MichelleiGisa

Dr.DaymonSmith
ANTH1010001
01May2015

Anthropology1010Reflection

AstheFatherofAmericanAnthropologyoncesaid,ifweweretoselectthemost
intelligent,imaginative,energetic,andemotionallythirdofmankind,allraceswouldbepresent.
Fromthefourthchapterof
Debt:thefirst5000years
byDavidGraeberistitled
Crueltyand
Redemption
summarizesthattherearetwotypesofpeopleinthisworldthosewhoseemoney
asacommodityandthosewhoseeitasanIOU(Graeber73).Aswelookaroundustoseethe
manysituationsgoingonandthemanyproblemsthatweseeaswell,itusuallydealswithpride,
grudges,powerandthoseareincludedfactors,alongwithmany,thatmoneyorcurrencycan
bringtopeopleallaroundtheworld.AlongwithGraebersknowledgeandtwochosenterms
fromthe
EncyclopediaofSocialandCulturalAnthropology
editedbyAlanBarnardand
JonathanSpencer,itfurtherdiscussedofhowIhaveseenandsoughtoutthefourthchapterand
alongwithotherfacts,itwilltietogetherofhowthingshavebeenseenofevilitselfmoney.

Moneyishistorical.Itwasintroducedandcalleddifferentthingsbutthefirstonetotruly
figureoutthenatureofmoneyistheGreekphilosopher,Aristotle.Graeberdescribedthe
differentwaysthattheseancientdifferentgroupsofpeoplesoughtoutmoneyintheirownways.
FirstwhoweredescribedaretheRomans,whohadagovernmentwerewillingtotrusttrustand

beabletogowiththeancientcoinseventhoughthecoinsweremorevaluablethantheactual
silverthecoinwasmadeoutof.ButopposedtotheRomanswerethePersians,Mauryanand
Chinesegovernments,butoddenough,theRomansilverandgoldcoinshappenedtoendupin
IndiaandChinawhichledtothefactthatitwaswhytheyhavesilverandgoldcoinsintheir
countries.Graeberstatedwithinacommunityatown,acity,aguildorreligioussocietypretty
muchanythingcouldfunctionasmoney,providedeveryoneknewtherewas
someone
willingto
acceptittocanceloutadebt.(Graeber,74).

Commodity
,generically,isdefinedasausefulorvaluablething.Butaccordingtothe
EncyclopediaofSocialandCulturalAnthropology,
anyobjectwhichhasavalueinrelationto
othergoods,andcanthereforebetheobjectofeconomicchange.Sometimescommoditiesare
distinguishedfromgifts,whosevalueliesinsocialrelationscreatedbetweengiverandreceiver,
ratherthanintheexchangevalueofgoodsthemselves.
Now,commoditiesareusuallytaken
andusedbymostpeopletoday.Butaswearetothinkaboutcurrencyandthehelpthatitbrings
andthewaythatitgoesalongwithourgovernmentandtheeconomy,therearepossibilitiesthat
itcantakethewrongplaceintoourmindstothepointwheremoneycannotandwillnolonger
beacommodityandthatpointiswhereallthenegativeseffectsofmoneycomesintoplaypride,
selfishness,andpower.Thoughwiththiswithbeingapossibility,therearestillthosetwotypes
ofpeoplewhenitcomestotheeconomyandmoneyandwherewemightstandasasocial
society
system
,
instructualfuctionalisttheory,amajorsocialdivision,suchaseconomics,
kinship,politics,religion,andsometimeslaw.Eachofthesemaybesaidtobemadeupof
variousinstitutionswhicharefunctionallyrelatedwithinthesystem.

IOUistermthathasbeenusedfarbacksinceweallcanremember.Itsdefinitionis
selfexplanatoryandflatoutsaid.IoweyouisthesecondpartofcurrencythatGraeber
describesaswell.Asmoneyisbeingbroughtoutofitsownnature,itgoesthroughdifferent
situationswhetheritisthroughthestoreorsimplyhandingsomeoneafewdollars.Thegeneric
definitionforIOUisasigneddocumentacknowledgingadebt.Therewereplentyofwaysthat
peopleandancientpeoplecanorhasalreadycameupwithhowyouaregoingtopayoffyour
debt.Graeberlaterexplainsthat.Graeberexplainsandspeaksofstoryofacertainmannamed
Henrywhohadhisownstore,StonyStratfordwhopracticedhisownwaybutsameprinciple
ofIOU,butinhisway,heusedtokensinsteadofcoins.Graeberexplains,Forlarger
transactions,everyone,includingHenry,expectedmoneyinaformthatwouldbeacceptable
anywhere,includingItalyandFrance(Graeber,74).Evenwiththepeopleofancienttimes,
therewerecaseswhereonceyouneededsomething?Therewouldcomeapricetopay.

Inconclusion,moneyorcurrencyisthedeathofallbutitisallhowyouseeit,atleast
thatisfrommyperspective.Assaidbefore,AristotledeclaredNumismaticsisthestudyof
money.Meaningthatcurrencyhasalonghistorywithmanydifferentculturesandgroupsof
peoplefromthepasttothepresent.Thereisagreatdifferenceandthestateofobviousthat
thingshavechanged.Therewillalwaysbedifferenttypesofpeopleandtherewillalwaysbe
differentsituationsgoingonwithinoursocialsystem,butallinall,money

cruelandshouldbe
thoughtproperlywiththosewhoseeitquitedifferently.Thesepeoplethatliveallaroundthe
worldclaimtolivewithindifferentsocialclasses,butlookingatthebiggerpicture,moneyisnot
agreatthingtohave,especiallyifitresultsinalifetakeover.