Beliefs
After Confessions, Beliefs.
I have at various times while writing these pages tried to set down some of the underlying beliefs and philosophies that have inspired me. Some of them I have collected together here.
I begin with Barbarism and Civilisation, a comprehensive attempt to summarise what these pages are all about
I then go on to argue that money changes society, one of the crucial arguments that underlies this whole book.
I then argue that money was a killer app – though first I define what is a killer app.
Then a brief look at two of the people who have most changed my ideas, the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski, whose work forms the basis of the opening chapters of this book; and the philosopher Karl Polanyi.
Then on to the Three Revolutions: is the advent of money the ‘middle revolution’ between the Neolithic Revolution and the Industrial Revolution?
Then on to monetarism and how I was converted to monetarism – a page written 10 years or more ago now, but perhaps the most crucial change in my own personal philosophy.
Finally a brief note on the fascinating subject of civilisation and sex: is there a distinction between barbarian sex and civilised sex? I fear I come to the conclusion that our present views on sex are still very barbarian…