Greek children tearing up banknotes symbolize a liberating profanation of money.

Evidence

Not long ago, a highly unusual incident in Greece was reported. It was all the more unusual for occurring in a country suffering so greatly under the yoke of Capital. The event possesses a singularly emblematic quality – so much so that it seems like a sign from the future. Children, it is said, found a large bundle of banknotes in the ruins of a house. They made use of them in a wholly other way: playing with them and tearing them to shreds. Perhaps these children anticipated a future we will share: the world lies in rubble; in the ruins, we are playing too – tearing apart paper money. — Byung-Chul Han, Psychopolitics, 119

Categorization

• CANDY: Great conversational anecdote: children in crisis-ridden Greece found cash in ruins and shredded it for play.
• XREF: Connects to the ADDENDUM article on ritual sacrifice — the profanation/resacralization of objects discussed there recurs here as play vs. divine segregation. — connects to: Children’s culture contains elemental traces of financialization — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 323; Children’s play with trading cards trains dispositions suited to financialized society. — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 567

Broader Connections

• Children’s culture contains elemental traces of financialization #expands (0.72) — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 323
• Children’s play with trading cards trains dispositions suited to financialized society. #complicates (0.72) — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 567