this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2023
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We don't actually know when money started so it's hard to say.
But even before money the person with more stuff could acquire more stuff through barter. Even if they weren't using money it's still basically capitalism.
Barter being the predecessor of money is actually false, and has never been supported with sufficient evidence.
From what anthropology tells us, money was introduced by force, not by a natural tendency for humans to barter, and wanting a better way to do it.
And no, that isn't "basically capitalism". No "capital" involved here in the sense of capitalism.
The invention of currency basically just introduced universal fungibility to a communities barter system by adding 1 additional step.
It's a good step. You need something else to trade if the guy that raises chickens needs medicine and the pharmacist doesn't want chicken products.
Yes we do, money started around temple societies in the fertile crescent to control people and keep them centrally located.
Also, there is no known historical example of a purely barter economy. What's known now is everything tended to work on an informal gift/reputation economy.
Until money came along, was typically forced upon people, and then if the money system failed, people fell back to a barter system. Neither money or barter are natural for the vast majority of human time and society