BATER
SIMPLE EXCHANGE
Deep in the forest a hunter picked up big pieces of raw meat and put them in a basket. For many days at a time he had eaten nothing but meat. Now he was hungry for vegetables and grain. He picked up the basket and walked through the deep shade toward the edge of the forest where there was trees stood close together to form a triangle. There the hunter took the meat from the basket and fastened a piece to each of the three trees. Then he turned and walked back into the forest.
That same day in a little valley near the forest a farmer put corn and beans and groundnuts in a basket and walked toward the forest where there was three trees stood close together to form a triangle. There he saw the pieces of raw meat fastened to the branches. For many days he had eaten nothing but beans and corn and groundnuts. Quickly he took the things from his basket and put them under the trees. Then he took the pieces of raw meat from the branches, put them in his basket, and hurried away toward the valley.
As soon as the farmer was gone, the hunter crept through the trees. He filled his basket with the corn and bean and groundnuts. Then he hurried back into the forest. Another day he would trade the skins of the animals he killed for a strong spear.
This is one kind of simple exchange, called “dumb” barter because there is no talking. It was practiced by tribes that were enemies. For such people, whose needs were simple, barter was probably worked very well. For clothes, they used anything that kept them warm, for houses, they used any kind of shelter from tree branches to animal skins held up by poles. One cooking pot would probably have been enough, too. These people had little need for money.
Barter would work fine if the right people always found each other. If a man who had beans and wanted cloth met a man who had cloth but no beans, every would be all right. But supposed the man with beans met a man with cloth who wanted bright beads, not beans. Then the man with beans, buy the beads, and trade them to the man with the cloth. In such a situation, barter is slow and not very efficient.
Barter is always inefficient in today’s complex world, where people have begun to have jobs that are more and more specialized. One man will make all the fishnets for the people in his village, and another man will make all the fishhooks. One man will make one simple part of an automobile, while another will grow nothing but oranges. When this happens, people must depend on money to buy the things they need but don’t make for themselves. They would not be able to get very far by trade oranges for automobile parts.
But even in the most complex societies there is always some bartering. A college student often works his way through college. Maybe he cares for the yard in the professor’s home in exchange for his room. Maybe he washes dishes at the college dining room in exchange for his meals. Both of the exchanges are for of barter.
Understanding ideas
a. Find two sentences that are not true.
Barter works well in a complex society.
People who were enemies used to exchange goods by “dumb” barter.
People who get what they want by barter need no money.
Barter is a quick, efficient way of getting what one wants.
b. Which of these things did the hunter want that he didn’t have? Which ones did the farmer want?
1. corn 2. Meat 3. Beans 4. Groundnuts 5. Vegetables.
Understanding words.
Find words in the lesson that mean:
1. many trees 2. Low land
3. between hills 4. Particular kinds of jobs
5. small town 6. People who are not friends
interpreting ideas.
Why did barter work barter long ago than it would today?
Suppose you have a bicycle that you have outgrown. Would you barter it for something else or sell it?
From this reading, what did you learn about bartering that you did not know before?