David Graeber: Money Has No Essence
on Thursday, August 31, 2017David Graeber Money Quote saying there is no reality to cash other than that we give it in our belief system around currency – so the political commentary is the only essence of it. David Graeber said:
“Money has no essence. It’s not ‘really’ anything; therefore, its nature has always been and presumably always will be a matter of political contention” — David Graeber
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In this quote, David Graeber is suggesting that money does not have an intrinsic or inherent nature – its value and role in society are socially constructed and defined by politics.
Since money is not backed by any physical commodity and only represents purchasing power by social agreement, its characteristics and functions are continually debated and redefined.
Graeber is arguing that there is no objective “essence” to money outside of how political systems choose to conceptualize and implement it.
This means money’s role in the economy will likely always be a topic of ideological disagreement and contention as different groups promote their visions of how currency should operate and what purposes it should serve.
The quote emphasizes that money is a social and political construct rather than having a fixed natural definition.