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Barter systems are unstable and tend to exist under threat of violence and/or social distance between trading parties. Such a society could only be one in whic
by orangepurple 5y ago
Barter systems are unstable and tend to exist under threat of violence and/or social distance between trading parties.
Such a society could only be one in which everybody was an inch away from everybody else’s throat; but nonetheless hovering there, poised to strike but never actually striking, forever. True, barter does sometimes occur between people who do not consider each other strangers, but they’re usually people who might as well be strangers—that is, who feel no sense of mutual responsibility or trust, or the desire to develop ongoing relations. The Pukhtun of Northern Pakistan, for instance, are famous for their open-handed hospitality. Barter is what you do with those to whom you are not bound by ties of hospitality (or kinship, or much of anything else)
- brnaftr361 5y agoEh, I reckon it'd default to debt systems. Jeb gives Jed a sack of potatoes, Jed owes Jeb. That's far more consequential and desirable at a highly localized scale. Lots of social dynamics to breed in civility, credibility and ultimately give rise to a more cohesive community. This shit where we narrate some fair and precise value is... Surprisingly nebulous...
- orangepurple 5y agoThe more frequent solution is to adopt some sort of credit system. When much of Europe “reverted to barter” after the collapse of the Roman Empire, and then again after the Carolingian Empire likewise fell apart, this seems to be what happened. People continued keeping accounts in the old imperial currency, even if they were no longer using coins.