> What's utopian about it? It's been known as utopian since at least the time of Thomas More[1]. > What do children pay their parents, or parents pay their ki

> What's utopian about it? It's been known as utopian since at least the time of Thomas More[1]. > What do children pay their parents, or parents pay their kids? That's the relationship people start out with and one that is most natural. Yes, it's natural for that relationship. That does not mean that: a) it applies to other kinds of relationship b) it scales to all of society In fact, it's that kind of thinking that leads to the authoritarianism of Confucianism, the tyranny of communism, and the stifling paternalism of western social democracy (among other things such as outright fascism). Gifting worked amongst tribes because they're all related. As to Graeber, he's saying that slavery is the creation of money? No, he's too mealy mouthed for that “perhaps not creating but at least enabling institutions such as slavery”. Wow, money enables slavery. What a pathetic attempt at insight and guilt by association. Money is simply a better system than the competitors, as is liberalism - the wish that people be free to choose how they use their spending power (or gifting power, ha) - to its competitors. A gift economy was not able to lift almost the entire world out of poverty (and it will hopefully complete that effort soon[2]). Communism and socialism (not that there's a real difference) have only managed to emiserate and imprison every society it's been tried in. No thanks. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_(book) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_(book) [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JiYcV_mg6A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JiYcV_mg6A