In kenya i sometimes see situations where the object provides value to
a currency, rather than the currency providing value to an object....
Isn't money merely a representation of the value of an object? So if
your base currency is a cow, then you can value things on cow-units.
A fairly common unit, too. The OED says 'capital' is from Latin
'capitalis' from 'caput', head. A laissez-faire capitalist might say
that's because capital directs development by selecting investments and
hiring management. I tend to believe that it's more directly related
to cow-units, which in the working, non-latinate, dialects of english
are still accounted for by the 'head'.
This also ties in to the beauty contest discussion -- it's not too
difficult to see the parallels between beauty contests and livestock
shows. In fact, in recent years better data collection has determined
that traditional bull judging was only a beauty contest, as the traits
the "prize" bulls were judged on turned out to have very little
correlation with how profitably their daughters could produce milk.
(dairymen are not afraid to admit that it's all about the mammaries)
The common terms of finance and agriculture show up in other ways: both
.com'ers and ranchers are known to greet each other by asking 'how's
the stock doing?'.
some years back, when mobile phones became popular here, i found a
borana pastoralist in a cellphone shop. the shopkeeper was trying to
sell him the cheapest model, presumably because the man was dressed in
traditional attire, reeked of stale milk, had 10,000 mile sandals on
his feet - made out of a recycled truck tire.
In the rural world, the number of actors is relatively small, and their
fortunes tend to change relatively slowly -- one tends to find "dress
to impress" among people who feel the need to communicate their status
where they are unknown.
I was amused by the description of certain South Asian celebrations
which consist of inviting everyone from the surrounding area and
cooking up a whole lot of food. The key was the declaration that the
local landlords and their tenants were sartorially indistinguishable --
to determine the host of the party, one must look for an older guy
sitting and chatting while everyone else is busy working or eating, and
who, later on, might retire to the side-party in the landlords' tent --
but landlords from outside the immediate region would be noticeably
dressed up (to avoid getting left out in the public party with the
tenants?). Cuisine aside, what you have there sounds pretty much like
a BBQ.
:: :: ::
As a quick comparison, I believe that in the US, going rates are more
than $450/head. (but if this pastoralist was reckoning on $150/head
net gain, I wouldn't be surprised to find he's doing better than his
equivalents in the States)
-Dave
