Josh Allred's Blog

One common misconception from a historical perspective is thinking about money as some sort of means of exchange used to make bartering easier. We have all heard the story of the neighbor who came over and wanted to buy your cow for 3 goats, but you didn’t want goats so money was introduced as this way to bypass awkward bartering. But what archeology has shown is that there is no evidence in history where this happened. In fact, debt actually came way before money. The first piece of evidence for this is on clay tablets as far back as 2,400 BC Mesopotamia. During the reign of Hammourabi, for instance, there were elaborate debt-keeping systems on tablets that would be destroyed on a periodic basis to wipe the slate clean.

Coins, on the other hand, didn’t start popping up until about 600 BC when major armies were stationed. If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense why this is. If you have an army of say 10,000 soldiers, one of the biggest challenges is figuring out how to feed them. Food that is walking distance of the camp would all be depleted rather quickly, and it would take thousands of people to shuttle the food to the soldiers. It just isn’t a very efficient way to run an army. So, kings eventually figured out that they could take prisoners of conquerers to the mine shafts, dig out pieces of gold and silver, stamp their face on it, voila you have money. You tell the rest of the conquers that you will spare their lives and in exchange you will circulate this money and collect taxes to help finance the war. Historically, not everyone paid taxes, only the conquered. Meanwhile, you pay your soldiers with coins which then can purchase food in the local area and you now have solved the problem of feeding your army.

It’s hard for us to wrap our brains around but imaginary money has been around a long time.

In Sanskrit, Hebrew, and Aramaic, ‘debt,’ ‘guilt,’ and ‘sin’ are actually all the same word. There is this concept of a cosmic debt that must be paid to the gods. You are born, you now owe your life to the gods, and so you pay this debt back through worship and obedience. We can see this in the Bible with the Lord’s Prayer. In the Anglican translation it reads, “And forgeve us our trespaces, as wee forgeve them that trespasse agaynst us.” But in the original Aramaic, the John Wycliffe version, that was published 160 years prior it reads, “And forgiv us oure dettis, as we forgiven oure dettours.”

All throughout human history there is this repeated pattern that people have fallen and that grace will come to save them. What’s divine and a common narrative in all this, however, isn’t paying back the debts (Because how can one pay back a cosmic debt?) but the forgiveness of debts. Debts, however over a period of time, eventually spiral out of control. So you must have some kind of period of reconciliation. Rulers and kings would cancel debts periodically, the most famous example being The Jubilee in Israel where debts were forgiven, slaves were freed, and the people were shown God’s mercy.

As debts systems continue to spiral one can’t help but think is there some kind of cancellation ahead?

In 1896, France conquered Madagascar and as most conquers do to help finance an expensive war, they spare the lives of the people and say you owe us a debt. In short, France issues Francs, creates a market, and collects taxes. What’s interesting to note here is during this same time France outlaws slavery but turns around and places a crippling debt on Madagascar. That debt carries through the next century.  It wasn’t until 1990 that France finally canceled the 698 million dollars still “owed” to them. Imagine for a moment paying in the present day to a country that conquered you 100 years prior. Unfortunately, this happened all the time in history and still continues today. 

It doesn’t stop there. During the 1950s and throughout the next several decades that followed, there were major pushes to eradicate malaria in Africa. Madagascar being crippled in debt couldn’t pay for these types of abatement and eradication programs and so they borrowed money from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).  In 1957, it seemed for a moment that it could work out. It was reported that malaria transmission had been reduced to such a low level that it was no longer a significant public health problem. But as control relaxed in the 1960s, there was an uptick in cases. The international economic downturn of the 1970s, further made the debt crisis even worse for Madagascar. Incomes on the island had dropped by approximately 40 percent. Outbreaks began occurring more frequently and by the mid-1980’s it was estimated that 15,000 people were dying every year during the worst four-year period of the outbreaks from a totally preventable disease. Why? Because Madagascar had a responsibility to pay its debts, it couldn’t save its people. 

Thanks to the efforts of groups like Debt Justice (formally Jubilee Debt Coalition) in 2004, The World Bank and the IMF canceled half of Madagascar’s debt. Madagascar’s total external debt at the time stood at over 4 billion US dollars. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late. People died unnecessarily. 

Here’s a simple example of how banks, money, and economics work. Let’s say, Richie Rich starts a bank. At the same time, Bob the Builder finishes his first big job and receives a payment of 1 million dollars. He now takes that large sum of cash in a briefcase to Richie Rich’s bank and makes a deposit. The bank now has 1 million dollars.

Next, an experienced chef, Tony B, wants to open a restaurant down the road. Tony B doesn’t have enough money to build one so he goes to see Richie Rich about a loan. Richie Rich decided it was a good investment and issued 1 million dollars by crediting his account with that sum. 

Tony B then happens to contract Bob the Builder to build the restaurant. Bob’s price is 1 million dollars. Once the job is done, Tony B writes a check to Bob who then takes that check back to Richie Rich’s bank. 

So how much money does Bob the Builder have? 2 million dollars. But how much money is in the bank’s safe? Yep, 1 million dollars.

And the bank doesn’t stop there. Richie Rich can repeat this process again. Let’s say that Tony B wants to make the restaurant twice as big and Bob the Builder says he needs an extra million. So, the process happens again and now Bob the Builder now has 3 million dollars when the job is done. The bank, well it still has 1 million dollars. 

Current US bank laws permit the bank to repeat these steps up to 10 times. In this example, Bob could have up to 10 million while the bank only has 1 million in cash which means that up to 90% of the money in the bank isn’t actually covered. It is our sole trust in an imaginary future, a promise that the whole system relies on. It’s really quite incredible when you think about it. 

On November 12, 1982, Exxon Research and Engineering Company, had an internal report with Exxon’s leadership team on the climate crisis. They knew then the dangers of Co2 “Greenhouses” had a negative effect on the environment. In that report, you can read:

“The most wildly accepted calculations carried on thus far on the potential impact on climate of doubling the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere general circulation models (GCM). These models indicate that an increase in the global average temperature of 3 degrees + or – 1.5 degrees Celsius is most likely.” — Exxon Research and Engineering Company Internal Report, Page 13

It goes on and on about the effects of deforestation and how sinks for carbon must be found, the polar caps would see temperature increases, uneven global distribution of rainfall which would lead to a water crisis, impact on soil and the agriculture industries, sea levels rising. They predicted everything we are seeing the effects of now 50 years later. 

It’s important to note that it is estimated that 70% of carbon emissions come from 100 corporations. And yet, it is left to be your responsibility to change things around here. This is not to say, that people particularly those in the US don’t have any responsibility. Much like the relationship between eating and exercise, if you do one you are likely to do the other. If we are carbon conscience, then we are likely to take responsibility to make systematic changes which is ultimately what is needed to fight climate change. 

Why do cults appeal to people? Or how does one commit atrocities for a cause?

There are lots of reasons but the one I have been thinking about is that it provides a framework to wash away someone’s “sins”. It helps us feel clean and pure again for the mistakes someone has made–deliverance. The trade-off is that you now owe a debt. And in extreme examples, that means their lives.

Part of the reason it is so hard to leave is that you must go back to the original problem. Which is people do not want to face what they have done.

I have been fascinated with thinking about debt and the morality behind it. It is something I am going to be exploring more.

You cannot change someone’s mind with facts when they have come to a conclusion with emotions.

We seek to validate and reinforce ideas not to change them.

We operate from a place of fear as our default setting.

Humans have three types of brains–the lizard, the mammal, and the human. Without energy, we cannot access higher levels of thinking.

Banker: “I’m just a very…disappointing man…They keep asking me, “What do you want from this workshop? “What do you want?” I’m not telling them what I want. I want to move back home. I want to hug my wife. Protect my children, protect my daughter. I want to move on. I want to apologize—to everyone. I want to go to the theatre. I want to take clean cups out of the dishwasher, put them in the cupboard at home and the next morning, I want to watch my wife drink from them. And I want to make her feel good. I want to make her оrgasm again. And again. Truly.”

Fleabag: “I just want to cry. All the time.”

— Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag (Season 1, Episode 4)

No one just wakes up at rock bottom. You get there incrementally. It isn’t until later on we realize that we’re in over our heads. Ernest Hemingway wrote, “How did you go bankrupt? Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”

The good news is the hole you are in is not too deep to climb out of. Every problem has a solution otherwise it would be a situation.

You are not in a situation with no choice, just no easy choices left to make.

We estimate that there are 2 trillion galaxies.

If we were to say that each of these galaxies is the size of the Milky Way (obviously many are much smaller and others much larger)–there are 400 billion stars in the Milky Way alone.

It would take light 100,000 years to cross the Milky Way alone.

We think there is more past what we can see too. Much more in fact. Perhaps, infinite.

We can even begin to comprehend the size and scope of what is out there. Which is why humans focus so much on the small. It is what we think we can control.

It means we don’t want to mess with how things are because we are worried we would make things worse. Humans inherently hold on tight to what we do have. And the longer dissatisfaction goes, the tighter the grip. This is why it is even harder to change when we are older–we have fought so hard for the little we got.