Ascent of Money 1

The first seminar focused heavily on how money intertwines with the trust that people put into the worth of it. In the video I was most interested in the way that clay tablets could be recognized as highly valuable because that is not something most people in today's society would recognize as money. However, for the Incan's it was just about the mutual trust and agreement that the tablet was worth something. This can still be reflected in how money is today. Paper and the cheap metals used today to make money are not materials with a high value but once they have been marked as currency then we give it much more value. This shows the relationship between money and a persons behavior because we, as a global society, have to mutually trust in a system that none of us living today played a part in creating but still continue to follow.
Another part I found very interesting, because it shows how behavior can change when money is involved, is how Jewish people were excluded from society for their system of interest and banking. The documentary shared that Christians could not owe interest because it was a sin. This caused a lot of controversy around the Jewish community that sparked much of the stereotypes that still exist today. Because of their ability to charge interest a lot of business was done with the Jewish banks bringing them a good amount of wealth. However, the fact that something Christians did not do brought them wealth it brought a lot of hate and the theory of Jews being greedy with money.