David Graeber Institute

@davidgraeberinst

A platform for projects related to David Graeber’s legacy, developing his ideas and projects that will take on a life of their own, continuing and contributing to his work.

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David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· 6d

We held a discussion with Prof Michael Hudson and Steve Keen about Debt. It'll be released on our Youtube channel. Here is a clip from the discussion.

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· 7d

#Anarchism

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· 7d

The reality of modern work and of the opportunities available.

"Unless you get very lucky, your choices are largely limited to two options. You can get a basically bullshit job, which will pay the rent but leaves you wracked with the guilty feeling that you are being forced, against your will, to be a fraud and a parasite. Or, you can get a helpful, useful job taking care of people, making, moving or maintaining things that people want or need - but then, likely you'll be paid so little you won't be able to take care of your own family."

— David Graeber

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· 8d

Despite what Water Privatization did in the UK, the believers in the miracles of Privatization still believe. They really do have quite a lot in common with a Religious Cult.

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· 10d

Vijay Prashad On The Violence Encoded In The British Museum.

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· 11d

Question to Prof Michael Hudson about Debt. 'If King or Emperor holds the power to declare a jubilee and to cancel all debts at once, (i.e. resetting the clock). Does this time have a ceiling and does this mean debt cannot grow forever because the sovereign retains the right to cancel it?'

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· 14d

"Donald Trump ran 3 casinos into the ground, borrowed crazy money, while he looted the casinos. And eventually they were all bankrupted. He is running the US in that way." - Ann Pettifor.

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· 22d

Tony Benn was a legend.

"You need two flames burning
in the human heart: the flame
of anger against injustice,
and the flame of hope you
can build a better world."
.
- Tony Benn (1925 - 2014)

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· 22d

Harsh reality under neoliberalism.

"Some of the least intelligent & most obnoxious people in our society are treated as its paragons of virtue while the most decent and caring people are not only made to do all the essential work but made to feel that they are of no account and that their lives and their feelings don't matter. This is a system of incredible violence that we live under."

— David Graeber

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· 26d

"It’s become fashionable lately to say that capitalism has entered a new phase in which it has become parasitical to forms of creative cooperation. This is nonsense. It has always been parasitical." - David Graeber

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· 28d

Caring too much. That’s the curse of the working classes! davidgraeber.org/articles/car...

"Those born to working-class families
invariably score far better at tests of
gauging others’ feelings than scions
of the rich, or of the professional
classes. In a way it’s hardly
surprising after all, what “powerful”
is largely about is not having
to pay a lot of attention to
what those around one are
thinking and feeling."
.
- David Graeber

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· Jul 13

Never forget that we can chose to have a society without an Oligarchy having such power.

"There are essentially 2 types of
society, mixed economies with
public checks and balances, and
oligarchies that dismantle and
privatize the state, taking over its
monetary and credit system, the
land and basic infrastructure."
.
- Prof Michael Hodson

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· Jul 11

"In fact, most of the economic innovations of the last few decades years make more sense politically than economically. For example, eliminating guaranteed life employment for precarious contracts doesn’t really create a more effective workforce, but it is extraordinarily effective in destroying unions and otherwise depoliticizing labor.
The same can be said of endlessly increasing working hours. No one has much time for political activity if they’re working 60-hour weeks."

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· Jul 10

David Graeber wrote Revolt Of the Caring Class. There exists the economy of people who take care of us. People who help us when we need help. But these classes of people are often not appreciated and mostly underpaid. davidgraeber.org/articles/the...

"Not only does the market assessment of the value of
different forms of work not correspond to popular
conceptions of what they actually contribute to society,
but there seems to be an inverse relation: with few
exceptions, the principle seems to be, the more one’s
work is seen as socially useful, the more it is recognized
as helping others, the less one is likely to be paid for it.

For instance, the US has been experiencing an acute
shortage of trained nurses, and a glut of law school
graduates. Yet the relative salaries of nurses and
corporate lawyers remains unchanged. Clearly the real
reasons for the price of labor, as with the price of most
things actually, have little to do with market forces, and
much to do with various forms of institutional power."

- David Graeber

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· Jul 5

One element of neoliberalism is that many many people live with huge amounts of debt. It's bad.

"Student loans are destroying the imagination of the youth.
If there’s a way of a society committing mass suicide, what
better way than to take all the youngest, most energetic,
creative and joyous people in your society and saddle them with
huge amounts of debt so they have to be slaves? There goes
your music, your culture and everything new that'd pop out.

And in a way, this is what’s happened to our society.
We’re a society that has lost any ability to incorporate
the interesting, creative and eccentric people.

- David Graeber

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· Jun 25

Interesting though how people who do bad things in the world of finance/business find ways to justify their behavior.

"We often hear about Capitalism's contradictions, but I think the most tragic one is that we teach children pro-social behaviors: to share, to be kind, to cooperate, and to work together. We try to raise them to be decent human beings. But then, when they grow up, they are rewarded for outcompeting others, being cutthroat and ruthless in the workplace, and if they achieve wealth and power, they are often rewarded for many anti-social behaviors."

- David Graeber

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· Jun 25

If you sell clothes, you need customers. An economy where the poor have money is good as then you will have customers. Poor people need clothes. An economy where the Billionaires have everything may mean you'll struggle to have customers.

If you sell clothes, you need customers.

An economy where the poor have money is good as then you will have customers. An economy where the Billionaires have everything may mean you'll struggle to have customers.

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· Jun 24

We have the stock market figures everyday. Maybe also we could have figures on the number of homeless people too. And the media can report daily on those homeless figures.

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· Jun 21

David Graeber opposed Keir Starmer back in 2020, warning he'll lead to the rise of the Far-Right and the rise of hate/racism. And look where we are now. Labour having abandoned its principles to become just another Neo-liberal party has been a total disaster.

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· Jun 15

Universal Basic Income is a policy we need to be discussing. Whether you are for it, against it, not sure about it.......at the very least, we need to be discussing it.

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· Jun 12

We should not see imagination as something only for kids. Adults too need a bit of imagination, and maybe we could imagine alternatives to our current economic system.

“Together we create the world we inhabit. Yet if any one of us tried to imagine a world we'd like to live in, who would come up with one exactly like the one that currently exists? We can all imagine a better world. Why can't we just create one? Why does it seem so inconceivable to just stop making capitalism?”
― David Graeber, Bullshit Jobs: A Theory

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· Jun 12

Anyone who has spent time on Tw*tter will understand this all too well.

Fascism is the rejections of the very principle of rational debate. You cannot have a fair and constructuve debate with a nazi

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· Jun 9

47 years of Thatcherism in the UK.

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· Jun 3

Honestly, if our economic system doesn't take care of the elderly, the disabled, and others in need while those in care work (like nurses) live in poverty and have no free time, then what is even the point of having an economy?

"I think that we should take the ideas of
production and consumption, throw them
away, and substitute for them the idea
of care and freedom.

We need to care for each other that will make
each other more free? And who’re the people
who are providing that care? And how can
they be compensated themselves with
greater freedom? To do that we need to like,
actually scrap almost all of the discipline
of economics as it currently exists."
.
- David Graeber

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· Jun 1

We should be taxing wealth, not work. Graeber said this back in 2009, and now it is becoming clear to many more people that taxes on wealth (especially extreme wealth) are needed.

"There’s absolutely no reason a modern state
should fund itself primarily by appropriating a
proportion of each citizen’s earnings.
.
There are plenty of other ways to go about it
such as land, wealth, commercial, or consumer
taxes, any of which can be made more or
less progressive, and which are considerably
more efficient (than income tax), since
the bureaucratic apparatus monitoring
citizens’ personal affairs to the degree
required by an income tax
system is itself enormously
expensive."
.
- David Graeber

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· Jun 1

The Jewish Bund. The new book on the legendary socialist movement from the Jewish community is a big hit. We will have a talk with the author Molly Crabapple this Thursday. youtu.be/zTfbjY_2jUA

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· May 27

The UK once had some of the best railways, public housing, a solid welfare state that took care of people and a more caring/loving society. Then Thatcher became Prime Minister.

47 years of thatcherism is why everyone is miserable.

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· May 25

They don't want a free media.

"It’s really something how
Billionaires have rigged the
rules to let them vacuum up
all of society’s wealth and
then fund think tanks and buy
media properties that blame
poverty and homelessness
and despair on literally
everything other than Billionaires
vacuuming up all the wealth."
.
- David Sirota

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· May 23

From David Graeber's 'Revolutions in Reverse' (2011).

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst· May 21

The next talk in our series with Prof Michael Hudson takes place tomorrow (22nd May). 1pm NYC, 6pm London. Here is the link to the event page for the talk: youtu.be/ps6iOpG1Xek