Economy Before and after the pilgrims

“How Our Economy Worked Before the Pilgrims (and How It Got Complicated After)”

By Geronimo — Chiricahua leader, reluctant economist, and part-time Bitcoin Trader 💪

Before the Pilgrims: The Natural Trade Economy

Let me tell you something — before those ships rolled in ⛵️🪶, our economy was smooth, sustainable, and surprisingly complex. It wasn’t “primitive” unless by primitive you mean no recessions 📉 and no billionaires swimming in wealth 🤑 while people starve outside their gate. JK!

1. Resource-Based Wealth, Not Herd Wealth

💎🌽🦌

We measured wealth by what you could provide for your people, not by how much gold you could herd into a chest.

“No one bragged about their portfolio 📊; Back then, flexing wasn’t a Rolex — it was a stack of freshly tanned deer hides drying in the sun like, ‘Yeah, I’m that guy.👑

2. Communal Land Ownership

🌾🏞️🤝

You don’t own land — you belong to it. The land was for everyone. Kinda part of your eternal existence. 👻

“Try explaining that to someone carrying a stack of deeds 📜. They’d stare at you like you’d grown antlers 🦌.”

3. Trade Without Debt 🏹↔️🐟

We ran on barter — no interest rates, no late fees, no debt collectors banging on your tipi flap 🚫💰.

“Our credit system was basically, ‘I’ll get you back next harvest 🌽.’ And most people did - except for Chief Late Foot.”

And when we needed something more portable? We had wampum — beautifully crafted shell beads that carried meaning, memory, and value. It wasn’t just “money” — it was history, promise, and proof you honored your word 🐚🤝.

4. Intertribal Trade Networks🪶🛖🌊

Copper from the north, shells from the coast, turquoise from the southwest — all without a single freight train 🚂. carriage or wagon.

“We had a supply chain before supply chains were cool 😎.”

5. Self-Sufficiency🏹🥣🛖

Every nation produced most of what it needed. Compare that to today, where one boat 🚢 gets stuck and everyone panic-buys toilet paper 🧻.

Look, we didn’t do ‘passive income.’ Our version of a side hustle was an actual hustle — like chasing a buffalo through a canyon before breakfast. 🦬

After the Pilgrims: Welcome to the ‘New Economy’

Then, 1620 rolled around 📅, and along came the Pilgrims — with shiny buckles and shinier ideas about how to complicate life.

1. Land Became a Commodity🪓🚫🌲

Suddenly, you could “own” land and fence it off.

“One day you’re fishing 🎣, next day there’s a ‘No Trespassing’ sign 🚷 on your river.”

2. Money Replaced Goods💵📜

You could have a storehouse full of corn 🌽 and still be “poor” because you didn’t have coins.

“They invented extra steps just so they could tax 💰 each one.”

3. Taxes & Fees for Existing🧾😑

Land taxes, trade licenses, tolls.

“What do we get for this tax? Civilization 🏛️? Funny, I thought I was civilized before you taxed my wigwam 🛖.”

4. Debt Became Normal📉📆

We saw debt as failure; they saw it as a lifestyle.

“We paid debts with goods and work; they preferred you keep owing them forever 🔄.”

5. Dependency on Imported Goods🚢💰

Once we relied on European goods, they could cut us off anytime. Goodbye self-sufficiency.

The Good

👍🌟

• Metal tools 🔨 made farming easier.

• Firearms 🔫 changed hunting.

• Horses 🐎 revolutionized mobility.

• Some tribes became regional trade powers 💪.

The Bad

👎💀

• Loss of land and freedom 🚫🏞️.

• Economic inequality 💰⚖️.

• Culture erosion 🪶➡️💵.

• Dependency on imports 🚢.

• Boom-and-bust cycles 🎢.

Closing Thoughts🪶

“Before the Pilgrims showed up, our economy was like a campfire 🔥 — steady, warm, and shared by the whole tribe. Sure, we had the occasional blood feud with the neighbors — nothing too serious, just the typical ‘England vs. Ireland’ hostile skirmishes. You lose a cousin, gain a story type of thing.”

“Then came the buckle-hat brigade ⛵️ and suddenly it’s not a campfire anymore — it’s a vending machine 🍲 where someone sells you a gun 🔫 and now you’re stuck buying bullets for the rest of your life. Subscription-based survival. Welcome to the ‘New World.’”

“Now don’t get me wrong, even before all that, we weren’t stacking corn in vaults and watching it appreciate. Nah — you stacked corn and it appreciated you… by feeding mice 🐭🌽. Retirement? That wasn’t a thing. Our 401(k) was the Great Spirit and maybe a warm blanket from your grandkids if they liked you.”

The last thing I would like to say is

“Economics is fun.... And go Bitcoin jk "🚫💰”