There's No Economy but Only the Debt to the Center: Money, Capital and Tributary
a day ago
- #money-and-debt
- #originary-anthropology
- #capitalist-rituals
- Commercial transaction is an extension of the originary scene, not a minimal model of it, with money as a 'credit drawn on the sacred' representing debt to the center.
- Money originates from sacred and imperial centers as a tool for discharging debt, with 'anthropological money' tied to kinship/religion and 'political money' to state redistribution.
- Modern money emerged via central banking (e.g., Bank of England), separating economic from political institutions and creating a system based on promises backed by sovereignty.
- Capitalism operates through capitalization, where assets are valued based on expected future earnings, relying on political control and debt enforcement.
- Financial derivatives represent a ritualistic market behavior, creating a 'speculative ethos' that extends the logic of debt and future projection.
- Alternative currencies and institutions might reimagine debt and succession rituals, moving toward a 'tributary order' that acknowledges originary debt to the center.