The real connection between money and evil
You may think you understand history, politics, and economics, but a lot depends on who you’re reading or listening to. I just finished reading David McNally’s 2020 book “Blood and Money,” and I heartily recommend it for a thorough shakeup of your previous concepts. Turns out money really is the root of all evil! (No, it’s treating others like “others,” ’cause then you need to do rude things like insist that the items you’re exchanging be absolutely equal in value — as measured in monetary units. You might even want to steal their land, their stuff, or their bodies (enslave them). Did you know that slaves were the first major “goods” traded, back in the 700s BC?) If you don’t want to buy the book and wade through it yourself (McNally takes us from those early days to the present, with war and cruelty connected to economics all the way), I’m about to post my notes on it on this site under Resources/Books (top menu).
Posted on August 18, 2020, in Blood and Money, Books, Capitalism, Economics, History, Resources, The current system and tagged "Blood and Money" by David McNally, Money really is the root of all evil. Bookmark the permalink. 3 Comments.
We got the numbers 
Is this a quote from McNally’s book?
I would like to use it, but need to reference it — page # especially.
“In all class societies money is enmeshed in practices of domination and expropriation. It began with enslaved, commodified humans, taken as plunder and readily translatable into a monetary equivalent. In the ancient Greco-Roman world, slavery, markets, and money evolved in tandem, each indispensable to the other. “
Hi, Tina — It’s from McNally’s book, but it might not be an exact quote, as I often edit text referenced in my blog posts. I don’t keep track of page numbers either — sorry. Your best bet for the kind of thing you seem to be doing is to get a copy of the book and look for the exact quote yourself. I’m trying to make ideas quickly and readily accessible to people, and since my work isn’t published for money or scholarly, I can ignore the usual conventions — like footnotes and page numbers that make peoples’ eyes glaze over.
Thank you for replying so quickly!
I’ve been trying to track down McNally’s book at my library district, but no luck.
I’ll keep looking online for a snippet that conveys what you summarized. I, too, am writing an opinion piece, but want to use his words as much as possible.
Thanks!