Goods and services are often offered in exchange for goods and services. Money is useful, but can be an uncomfortable form of capital, particularly in certain contexts, Paxson noted. Within the ideology of socialism, the desire for money and endeavors to generate it was seen as a sin of the capitalist enemy. Owning dollars was a criminal offense in Soviet times, and dollars still bear this sort of underworld association, Paxson argued. Paxson stated that another reason for the negative connotation of money is deeper and has to do with certain fundamental principles of exchange.
Money is used in exchange where debts are precisely calculated and promptly erased.
Money is comfortable where debt and the social connections it implies are uncomfortable. However, within the village, there are intricate webs of social connection. Money can quantify debt and erase social connection, which is appropriate if there is social distance between the traders. The closer the relationship between people, the more uncomfortable and socially inappropriate the use of money becomes. The preferred system of exchange is an informal one, where accounts are kept, but where there is a principle of returning more than what you received.