Quotes from David Graeber

There seems a general rule that, the more obviously one's work benefits other people, the less one is likely to be paid for it.

Money has always been a particular problem for revolutionaries and anti-capitalists. What will money look like 'after the revolution'? How will it function? Will it exist at all? It's hard to answer the question if you don't know what money actually is. Proposing to eliminate it entirely seems utopian and naive.

Look at labor policy. What's the point of making everybody work too much? It's not very useful. It is destroying the planet, actually. But it's great at keeping people off the streets.

It's true that most American citizens think of themselves as living in a democratic country. But when was the last time that any Americans actually sat down and came to a collective decision? Maybe if they are ordering pizzas, but basically never.

It's a difficult business, creating a new, alternative civilization.

Neoliberalism isn't an economic program - it's a political program designed to produce hopelessness and kill any future alternatives.