• furnace@lemmygrad.ml
    18·
    1 year ago

    In Debt, David Graeber suggests that in modern societies this only happens in situations of collapse, i.e. when currency becomes so worthless as to become essentially irrelevant, or when currency disappears from the streets. He gives the example of the post-soviet countries which, under shock therapy effectively became barter economies (a historical anomaly, for as Graeber argues, barter is very rare in most, if not all societies). As for a country effectively giving up on the use of currency, it would essentially be impossible under global capitalist conditions.

    • SapphicFemme@lemmygrad.mlOP
      4·
      1 year ago

      As for a country effectively giving up on the use of currency, it would essentially be impossible under global capitalist conditions.

      I’ve thought about this. The citizens of this “idea country” would not need to pay for the items, services, food, meds, etc they need or want. The government would have a bank, to do some trade and outside financial work with capitalist countries. The people of the country would be given money each month, to use outside of the country (if they travel) etc. Inside the country any use of currency is banned unless you are a tourist from a capitalist / currency using society. What do you think of this?

      • Soviet Snake@lemmygrad.ml
        7·
        1 year ago

        Overly complicated and that would imply that the society is an extremely developed socialist nation in a global situation where there’s no outside opposition. Honestly getting rid of currency is the least of the things Marxists should worry about. It comes as late as abolishing the State and social classes, since they’re intertwined in the framework of capital.

          • Soviet Snake@lemmygrad.ml
            1·
            1 year ago

            Well, the State is something more abstract than just the government body, but kind of. I don’t know what a stateless society would look like, so it’s hard. I really recommend you to read State and Revolution by Lenin since it deals with a lot of the questions you are having in this thread, it is very short and in its very first pages goes directly into some of this.