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I feel that Graeber had made a conscious choice to create a new fable, in a sense. That is, to the extent that most people think about the beginnings of civiliz
by ProjectArcturis 3y ago
I feel that Graeber had made a conscious choice to create a new fable, in a sense. That is, to the extent that most people think about the beginnings of civilization at all, they repeat just-so stories invented during the Enlightenment. Those stories wove themselves into our collective subconscious, and guide our collective decisions today. They help provide limits on what we think it is possible for government to be -- or not to be.
Graeber, I think, wanted to change our perceived limits by challenging the old stories and weaving a new one.
- eightysixfour 3y agoThis is my excuse when others critique the book as well. I don’t know if it is true, but I like it. The contrast of a new story is needed to understand the limitations of the existing one.
- namaria 3y agoPrecisely my view. Just showing people that the default story taught in schools and echoed in documentaries and popular non fiction is arbitrary and full of holes is very useful. A lot of political manipulation found in the wild rests on using these archaic narratives. Even the idea that "civilization started in Mesopotamia" seems to be a gross oversimplification that needs to be revised. Too much of Western world politics rests on obsolete Enlightenment narratives and questioning them seems to elicit strong reactions.