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Skylor Brown
Dr. Daymon M. Smith
Anthropology 1010
3 May 2016

Debt and the Ascribed Status of the Poor

The ideal of capitalism is that it is a level playing field where the people with the best
ideas and good work ethic will succeed. Unfortunately the ideal and reality do not match up.
From the beginning of the industrial age to this day, the wealthy have used the economic system
they created, through the explicit use of violence, to exploit the poor and vulnerable. In the
modern era, debt as a means to control and exploit the poor is still backed by the threat of
violence. Despite the ideology of capitalism describing class as an achieved status, the reality is
that being poor is mostly an ascribed status maintained by debt.
The conquest and plunder of the Americas and Africa represent the greatest theft of all
time according to Graeber. During this time of conquest vast amounts of wealth were transferred
to Europe and Asia. Graeber notes that the time saw a shift from credit economies, where
everyone was in debt to each other and that the debt represented interpersonal relationships; to a
gold and silver economy, where transactions were seen as impersonal and for self-interest. The
view of debt was then transformed into immorality and those in debt were seen as sinful. This
was in large, partly due to the government and the wealthy demanding payment in gold and
silver and the growth of usury.

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Europe grew rich under conquest and colonization, the system put in place ruthlessly
exploited native populations and set the stage for European hegemony throughout the world. The
next chapter in economic domination starts in Haiti. When Haiti rebelled and threw out the
French colonials, the French responded by demanding payment for all the plantations and
equipment seized by the Haitians. Haiti was in debt from the moment of its creation and remains
one of the poorest countries on Earth to this day. Haiti isnt alone in this regard, the fall of
colonialism and creation of independent African nations led to more exploitation. In an attempt
to increase development in the newly created countries, the International Monetary Fund and
World Bank gave loans for large infrastructure projects throughout Africa. Large amounts of
corruption was often involved in these deals, leading to millions of dollars stolen by the leaders
of these countries. The projects ultimately failed and left the new nations in debt with nothing to
show for it. The conditions of debt restructuring for these countries often involved the selling off
of national resources to large multinational corporations and the cutting of public services.
In order to participate in the global economy poor nations must take part in a system
designed for them to fail. Wealthy nations talk of debt in moral terms while failing to recognize
that their wealth is a result of continual exploitation of poor indebted nations. Whats worse is
this attitude on debt is hypocritical, the United States has a debt so massive that the U.S. cannot
and will not repay the debt, while expecting poorer nations to always pay their debts. Through
the use of debt, people in poor nations are born into poverty and will remain in poverty until their
death. Poor is an ascribed status decided at birth and is largely out of ones own control.
Being poor in the United States is seemingly a better deal. Throughout American history,
the promise of a better life has been its driving ethos. In the film Park Avenue: money, power
and the American dream, the data appears to contradict the idea of social mobility. The wealthy

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have conspired to rig the system in their favor. The film reveals the lobbying of politicians to
create laws that favor the ultra-rich. The results have been dramatic, over the past thirty years,
the income inequality has grown to epic proportions. The wealthy control the narrative, any
attack on wealth is an attack on decent hardworking Americans. Thus ensuring that the poor are
placated with the promise of future wealth and success while evidence points to this being
largely untrue. Wealth is equated with hard work despite the growing evidence that wealth is
largely a circumstance of birth.
The rise of capitalism has coincided with a dramatic rise in prosperity however, large
parts of the world still remain in poverty. The economic system built today inherently favors
wealthier countries over poorer countries. Former colonies were first exploited then placed in
perpetual debt. The people in these countries are born into poverty and through lack of public
services and opportunities, remain poor. Even in the United States, social mobility is decreasing
year by year. Poverty isnt about work ethic, instead being poor is an ascribed status; and ever
increasing debt will ensure it remains that way.

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Works Cited
Graeber, David. Debt: The First 5,000 Years. Brooklyn, NY: Melville House, 2011. Print.
Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream. Dir. Alex Gibney. Prod. Blair Foster.
Https://vimeo.com/52602442. Jigsaw Productions, 1 Nov. 2012. Web. 3 May 2016.