Martha Hernandez

ANTH 1010
8 August 2015
ePortfolio Project
A Brief Analysis of Chapter One On the Experience of Moral Confusion from Debt: The First
5000 Years
This paper compares and contrasts the Cuban embargo with the examples of debt and
violence provided by Graeber in chapter one; this paper also notes how the market economy is
used to perpetuate colonialism.
In the first chapter, Graeber describes the concept of debt as flexible and notes how this
flexibility is a source of power. Graeber also identifies debt as the foundation of many modern
nation-states. Graeber also makes note of how the language of debt is often used to validate the
Third World debt. The language of debt shifts the blame onto the debtor (victim) instead of the
creditor (perpetrator), and justifies relationships founded on violence. However, not all debts and
not all debtors are treated in the same way. For instance, the United States national debt (much
of it acquired through military spending) is not treated in the same manner as Haitis debt.
Graeber explains how the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was created to protect
creditors, and how it legitimizes and enforces the Third Worlds debt. To do this, Graeber uses
the oil crisis of the 70s as an example. The oil crisis of the 70s lead OPEC countries to pour
their wealth into Western banks. These Western banks proceeded to find ways to use their excess
funds to create profits. One way to create profits was to loan money to Third World dictators. In
short, the loans made to these dictators started out with low interests that quickly skyrocketed,
leading to the Third World debt crisis. Even though most of these loans ended up in the private

bank accounts of said dictators, the IMF held these Third World nations accountable and went as
far as telling these nations what to do (including getting rid of free health care and education) in
order to obtain refinancing. In this case, the violence is inflicted on millions of already
vulnerable people left without healthcare.
It is important to note that most of these Third World nations in debt are nations that at
one point in history were attacked and robbed by European countries. Coincidentally, these
European countries are the ones that Third World nations are indebted to. Graeber provides the
example of the French invasion and colonization of Madagascar. After establishing a French
colony, France imposed a tax on the Malagasy people. Until present-day, the Malagasy are still
held to owe France money. A similar thing happened to Haiti, except Haitis economy and
freshly earned freedom was cut short by an endless debt and an embargo both imposed by
France, and approved by the world.
When recounting how Haiti got its debt, Graeber states that debt is not just a victors
justice; it can also be a way of punishing the winners who werent supposed to win (Graeber, 6).
This statement resonates strongly with the events that followed the Cuban revolution. The Cuban
revolution ended in 1959, after a revolt lead by Fidel and Raul Castro, Ernesto Che Guevara,
and other revolutionaries took power from U.S.-backed Cuban President Fulgencio Batista. What
followed was the Cuban embargo. The Cuban embargo could be summarized in one sentence:
Cuba has been punished for standing up against corporate America.
The purpose of the Cuban revolution was to regain control of the islands economy and
stop American companies from exploiting the island. At the time, the majority of Cubas
population was mostly made up of working-class people (e.g. farmers). And even though Cubas
GDP per capita was prospering, the only people who truly prospered from tourism and gambling

were American businessmen and the Cuban elite class. Therefore, in order to redistribute power
(in the form of money and land), Castro nationalized Cuban businesses and companies. Castro
also shifted Cuba from a Capitalist state to a Socialist state.
Although Castros Communism didnt exactly succeed, the small island-nation managed
to stay afloat throughout the trade embargo and various CIA covert operations that attempted to
overthrow Cubas government. Even with the recent attempts to normalize relations between the
United States and Cuba, the Cuban embargo may not be going away anytime soon. In part
because politicians in Congress have expressed their heavy concerns about human rights in
Cuba. Which is ironic to say the least, given that the U.S. embargo on Cuba was the reason Cuba
experienced extreme periods of food scarcity.
Although a debt was never imposed on Cuba, the embargo was a punishment of similar
nature. The trade embargo crippled Cubas economy hindering its growth and prosperity. In
Cubas case, the violence was imposed on the tens of thousands of Cubans who had to endure
periods of hunger and scarce necessities because of the embargo.
Powerful states like the United States have the means and influence to destroy less
powerful nations with their capital (in the form of military and political allies). These allies are
gained when U.S. dollars are injected into the economy of new nations to create urbanization and
modernization. The money is purposefully gifted (loaned) in order to create a dependency.
These loans are given by the World Bank and managed by the IMF. All in all, the market
economy utilizes violence in the form of debt to perpetuate colonialism. When the language of
debt is used, few people feel empathy for Third World debtors. In fact, the language of debt helps
to blame Third World nations for their own poverty, instead of blaming predatory bank practices
like those of the World Bank.

Works Cited
Graeber, David. "Debt: The First 5000 Years." Melville House Publishing, 1 May 2011. Web. 8
Aug. 2015. <https://libcom.org/files/__Debt__The_First_5_000_Years.pdf>.