521 pages
Italian language
Published March 21, 2012 by Il saggiatore.
The author shows that before there was money, there was debt. For 5,000 years humans have lived in societies divided into debtors and creditors. For 5,000 years debt and debt forgiveness have been at the center of political debates, laws and religions. The words “guilt,” “sin,” and “redemption” come from ancient debates about debt. These terms and the ideas of debt shape our most basic ideas of right and wrong. source
This book challenged my thinking on things I thought I knew in exciting ways, in spite of my sharing a similiar politics. I've always been hesitant to read Graeber, but I was pleasantly surprised with this one.
Probably my favorite of Graeber’s books that I’ve read. His other books feel like they can go on tangents that struggle to relate to the key topic, which I didn’t find to be an issue here. This book is also a lot more dense than his others and I appreciate the detail he goes into.
