2026-11-02 08:35 UTC
How to respond to free market capitalists/ancaps
Crossposted from https://fedia.io/m/historymemes@piefed.social/t/4521055
Explanation: David Graeber's Debt: The First 5000 years has a section talking about this (it's the one about Islam in the Middle Ages for those interested), but basically Medieval Muslim society collaborated to actively keep the state away from people's day to day lives, leading to a system where the whole market ran on honor and good vibes. Unsurprisingly, this looked nothing like the world "free market enthusiasts" envision, at least partially because it was impossible without the Islamic ban on usury. Relevant excerpt:
Large-scale merchants were referred to as sahib al-mal,
"owners of capital," and legal theorists spoke freely about the creation
and expansion of capital funds. At the height of the Caliphate, some
of these merchants were in possession of millions of dinars and seeking
profitable investment. Why did nothing like modern capitalism emerge?
I would highlight two factors. First, Islamic merchants appear to have
taken their free-market ideology seriously. The marketplace did not
fall under the direct supervision of the government; contracts were
made between individuals-ideally, "with a handshake and a glance at
heaven"-and thus honor and credit became largely indistinguishable.
This is inevitable: you can't have cutthroat competition where there
is no one stopping people from literally cutting one another's throats.
-Debt page 303
Something tells me this isn't what the neoliberals have in mind, but then again another thing tells me neoliberals are full of shit.
Replies (1)
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@LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 2026-11-02 09:00
Are you trying to say they are responsible for starting all of this mess? Because that’s how the title reads