Ask HN: What do you think about David Graeber's new book?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30002793

6 4 5 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

The book is called "The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity".

I loved his book "Bullshit jobs", it really opened my eyes about the shitty corporate world some of us live in. Anyways, I just started reading his last book today, and it got me totally hooked!! The first two chapters describe a totally new way of seeing the history of some of the "great thinkers" of the "age of enlightenment". *spoilers alert!* E. g. he says that some of the European thinkers who supposedly "came up" with the ideas of enlightenment "freedom", "equalitarianism", etc. which were the basis in some way for the French and US revolutions, had actually been presented to these European intellectuals originally from some North-Eastern Native American intellectuals. Whose ideals regarding all these topics could be found in the literature of that time in countless Jesuit travel journals through the North American French territories and so on... While reading some of the thoughts being quoted in the book from an Iroquois intellectual, I must admit that I found great affinity to his world view and have gotten only more curious about more literature on the Iroquois way of life.

psychanarch• 5 years ago

Just picked up a copy earlier in the week, so I will have to get back to you on this particular text, but I am an avid Graeber reader. If you enjoyed "Bullshit Jobs" and the beginning of "The Dawn of Everything," I would suggest putting "Debt: The First 5000 Years" and "The Utopia of Rules" on your future reading list. The Anarchist Library also has a great collection of his writings here: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/david-graebe...

RapperWhoMadeIt2• 4 years ago

Thanks a lot for the suggestions! I was wondering, is "The Utopia of Rules" all that different from Bullshit jobs? :)

AnimalMuppet• 5 years ago

You'd get more discussion if you gave the book title in the post title...

Ask HN: What do you think about David Graeber's new book?

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