Money isn’t real. Or at least, if it is real, then I really don’t understand it. It’s just paper and plastic and numbers that we’ve been conditioned to find rewarding. There is no room at my bank that has my name on it and is filled with stacks of bills and coins. I owe thousands of dollars in student loan debt, but where did that money come from? Who do I owe? Beyond that, if I die before paying it off, that debt just disappears? Not that I’m not grateful for that clause, but it doesn’t make any mathematical sense.
This is something that I have pondered for years. I remember expressing all of my confusion and frustration to my mom as a little girl, and asking her why we couldn’t go off of some kind of barter/exchange system quite similar to the ones described by Argumedo and Pimbert in their article “Bypassing Globalization: Barter markets as a new indigenous economy in Peru”. I didn’t understand why people couldn’t grow or make anything that they needed, and trade/provide services in exchange for anything else they needed/wanted/couldn’t make themselves. My mom’s response was that people are too selfish for that, and that nobody would actually work. However, I don’t think I believe that.
The thing is, it’s essentially what we’re already doing, just cutting out the middle-man of money. Furthermore, it’s exactly what is being done in the barter markets in Peru. Through the Quechua ideologies of ayni and sumaq causay, these markets thrive on the principles of reciprocity, loyalty, respect and affection. As described by Argumedo and Pimbert, these markets are often times even more beneficial for everyone involved than the monetized markets are (344-345). If anything, I think that the process of bartering and sharing what we have would humble the people that need it, and greatly improve the quality of life of those ‘less fortunate’ in monetary terms.
Obviously this system is complex and requires cooperation from all parts, but the Quechua peoples show that it can work. That gives me a lot of hope.
*For legal reasons I feel it is important to note that I am not planning on dying to get out of paying my student loan debt, nor do I recommend anyone else do so, though I know sometimes it may feel like the less painful option.
Tamara Mitchell
November 26, 2020 — 9:18 AM
I love these reflections, Coral. The materials for this week provoked a similar reaction in me. “Why doesn’t everyone have a barter community?” / “I want to participate in this type of community!”
I think one of the most telling differences (which your mom and Argumedo and Pimbert note as well) is that the Quechua peoples have fewer desires compared to other societies. So subsistence agriculture and barter markets provide for them in a meaningful way. As you articulate well, this is obviously a reflection of sumaq causay and the fact that the earth is *also* a part of their community. Wanting more is incompatible with their value and social systems.
I do appreciate that your closing feeling is one of hope. Mine, too.
(Your final legal note says so much about the world we live in. Sigh.)
Daniela
November 29, 2020 — 5:54 PM
Hi!
Your sentiment and confusion about money is so real. Especially in our hyper-modern world where so many functions are available online, we don’t even get to see the money we are in possession of. To us, they’re literally just numbers on a screen.
Your questions also remind me of recent conversations with friends where I wondered what would be so bad about just shutting everything down for a few weeks and going on lockdown again–to me it really just seems like the best option to tackle the second wave of covid. My friend went on about how the economy wouldn’t take a hit like that again, yada yada yada, to which I simply replied with “but who would die if that happens? who would die from the economy shutting down?”