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The Ascent of Humanity
by Charles Eisenstein
Chapter IV: Money and Property
Social Capital
Social capital is the totality of human relationships that sustain
life and make it rich. On the physical level social capital comprises
the life-sustaining relationships whereby we provide each other
food, shelter, and clothing, as well as care for the young, old,
and infirm. Less tangibly, it includes such wealth as community,
friendships, fun, teaching, and a sense of belonging. Together these
constitute a cultural inheritance, a treasure passed on from generation
to generation in the form of learned skills, customs, and human
connections. Among them are the "ties" discussed in the
previous section.
There are many ways by which to convert social capital into money.
Let's start with the most primal, ancient, and ubiquitous example:
food, or more precisely, the relationships by which we feed each
other, including food production, processing, and preparation.
Starting even before the industrial revolution, the proportion
of the population engaged in primary food production has steadily
dropped, reaching 1-2% in present-day America. The standard interpretation
of this statistic is that technology, economy of scale, and so forth
have freed us from the drudgery of food production, so that most
of us can now "choose not to be farmers". A side-effect
has been that not only do we choose not to produce our own food,
but we have forgotten how. What was once a ubiquitous skill rarely
involving money is now something we pay distant specialists to do
for us.
The same thing has happened to food processing, as huge factories
and global distribution have taken over what was once done at the
household or local level. Completing the transformation from social
capital to financial capital, today even the final stage of food
production—food preparation and cooking—is disappearing
from our generalized repertoire of skills and passing into the hands
of distant specialists. From half to two-thirds of all meals in
America are now prepared outside the home, either in the form of
restaurant meals or as ready-to-eat takeout from supermarket delis.
Even meals cooked at home are often prepared from ingredients that
are already highly processed; when we do cook, we perform only the
final stages of cookery, taking advantage of pre-made mixes, sauces,
canned soups, and so forth. How many people make their own pie crusts
any more, or fry their own french fries, or bake their own bread,
or can their own vegetables, or make their own soup stock? These
skills have gradually become industrialized and therefore lost to
the average household. We have essentially sold away the ability
to cook food, converting this form of social capital into financial
capital—money.
What has been lost? More important than the skills and know-how
are the relationships that once revolved around food. To give food
to another is an intimate act, a primal expression of nurture that
creates a powerful bond. The oldest way to befriend an animal or
a stranger is to offer them a meal. Do you see something monstrous,
something obscene, about the routine purchase and sale of an intimate
act? Converted into a mere service, the act of feeding another being
loses its potency, and a primary generator of relationships is shut
down.
- exerpt from "The Ascent of Humanity" by Charles Eisenstein
www.ascentofhumanity.com
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