David Graeber Institute

One of the biggest Thatcherite myths is that Capitalism and a society with markets are the same thing.

David Graeber pointed out this is not historically true.

YouTube video by Occupy the London Stock Exchange Is Capitalism Part of the Answer? - 04 - David Graeber speaks

Full talk here from David Graeber:

youtu.be/9f9H1dm5qMQ

One of the biggest Thatcherite myths is that Capitalism and a society with markets are the same thing.

David Graeber pointed out this is not historically true.

If you have any questions that you would like ask about Debt, Empire and the Future, you can post them here on Bsky, and we will pass them on to our guests.

"The police don’t actually end up spending their time fighting violent criminals. Instead, they enforce administrative regulations and endless rules. So rather than protecting us against violence, police actually bring the threat of violence into situations where it would have never occurred otherwise. Most incidents of violence —domestic violence, a drunken brawl, or gang fights— the police don’t get involved. On the other hand, try driving down the street with no license plates: how long will it be before you are surrounded by people with weapons." - David Graeber

David Graeber on the police.

From an interview he gave a few years ago with the Scottish publication called Bella Caledonia. davidgraeber.org/interviews/t...

"The police don’t actually end up spending their time fighting violent criminals. Instead, they enforce administrative regulations and endless rules. So rather than protecting us against violence, police actually bring the threat of violence into situations where it would have never occurred otherwise. Most incidents of violence —domestic violence, a drunken brawl, or gang fights— the police don’t get involved. On the other hand, try driving down the street with no license plates: how long will it be before you are surrounded by people with weapons." - David Graeber

David Graeber on the police.

From an interview he gave a few years ago with the Scottish publication called Bella Caledonia. davidgraeber.org/interviews/t...

A practical utopians guide to the coming collapse What is a revolution? We used to think we knew. Revolutions were seizures of power by pop- ular forces aiming to transform the very nature of the political, social, and economic system in the country ...

If you want to read the full piece, you can here at our website:

davidgraeber.org/articles/a-p...

"What would happen if we stopped acting as if the primordial form of work is laboring at a production line, or wheat field, or iron foundry, or even in an office cubicle, and instead started from a mother, a teacher, or a caregiver? . We might be forced to conclude that the real business of human life is not contributing toward something called the economy but the fact that we are all, and have always been, projects of mutual creation." . - David Graeber

One of David Graeber's most interesting pieces was from 2013 called - 'A practical utopians guide to the coming collapse.'

Here is an extract.

"What would happen if we stopped acting as if the primordial form of work is laboring at a production line, or wheat field, or iron foundry, or even in an office cubicle, and instead started from a mother, a teacher, or a caregiver? . We might be forced to conclude that the real business of human life is not contributing toward something called the economy but the fact that we are all, and have always been, projects of mutual creation." . - David Graeber

One of David Graeber's most interesting pieces was from 2013 called - 'A practical utopians guide to the coming collapse.'

Here is an extract.

“Capitalism has always been a system of class war, one in which the rich and powerful fight an unending battle to control society and its institutions.” . - Noam Chomsky

Always worth stopping to think about what Noam Chomsky has to say.

"Say what you like about nurses, garbage collectors, or mechanics, it’s obvious that were they to vanish in a puff of smoke, the results would be immediate & catastrophic. A world without teachers or dock-workers would soon be in trouble, and even one without science fiction writers or ska musicians would clearly be a lesser place. It’s not entirely clear how humanity would suffer were all private equity CEOs, lobbyists, PR researchers, actuaries, telemarketers, bailiffs or legal consultants to similarly vanish - many suspect it might markedly improve." - David Graeber

Yes

"Cancel all student loan debt? But that would be unfair to all those people who struggled for years to pay back their student loans! Let me assure the reader that, as someone who struggled for years to pay back his student loans and finally did so, this argument makes about as much sense as saying it would be unfair to a mugging victim not to mug their neighbors too." - David Graeber

Thanks always for your contributions on here and on Twitter.

They are interesting and give a nice addition to the debate.

Most people (especially "economists") fail to understand that #basicincome does not cost us anything.

It allows us to ditch billions of economically unnecessary #bullshitjobs that are wasting most of our wealth.

#basicincome makes us wealthier. By freeing-up a ton of wealth.

"Say what you like about nurses, garbage collectors, or mechanics, it’s obvious that were they to vanish in a puff of smoke, the results would be immediate & catastrophic. A world without teachers or dock-workers would soon be in trouble, and even one without science fiction writers or ska musicians would clearly be a lesser place. It’s not entirely clear how humanity would suffer were all private equity CEOs, lobbyists, PR researchers, actuaries, telemarketers, bailiffs or legal consultants to similarly vanish - many suspect it might markedly improve." - David Graeber

Yes

Debt, Empire, and the Future: Dialogue with Michael Hudson, Steve Keen and Ann Pettifor David Graeber Institute On October 17th, 2025 Michael Hudson will be joined by Steve Keen and Ann Pettifor as part of our ongoing dialogues on Debt, Empire and the

17th October.

Talk with Michael Hudson, Steve Keen and Ann Pettifor about Debt, Empire and the Future.

It will be streamed on our Youtube channel.

More info here: davidgraeber.institute/debt-empire-...

David Graeber: Between Anthropology and Philosophy - ChannelDraw Rethinking the Future: Exploring Human Nature, Self-Governance, and Values Through Graeber’s Legacy

“We remain trapped in a maze of myths, unable to imagine a different future” the conference on David Graeber (Oct 6‑8, Italy) explores the meeting of anthropology and philosophy as a way to rethink alternatives @davidgraeberinst.bsky.social @nikadubrovsky.bsky.social

Read More ⬇️

"The media will always talk about how, say, a transport strike is likely to inconvenience the public, in their capacity of commuters, but it will never occur to them that those striking are themselves part of the public, or that whether if they succeed in raising wage levels this will be a benefit to the same public." . - David Graeber

In 2011. David Graeber wrote the book: Revolutions In Reverse.

A lesser known book than his other books, but still a good source to teach us about how the system works.

A full Basic Income would eliminate the compulsion to work, by offering a reasonable standard of living to all, and then either leaving it up to each individual to decide whether they wished to pursue further wealth, by doing a paying job, or selling something, or whether they wished to do something else with their time. Alternately, it might open the way to developing better ways of distributing goods entirely. (Money is after all a rationing ticket, and in an ideal world, one would presumably wish to do as little rationing as possible. Obviously, all this depends on the assumption that human beings don't have to be compelled to work, or at least, to do something that they feel is useful or beneficial to others. As we've seen, this is a reasonable assumption. Most people would prefer not to spend their days sitting around watching TV and the handful who really are inclined to be total parasites are not going to be a significant burden on society, since the total amount of work required to maintain people in comfort and security is not that formidable. The compulsive workaholics who insist on doing far more than they really have to would more than compensate for the occasional slackers. . - David Graeber

A pitch for Universal Basic Income from the book Bullshit Jobs.

Have a read.

"The media will always talk about how, say, a transport strike is likely to inconvenience the public, in their capacity of commuters, but it will never occur to them that those striking are themselves part of the public, or that whether if they succeed in raising wage levels this will be a benefit to the same public." . - David Graeber

In 2011. David Graeber wrote the book: Revolutions In Reverse.

A lesser known book than his other books, but still a good source to teach us about how the system works.

Next Visual Assembly tomorrow!

Saturday October 4
10:00 - 12:00
Vienna, Austria
Link to regiter: uttaisop.at/anmelden/
More information about the event and Visual Assemblies as a project ⬇

Visual Assembly The Visual Assembly is a democratic form of creative collaboration that aims to imagine new ways to run and organize our social systems. Every human

Participants will start out with maps for two cities: one utopian, one dystopian. Because utopia and dystopia never exist separately, right? They’re always intertwined, and when building one, you have to keep the other in mind.

Find out more about Visual Assemblies: museum.care/room/visual-...

For the "Transition to a (more) socially and environmentally just future" conference (uttaisop.at/tagung-trans...) in Vienna, in line with the theme of constructing the paths to transition, we will try to see how the making of our (future) cities can go right and pretty wrong.

Join our next Visual Assembly to collectively imagine, plan and draw cities of the future.

Saturday October 4
10:00 - 12:00
Vienna, Austria
About the event: davidgraeber.institute/imagining-a-...
Link to regiter: uttaisop.at/anmelden/

A full Basic Income would eliminate the compulsion to work, by offering a reasonable standard of living to all, and then either leaving it up to each individual to decide whether they wished to pursue further wealth, by doing a paying job, or selling something, or whether they wished to do something else with their time. Alternately, it might open the way to developing better ways of distributing goods entirely. (Money is after all a rationing ticket, and in an ideal world, one would presumably wish to do as little rationing as possible. Obviously, all this depends on the assumption that human beings don't have to be compelled to work, or at least, to do something that they feel is useful or beneficial to others. As we've seen, this is a reasonable assumption. Most people would prefer not to spend their days sitting around watching TV and the handful who really are inclined to be total parasites are not going to be a significant burden on society, since the total amount of work required to maintain people in comfort and security is not that formidable. The compulsive workaholics who insist on doing far more than they really have to would more than compensate for the occasional slackers. . - David Graeber

A pitch for Universal Basic Income from the book Bullshit Jobs.

Have a read.

"Liberals tend to be touchy and unpredictable because they claim to share the ideas of radical movements, democracy, egalitarianism, freedom, but they’ve also managed to convince themselves that these ideals are ultimately unattainable. For that reason, they see anyone determined to bring about a world based on those principles as a kind of moral threat." . - David Graeber

In David Graeber's book, The Democracy Project, he mentioned ]Liberal-Centrists were not the most reliable allies in political movements.

This history is worth taking into account for those active in any political movement.

This is a quote from The Dawn of Everything by David Graber and David Wengrow: "We are projects of collective self-creation. What if we approached human history that way? What if we treat people, from the beginning, as imaginative, intelligent, playful creatures who deserve to be understood as such? What if, instead of telling a story about how our species fell from some idyllic state of equality, we ask how we came to be trapped in such tight conceptual shackles that we can no longer even imagine the possibility of reinventing ourselves?"

"What if, instead of telling a story about how our species fell from some idyllic state of equality, we ask how we came to be trapped in such tight conceptual shackles that we can no longer even imagine the possibility of reinventing ourselves?"
The Dawn of Everything, @davidgraeberinst.bsky.social

David Graeber wrote the book, Pirate Enlightenment, giving an interesting history of Pirates.

The Socialist politician John Mcdonnell is a fan. Here is his review.

Imagining a Future City: Visual Assembly in Vienna The Visual Assemblies are coming to Austria! On Saturday October 4, 10:00 - 12:00, Barış Eser will facilitate a Visual Asesmbly. We will imagine, discuss

This Saturday, we will be doing a Visual Assembly in Vienna, Austria.

We will imagine, discuss and draw cities of the future and it is free to join.

For more info and to register, click here: museum.care/events/imagi...

Next Visual Assembly:

October 4, Saturday
Vienna, Austria
Topic: imagining a city of the future
Join us! ⬇️