In the central Post Office of Athens, Georgia recently, I needed to add thirteen cents to my letter’s postage. I asked if they still carry one-cent stamps. “Oh, yes. They are our best sellers,” said the grey-haired man behind the counter. “Really! Why is that?” I asked. “Well, the blood donor station is just down the road, see. The donors are paid with $20 credit cards. So they bring them in here, buy a one-cent stamp, and get their $19.99 change in cash to do with as they like.”

The ingenuity of everyday life in contemporary capitalist ecologies…