Debt

a thought-provoking
academic English topic

The English Kitchen Students: Advanced / Proficient

http://englishkitchen.org Time: 90-120 minutes

Target language:
Functions: opinions
Notions: ethics, alternatives to capitalism
Lexis: [1economics] , [2 politics]
Grammar: articles
Skills: listening for specific information, inferring meaning from context, gauging opinions

This is the first in a series of EAP (English for Academic Purposes) materials
If you make use of it in your EAP classroom, please give us feedback as to how the lesson went :)

What you can do:

* Lead in: (5 mins) Show the following word cloud or board the following terms in a random
pattern:

In pairs or small groups, get the Ss to predict what the theme of today’s lesson might be, as well
as any phrases they would expect to here. Board the results.

* Pre-Viewing: (10 mins)

Then show a picture of David Graeber, and explain that he is a prominent anthropologist. Elicit
what an anthropologist does, and give students a minute or so to discuss and have a guess as to why
an anthropologist might be interviewed in relation to their previous predictions.

Then, show this list of questions and ask the students to make more refined predictions about
what the video might say about the following:

1. the relationship between States and Markets

2. the relationship between US debt and military spending
3. where the idea of debt originates
4. the relationship between violence and debt
5. Debt in Japanese society
6. the special significance of the exact repayment of debts?

The English Kitchen (2019) – All content made available on a Creative Commons Licence - BY-NC-SA
7. ‘gift economies’
8. what money is used for in stateless societies

*Video and discussion – (30+ mins)

Show the students the video interview – found online at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnOqanbHZi4 – from 1:37 until the end, and ask the students to
take notes about the answers to the questions, as well as anything else they’re not too sure about.

After watching, get the students to compare their notes in pairs or small groups, and then have a
discussion in plenary about their understanding of the topic.

(answers to questions below)

1. (The State often artificially organises the markets)

2. (The US debt basically IS a result of military spending)
3. (Debt originated in morality. Morality is just paying your debt)
4. (When people get angry, they need exact debt repayment)
5. (The Japanese keep a very accurate record of debt)
6. (If you exactly repay a debt, you’re saying that you don’t want to have anything to do with the other party
anymore. If you owe them a little bit more or a little bit less after the transaction, you’ll probably see them again to
attempt some sort of rebalance – a warmer relationship)
7. (The person who gave away the most got the greatest status)
8. (Not to buy things, but to arrange marriages and settle disputes)

*Gap fill – work with articles (~15mins)

Now that the students have a reasonable understanding of the ideas of the subject, explain that you
want to give them advanced practice of articles in English, which are incredibly troublesome for
many learners. They should read the text (below) and complete the gaps with either the zero article,
the, a or an. When they’re done, read through as a class and check the answers.

*Role-plays (30+ mins)

To round off the lesson with a fluency activity, use one or both of the following roleplay scenarios:

1. You need to barter goods in order for your community to survive. Group 1 has these goods: 12 fish, 18 potatoes, 5
lettuces, 14 loaves of bread and 8 kg of flour. Group 2 has these goods: 4 cows, 1 bull, 8 sheep, 6 dogs and 3 horses.
Group 3 has these goods: 3 kg of cheese, 8 cauliflowers, 6 sweet potatoes, 5kg of Frankincense and 200g of bronze.

(Afterwards, discuss how each group approached the task and what the implicit beliefs behind their actions was.)

2. You have come to the bank to explain why you don’t need to pay back your debt to the bank because you have
realised that debt has been artificially created. The other person plays the bank manager and attempts to reclaim the
debt. Try to reach some sort of compromise between your two points of view

(obviously this is a fairly imaginary, humorous situation – not one which would actually occur in real life!)

*Suggestions for homework:

Students can write to answer the question ‘In what way is debt a legitimate idea, and in what way is
the idea of debt a myth created by the state in order to create an economic environment in which the
larger part of the population are in some way enslaved to it?’ (Max 500 words)

The English Kitchen (2019) – All content made available on a Creative Commons Licence - BY-NC-SA
*Articles Gap fill - Extract from ‘Debt – the first 5000 years’ by David Graeber

“...that phrase kept resonating in my head…

‘Surely one has to pay one's debts.’

The reason it's so powerful is that it's not actually ___ economic statement: it's ___ moral statement.
After all, isn't paying one's debts what morality is supposed to be all about? Giving people what is
due them. Accepting one's responsibilities. Fulfilling one's obligations to others, just as one would
expect them to fulfill their obligations to you. What could be ___ more obvious example of shirking
one's responsibilities than reneging on ___ promise, or refusing to pay ___ debt?

It was that very apparent self-evidence, I realized, that made ___ statement so insidious. This was
___ kind of line that could make terrible things appear utterly bland and unremarkable. This may
sound strong, but it's hard not to feel strongly about such matters once you've witnessed ___ effects.
I had. For almost two years, I had lived in ___ highlands of Madagascar. Shortly before I arrived,
there had been ___ outbreak of malaria. It was ___ particularly virulent outbreak because malaria
had been wiped out in highland Madagascar many years before, so that, after ___ couple of
generations, most people had lost their immunity. ___ problem was, it took money to maintain ___
mosquito eradication program, since there had to be periodic tests to make sure mosquitoes weren't
starting to breed again and spraying campaigns if it was discovered that they were. Not ___ lot of
money. But owing to IMF-imposed austerity programs, ___ government had to cut ___ monitoring
program. Ten thousand people died. I met young mothers grieving for lost children. One might
think it would be hard to make ___ case that ___ loss of ten thousand human lives is really justified
in order to ensure that Citibank wouldn't have to cut its losses on one irresponsible loan that wasn't
particularly important to its balance sheet anyway. But here was ___ perfectly decent woman-one
who worked for ___ charitable organization, no less - who took it as self-evident that it was. After
all, they owed ___ money, and surely one has to pay one's debts.

For ___ next few weeks, that phrase kept coming back at me. Why debt? What makes ___ concept
so strangely powerful? Consumer debt is ___ lifeblood of our economy. All modern nation-states
are built on deficit spending. Debt has come to be ___ central issue of international politics. But
nobody seems to know exactly what it is, or how to think about it.

The very fact that we don't know what debt is, ___ very flexibility of ___ concept, is ___ basis of its
power. If history shows anything, it is that there's no better way to justify relations founded on
violence, to make such relations seem moral, than by reframing them in ___ language of debt-above
all, because it immediately makes it seem that it's ___ victim who's doing something wrong.
Mafiosi understand this. So do ___ commanders of conquering armies. For thousands of years,
violent men have been able to tell their victims that those victims owe them something. If nothing
else, they ‘owe them their lives’ (a telling phrase) because they haven't been killed...”

The English Kitchen (2019) – All content made available on a Creative Commons Licence - BY-NC-SA
 Articles gap-fill (answers)

“...that phrase kept resonating in my head...

‘Surely one has to pay one's debts.’

The reason it's so powerful is that it's not actually an economic statement: it's a moral statement.
After all, isn't paying one's debts what morality is supposed to be all about? Giving people what is
due them. Accepting one's responsibilities. Fulfilling one's obligations to others, just as one would
expect them to fulfill their obligations to you. What could be a more obvious example of shirking
one's responsibilities than reneging on a promise, or refusing to pay a debt?

It was that very apparent self-evidence, I realized, that made the statement so insidious. This was
the kind of line that could make terrible things appear utterly bland and unremarkable. This may
sound strong, but it's hard not to feel strongly about such matters once you've witnessed the effects.
I had. For almost two years, I had lived in the highlands of Madagascar. Shortly before I arrived,
there had been an outbreak of malaria. It was a particularly virulent outbreak because malaria had
been wiped out in highland Madagascar many years before, so that, after a couple of generations,
most people had lost their immunity. The problem was, it took money to maintain the mosquito
eradication program, since there had to be periodic tests to make sure mosquitoes weren't starting to
breed again and spraying campaigns if it was discovered that they were. Not a lot of money. But
owing to IMF-imposed austerity programs, the government had to cut the monitoring program. Ten
thousand people died. I met young mothers grieving for lost children. One might think it would be
hard to make a case that the loss of ten thousand human lives is really justified in order to ensure
that Citibank wouldn't have to cut its losses on one irresponsible loan that wasn't particularly
important to its balance sheet anyway. But here was a perfectly decent woman-one who worked for
a charitable organization, no less-who took it as self-evident that it was. After all, they owed the
money, and surely one has to pay one's debts.

For the next few weeks, that phrase kept coming back at me. Why debt? What makes the concept
so strangely powerful? Consumer debt is the lifeblood of our economy. All modern nation-states are
built on deficit spending. Debt has come to be the central issue of international politics. But nobody
seems to know exactly what it is, or how to think about it.

The very fact that we don't know what debt is, the very flexibility of the concept, is the basis of
its power. If history shows anything, it is that there's no better way to justify relations founded on
violence, to make such relations seem moral, than by reframing them in the language of debt-above
all, because it immediately makes it seem that it's the victim who's doing something wrong. Mafiosi
understand this . So do the commanders of conquering armies. For thousands of years, violent men
have been able to tell their victims that those victims owe them something. If nothing else, they
"owe them their lives" (a telling phrase) because they haven't been killed...”

The English Kitchen (2019) – All content made available on a Creative Commons Licence - BY-NC-SA