'm pretty good at explaining stuff, so here goes. 1/

The new COVID vaccines are not like traditional vaccines, which use dead or denatured infectious agents (viruses, mostly) to prompt the immune system to mount a defense. They're mRNA vaccines, which is a vaccine tech that's been in development for awhile now. 2/

Most of the mRNA work has been done in cancer research, but it's also been investigated for stuff like influenza and Zika. If effective (as it seems to be) it's faster, cheaper, and less risky. Here's how it works. 3/

Read 12 tweets

Lori Summers

@madlori

1 Nov 19

Lately, I've seen several discussions online involving people wondering how and when to comment on someone's weight loss. If you're interested in THIS fat girl's perspective, the answers are: DON'T and NEVER. 1/14

"But it's a compliment!" From your point of view, sure. But let me break down how this frequently lands on us, the fat people in question, which is hopefully what matters to you. 2/14

And this is even leaving aside the very real possibility that Person may have lost weight because of an illness, a loss, or other unpleasant cause, which would make comments a BAD IDEA. Let's assume they wanted to lose weight and worked hard to do so. STILL DON'T COMMENT. 3/14

Read 14 tweets

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!