Blow That Mausoleum Down

Drawing on anthropological perspectives, this essay argues that the fungibility of objects and the ability to exchange them for money is a defining characteristic of capitalist markets. In contrast, other systems of reckoning value emphasize the unique relationships within which objects are embedded and their inability to stand for just any other thing. The essay further highlights the role of slavery in the origins and continued dominance of capitalism, and the existence of alternative systems such as cooperativism and sharing that are often overlooked. The essay then examines the Saussurean and Peircean semiotics underlying the concept of money as an abstract sign, and argues that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in blockchain technology contradict these theories by emphasizing pure uniqueness and rendering objects non-transformable or inconvertible. The essay concludes by warning against the dangers of a future where fungibility is absent, as it is necessary for life and the generation of new and different possibilities.