具体描述
Before there was money, there was debt
Every economics textbook says the same thing: Money was invented to replace onerous and complicated barter systems—to relieve ancient people from having to haul their goods to market. The problem with this version of history? There’s not a shred of evidence to support it.
Here anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom. He shows that 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.
Debt: The First 5,000 Years is a fascinating chronicle of this little known history—as well as how it has defined human history, and what it means for the credit crisis of the present day and the future of our economy.
作者简介
美国著名人类学家和无政府主义者，伦敦大学戈德史密斯学院高级讲师。他曾为《哈珀斯》、《国家》、Mute杂志、《新左派评论》等国家媒体供稿。大卫•格雷伯是伦敦经济学院2006年度马林诺夫斯基纪念讲座主讲人。该讲座为向重塑研究文化的杰出人类学家致敬而设，每年举办一次。
目录信息
读后感
我們在天上的父： 願人都尊祢的名為聖。 願祢的國降臨； 願祢的旨意行在地上， 如同行在天上。 我們日用的飲食，今日賜給我們。 免我們的債，如同我們免了人的債。 不叫我們遇見試探；救我們脫離兇惡。 因為國度、權柄、榮耀，全是祢的，直到...
评分我們在天上的父： 願人都尊祢的名為聖。 願祢的國降臨； 願祢的旨意行在地上， 如同行在天上。 我們日用的飲食，今日賜給我們。 免我們的債，如同我們免了人的債。 不叫我們遇見試探；救我們脫離兇惡。 因為國度、權柄、榮耀，全是祢的，直到...
评分 评分本书作者大卫·格雷伯是美国著名的无政府主义人类学家，是“占领华尔街”运动的组织者。 作者通过梳理纵横5000年的人类历史， 阐述了一个看似简单实者重要而复杂的名词：债！ 本书直接颠覆了主流经济学理论的货币概念，剑指经济学创立之鼻祖亚当·斯密。 在阅读的过程中，虽然...
用户评价
Do we have choice?
评分Great and timely read
评分喜欢这本书的scope，五千年的全球史，而大部分当代人已经很难去书写一个对于整体的世界的想象了。遵循了从涂尔干--莫斯一路下来的ethnogenesis。对以亚当斯密为代表的political economy的批评非常radical：欠债还钱并非天经地义，这个时代需要召唤的是Jubilee，无政府主义背景明显。
评分有点意思，从debt&credit的角度来看人类经济活动，认不认同另当别论。但作者有一个观点比较颠覆：没有足够证据证明严格意义上的以物易物在人类历史上普遍存在过，所以不能作为一个整体意义上的阶段性经济活动，新时代占星学又扯淡了
评分Call me gullible, but I’m largely sold on this. I am no expert in economics and the like, and, to be honest, I was a bit bored in the middle. But the author made me look at human history in a new light, and it definitely entrenched my disillusionment in our economy.
相关图书
本站所有内容均为互联网搜索引擎提供的公开搜索信息，本站不存储任何数据与内容，任何内容与数据均与本站无关，如有需要请联系相关搜索引擎包括但不限于百度，google,bing,sogou 等
© 2026 book.quotespace.org All Rights Reserved. 小美书屋 版权所有