David Graeber Institute

"Always look for the truth from the ground up, rarely from the top down. Journalists are never real journalists if they are the agents of power, no matter how they disguise that role. Real journalists are agents of people." . - John Pilger (1939 to 2023)

This message is now more relevant than ever.

This is a great idea and should be called "David Graeber index" maybe. I really like it because, while not easy to measure, it's a pretty straight forward thing.

"Always look for the truth from the ground up, rarely from the top down. Journalists are never real journalists if they are the agents of power, no matter how they disguise that role. Real journalists are agents of people." . - John Pilger (1939 to 2023)

This message is now more relevant than ever.

What if we defined the economy as the way we take care of one another? Since that's what it ultimately is/ What wood economic indicators then look like

Instead of the daily stock market - we could have an indicator for the number of homeless people?

What if we defined the economy as the way we take care of one another? Since that's what it ultimately is/ What wood economic indicators then look like

Instead of the daily stock market - we could have an indicator for the number of homeless people?

debt is all about power. the question is who has the power to forgive debt, to issue debt and to use your debts to make you do things against your own interests.

Yanis Varoufakis is one of the few people in modern politics who understands the brutality of debt.

"Capitalism is a situation where people can systematically turn their wealth into power by control of productive resources."

debt is all about power. the question is who has the power to forgive debt, to issue debt and to use your debts to make you do things against your own interests.

Yanis Varoufakis is one of the few people in modern politics who understands the brutality of debt.

"Capitalism is a situation where people can systematically turn their wealth into power by control of productive resources."

"99% of politicians and 99% of the media literally think of what they do as a kind of game. If you look at the questions that journalists ask politicians, they are almost entirely game-playing ones (like how does this effect electability etc...) and not questions about policies let alone the effects of those policies." . - David Graeber

"99% of politicians and 99% of the media literally think of what they do as a kind of game. If you look at the questions that journalists ask politicians, they are almost entirely game-playing ones (like how does this effect electability etc...) and not questions about policies let alone the effects of those policies." . - David Graeber

We think of work primarily as making things—each sector is defined by its “productivity,” even real estate!—when in fact, even a moment’s reflection should show that most work isn’t making anything. It’s cleaning and polishing, watching and tending to, helping and nurturing and fixing and otherwise taking care of things. You make a cup once. You wash it a thousand times. This is what most working-class work has always been too—there were always more nannies and bootblacks and gardeners and chimneysweeps and sex workers and dustmen and scullery maids and so on that factory workers. And yes, even transit workers, who might seem to have nothing to do now that the ticket booths have been automated, are really there in case children get lost, or someone’s sick, or to talk down some drunk guy who’s bothering people. Yet we leave this out of our theories of value which are all about “productivity.” It’s very important, I think, to reconsider how we value our work, and these things will become ever more important as automation makes caring labor more important—especially because these are the areas we would not want to automate. We wouldn’t want a robot talking down drunks or comforting lost children. We need to see the value in the sort of labor we would only really want humans to do.

David Graeber always mentioned work is mostly about caring and helping. Caring and helping others.

Football?

We think of work primarily as making things—each sector is defined by its “productivity,” even real estate!—when in fact, even a moment’s reflection should show that most work isn’t making anything. It’s cleaning and polishing, watching and tending to, helping and nurturing and fixing and otherwise taking care of things. You make a cup once. You wash it a thousand times. This is what most working-class work has always been too—there were always more nannies and bootblacks and gardeners and chimneysweeps and sex workers and dustmen and scullery maids and so on that factory workers. And yes, even transit workers, who might seem to have nothing to do now that the ticket booths have been automated, are really there in case children get lost, or someone’s sick, or to talk down some drunk guy who’s bothering people. Yet we leave this out of our theories of value which are all about “productivity.” It’s very important, I think, to reconsider how we value our work, and these things will become ever more important as automation makes caring labor more important—especially because these are the areas we would not want to automate. We wouldn’t want a robot talking down drunks or comforting lost children. We need to see the value in the sort of labor we would only really want humans to do.

David Graeber always mentioned work is mostly about caring and helping. Caring and helping others.

In today’s political discourse, deregulation like “reform” is almost invariably treated as a good thing. Deregulation means less bureaucratic meddling, and fewer rules and regulations to stifle innovation and commerce. This inflected usage puts those on the left in an awkward position, since opposing deregulation seems to imply a desire for more rules and regulations, and therefore more men in gray suits standing in the way of freedom. But this debate is based on false premises. There’s no such thing, for example, as an unregulated bank. Banks are institutions to which the Govt has granted the right to issue I.O.U.’s that it will recognize as legal tender. Govt regulates everything from a bank’s reserve requirements to its hours of operation; how much can be charged in interest, fees, and penalties; what sort of security precautions can or must be employed etc,,, . – David Graeber

David Graeber with the best take on deregulation.

Markets are all created to some extent by Govt regulation. They set the rules of profit extraction. Deregulation isn't a step back, but a change to who they've decided to reward

"Being poor is actually a full-time job and being broke is like a full-time job with the amount of paperwork and the time going from office to office proving what you have done. . With Universal Basic Income all that would be eliminated with the time liberated to do something socially productive." – David Graeber

In many ways its the knock-on benefits of UBI that make the policy so important.

There's a reason why those who work in the financial sector, and who have extremely well-paid occupations more generally, almost never go on strike. . As Rutger Bergman likes to point out, in 1970 there was a 6-month bank strike in Ireland and rather than the economy grinding to a halt as the organizers had anticipated, most people simply continued to write checks, which began to circulate as a form of currency, but otherwise carried on much as they had before. . Two years before, when garbage collectors had gone on strike for a mere ten days in New York, the city caved in to their demands because it had become uninhabitable. . - David Graeber

"Being poor is actually a full-time job and being broke is like a full-time job with the amount of paperwork and the time going from office to office proving what you have done. . With Universal Basic Income all that would be eliminated with the time liberated to do something socially productive." – David Graeber

In many ways its the knock-on benefits of UBI that make the policy so important.

"If we stop taking world leaders at their word and instead think of Neo-Liberalism as a political project, it suddenly looks spectacularly effective. The politicians, CEOs, trade bureaucrats, and so forth may have done a miserable job in creating a world capitalist economy that meets the needs of a majority of the world’s inhabitants but they have succeeded magnificently in convincing the world that capitalism, and not just capitalism, but exactly the financialized, semifeudal capitalism we happen to have right now, is the only viable economic system. If you think about it, this is a remarkable accomplishment." - David Graeber

There's a reason why those who work in the financial sector, and who have extremely well-paid occupations more generally, almost never go on strike. . As Rutger Bergman likes to point out, in 1970 there was a 6-month bank strike in Ireland and rather than the economy grinding to a halt as the organizers had anticipated, most people simply continued to write checks, which began to circulate as a form of currency, but otherwise carried on much as they had before. . Two years before, when garbage collectors had gone on strike for a mere ten days in New York, the city caved in to their demands because it had become uninhabitable. . - David Graeber

"If we stop taking world leaders at their word and instead think of Neo-Liberalism as a political project, it suddenly looks spectacularly effective. The politicians, CEOs, trade bureaucrats, and so forth may have done a miserable job in creating a world capitalist economy that meets the needs of a majority of the world’s inhabitants but they have succeeded magnificently in convincing the world that capitalism, and not just capitalism, but exactly the financialized, semifeudal capitalism we happen to have right now, is the only viable economic system. If you think about it, this is a remarkable accomplishment." - David Graeber

If you are online, join our event we start in a few minutes about Migration in New York and refugees in other cities.

We will discuss how migrants are welcome or not welcome in cities!

Here is the link to the Zoom to join: us02web.zoom.us/j/8939597814...

If you are online, join our event we start in a few minutes about Migration in New York and refugees in other cities.

We will discuss how migrants are welcome or not welcome in cities!

Here is the link to the Zoom to join: us02web.zoom.us/j/8939597814...

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The road to fascism is lined with people telling you to stop overreacting.

Visual Assembly in New York and everywhere: The Strangers Among Us – or Are We the Strangers? Join us on July 25 at 11 am New York time! If you're in New York on July 25th, we’ll be in front of the Roosevelt Hotel on 45 E 45th St, at 11am! If you

If you are in New York City on Friday, you can come along to our event - called a Visual Assembly.

More info here

museum.care/events/visua...

On Friday, we have an event taking place in New York that you can join via Zoom.

We will discuss Migration. And how our cities welcome (or don’t welcome) migrants.

If interested, you can register here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

"Economists are not scientists. A scientist who proposes a theory that makes predictions that turn out 100% wrong then comes up with a different theory. Economists just come up with a different excuse to say the same thing." . - David Graeber

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