Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition

In his earlier book, The Ascent of Humanity, Eisenstein traces all of the converging crises of our age to a common source - Separation, the ideology of the discrete and separate self - which he sees as an illusion. In this latest work he picks up on the theme of separation by beginning with a description of the economics of separation in which money has become not only a universal aim but a universal means as well, whereby we mortgage our dreams to money. He does not advocate the abolition of money, but restoring it to its proper place. Happily, his analysis undercuts the Chicago School of Economics ideology that is constantly beaten into our brains by the mainstream media. He carefully and logically deconstructs the arguments put forward by the spokespeople for that present system.The second part of the book is on the economics of reunion which he sums up in seven shifts that are needed, forming his interconnected program for a peaceful transition to a stable, sustainable economy in harmony with Nature. He holds that the material world will come to be regarded as sacred, thus erasing the dichotomy between the material and the spiritual. The shifts are: 1) negative-interest currency, 2) elimination of economic rents, and compensation for depletion of the commons, 3) internalization of social and environmental costs, 4) economic and monetary localization, 5) the social dividend, 6) economic degrowth, 7) gift culture and P2P (peer-to-peer) economics. For each of the seven he notes what the motivation is for this shift, how to make the transition and the policy for it, and what the economic life will look like.I want to say more about number 1 - negative-interest currency, which involves imposing penalties on money that is not in motion. He ties negative-interest money directly into the current debt crisis, and clearly charts a path by which we can gradually (hence non-violently) draw down the concentration of wealth and get money in motion where it matters most: in the hands of those who are not uber-wealthy. It reverses the dynamic we have today, where it is profitable to deplete the commons.Not being inclined toward economic theory, I was most intrigued with Part III of this book, Living the New Economy, which I found both practical and inspiring. Eisenstein sees the foundation of a sacred economy as gift consciousness. He notes that we have become even more afraid of receiving than of giving and that to willingly receive a gift is itself a form of generosity. We tend to use money to mean that we can pay and then we don't pay attention to our fellow human beings. So the first step toward relearning gift culture is to learn to give the gift of fully receiving the gift of another. That is one of the most important gifts we can give.The old economics has a concentration of wealth, excludes those who can't pay, is anonymous and depersonalized, shatters community and connection, and is oriented toward accumulation of money and property. Sacred economy, on the other hand, is egalitarian, inclusive, personal, bond-creating, sustainable, and nonaccumulative. The positive word Eisenstein brings is that the old economics can't last. We can prepare for the new by living from it now, today!Another step toward the new economy then, is nonaccumulation, or as we used to call it, "voluntary simplicity." It is a kind of economic de-cluttering; it keeps the heart light and free. There is no moralism here. Keep and use what you need; just don't aggregate large amounts of capital. Remember that the seeming security of accumulation is an illusion. If you have inherited excess wealth, the challenge is to give it in a way that is beautiful - like restoring and protecting the natural, social, cultural and spiritual commons. Eisenstein has a strong aversion to charging interest. He says if you want to invest in a village, give a woman a cow. Or if her dignity demands it, lend her money at zero interest. Invest in a wholesome future; do not try to make money off of the situation.What he says about right livelihood reminds me of his book on food (The Yoga of Eating). He says "don't live by principles," but to "trust what feels good and right." He says to do that even if you want to work for a hedge fund, because he trusts that as your awareness grows, such work may not feel good and right and that trusting that feeling will mean it will guide you when it comes time to quit that job for something courageous. "Trust that you want to do beautiful things with our life." He insists that you not guilt yourself into working for some NGO, because it is important to develop the capacity to give your energies toward something you love. Eisenstein himself has moved toward doing what he loves and the gift economy by writing his passionate books and making them available free online, inviting a gift from readers who want to express their gratitude. He does not charge a fee for speeches or retreats, although he requests that expenses be covered and encourages attendees or sponsors to give what feels balanced and appropriate to them and reflects their gratitude.Sacred Economics as described by Charles Eisenstein is realistic. It does not go along with the common pretense that we are isolated individuals who have no need of others. It recognizes that we live in community, are born and die naked, and need one another and the natural world to live. Such an economics moves toward acknowledging our deeper unmet needs for connectedness, play, and creative action toward creating a beautiful world. May we begin.

This book will break down some of your basic assumptions about what is important and real, but then build them back up in a well-articulated vision of a better world.The vision he provides is strikingly familiar with the Latter-day Saint concept of the law of consecration, in which all things are made sacred and the law of love and giving prevails.

I read a book a day, run a Body Mind Spirit Book Club, spent half my earnings in book stores, but I have never written a book review until now. If you still don't see how important this book is to me, maybe you should know I wrote off a $20,000 debt someone owed me and asked nothing of him in return except to read this book. And I have to add that I don't really have that sort of money to throw away. This is how bad I want everyone to read it, because on its pages are not words but a vision of hope for the future of humanity.I will keep this short because the average person don't have time to read too many long reviews. I have no intention to expand on what others have already said about the book. While they had done a wonderful job, I don't think any summary or synopsis will do it justice. The ideas it covered are so radical and with so many ramifications that it will easily be dismissed by most as impractical and over-idealistic if read in snippets. Half way through my reading of it, I was still skeptical if ignorance, social conditioning and resistance could ever be overcome, but every chapter took me one step closer to believing that it's really the answer I had been waiting for. It's a manual for the future ! I have my work cut out for me. Everyone has a part to play and that's why everyone should read it. And like a manual, it has to be read from cover to cover !

Charles Eisenstein's recent book, "Sacred Economics," is the book I've been waiting for. Finally, a brilliant scholar has produced a comprehensive and prescriptive vision for a future that promises to escape the dystopian path humanity is now embarked upon, although not without prompting my caveats.Lucidly written, the first part of the book explains the increasingly dysfunctional workings of the grow-or-die financial economy in great (and often reiterative) detail. For some, this will be tough sledding because his analysis undercuts the Chicago School of Economics ideology that is constantly beaten into our brains by the mainstream media. The material he integrates is abstract with many independent variables.He makes crystal clear what some of us have known for a long time about the roots of poverty, climate change, environmental destruction, wealth concentration, the erosion of democracy, and the destruction of the human spirit under corporate rule. He carefully and logically deconstructs the arguments put forward by the spokespeople for the present system.More importantly, he combs the entire history of the world for ideas and practices that have shown us the way out of the traps set by a money system based on artificial, contrived scarcities and the theft of the commons. In Chapter 17 he puts all these together as a symbiotic interconnected program for a peaceful transition to a stable, sustainable economy in harmony with Nature. If you find the previous chapters to be preaching to the choir (the book is 469 pages long) go directly here and then backtrack to pick up the pieces.But he doesn't stop here, and that's where I think he begins to get himself in trouble. He questions the "meta-Stories" that we tell ourselves about who we are. I would paraphrase the essential point of his inquiry as, "What underlies the evolution of the present inhumane and ultimately destructive economic system?" He identifies the biblical dominionist vision of human "Ascent", the loss of our sense of universal interconnectedness, the transfer of the wealth of the commons into private property. He counters the view that--as a "rational actor"--man is innately selfish with the proposition that what I do to you I also do to myself. He decries our general neglect of the importance of qualitative experience such as the production and appreciation of beautySo far so good. But at this point, his moral philosopher self takes over from his scholarly economist self. He proposes the eventual transition to a moneyless "gift economy" free of commodification and quantification. He holds that such economies free us from anxiety about scarcity when we have confidence that our freely given gifts will be returned with gifts that will satisfy our needs. This will strike many as an unrealistically sanguine view of human nature. We are an inherently unpredictable animal capable of schadenfreude or misanthropy unrelated to economic injustice. He goes even further to hold that the material world will come to be regarded as sacred, thus erasing the dichotomy between the material and the spiritual.I have no need or desire to argue with him about the validity of his philosophical and spiritual insights. What bothers me is that he makes these views central to the goals of his transitional economics proposals--to the point of choosing "Sacred Economics" as his book's title--when his eminently practical proposals for transforming our financial operating system can stand on their own merits in service to a society merely looking for a way out of the traps it has set for itself.Eisenstein identifies the many current local initiatives that seem to be leading to a self-organizing transition to a reemergence of harmony with Nature. By and large these efforts spring from an educated elite, or from indigenous populations who have retained important connections to Nature. In so doing he neglects the tremendous weight of a seven-billion strong global population dependent on the existing interlocking web of the corporate/government technostructure hell-bent on a lemming-like trajectory. He neglects the fact that the majority of the world's population can feel their subjugation but lack the wit or the conceptual tools to do anything about it. Such people cling in desperation to the known.Finally, the notion that the material world will come to be regarded as sacred (thus erasing the dichotomy between the material and the spiritual) will be regarded by the billions-strong adherents of the ancient messianic religions as not only a threat to their beliefs but as a proposal for the triumph of secular humanism. Ironically, they will be strange bedfellows with those who--fearing theocracy--hold freedom of religion to be a most treasured tenet of the Bill of Rights. I worry that many who would otherwise be open to his practical proposals will reject them out of hand because of these fears.Nevertheless, I must confess that I've found personal inspiration in being immersed in the notion of the importance of giving, and that his stress on the miraculous sacredness of our world gives his book a human warmth which it would otherwise lack. With some regret, I guess what I'm saying is--throw out Eisenstein's baby--but drink deeply of the bathwater.

Very nice Idea

For every one interested in imagining how a better, kinder world could function through the lens of finance and economics. This is a must read. But if you can, in the spirit of the book, try and find one pre-loved!

"Trapped by the madness of growth-demanding money, we compulsively produce more and more cheap, ugly things we don’t need while suffering a poverty of things that are beautiful, unique, personal, and alive. That poverty, in turn, drives continued consumption, a desperate quest to fill the void left by a material environment bereft of relatedness."It is worthwhile to think about the current system and its shortcomings. But it is even more valuable to think about potential other systems. That is why this book is so valuable.

Mind blowing. Full of good ideas. Heard about him on a podcast.Read it if you're feeling intellectually stuck. Something will inspire you here.

I wrote a review for this book in my local magazine NowThen (Google "Sacred Economics, NowThen, Sheffield" for the full version complete with artwork: it's in issue 59). Here is an extract, plus some closing thoughts (Amazon has passed my censorship test if this gets published - due to reference to free (Creative Commons licensed) versions of this book):"[... Ecotechnic Future: Envisioning a Post-Peak World provided a convincing vision of the future based on the disintegration of advanced civilisation due resource depletion.] The problem is that industrial civilisation shows no sign of slowing down, let alone of pressing the auto-disintegrate button any-time soon. On the contrary, hyper capitalism has proved to be a tough old bugger, akin to Wile E Coyote from Looney Tunes; it takes a hammering from every side yet always comes back to terrorise us again. Even after its founding assumptions are disproved and worldwide waves of protest decry its idiocy, the bastard just won't die. Land-grabs, adverts targeting children and new oil drilling techniques ensure that Greer's expectation, that the metaphorical Wile E will finally just top himself, is optimistic to say the least.Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein is equally visionary, but starts from a different premise; the monetary machine that directs human affairs has gone AWOL and now benefits no-one, least of all the degraded psychopaths at the top, who try in vain to control the beast. Like Greer, Eisenstein encourages de-monetising your life, focussing instead on true wealth; the people and environment that surround you. Unlike Greer, he believes in creating a much better world: "Are we so broken that we would aspire to anything less than a sacred world?"This may seem utopian, but Sacred Economics provides pragmatic solutions at every level. Individuals can replace monetary relationships with real ones, buy less and re-use more. Communities can set-up social enterprises. And, when the current batch of growth-obsessed politicians get booted out of office, nations can implement a raft of sensible measures to exorcise the financial demons from our economy.Sacred Economics is a cracking read that I cannot recommend highly enough. If you're not sure about beg-borrow-or-buying such a chunky lump of paper, you're free to grab every chapter of it from the internet, where it has been placed in its entirety under a Creative Commons licence at sacred-economics.com"To this I would add that Eisenstein strays a little too far into the "sacred". (One example: "By the same token, by fostering within ourselves a realization of the sacredness inherent in materiality, and by aligning our work with that sacredness, we lay the social and psychic foundation of an economy in which more and more of the things we make and do for each other are beautiful, personal, alive, and ensouled." - Even ignoring the fact he invented the last word in that sentence it is nigh on possible to understand!) At this stage Eisenstein would have been well advised to stick to the concrete economic and pragmatic reasons why his suggestions are sensible. But this should not stop anyone from buying (or downloading, for free from his website) this generally very well written book. Clearly infinite economic growth is not feasible, and this book provides the best "non-collapse" narrative for dealing with it that I have read. Tim Jackson's "Prosperity without growth" ( Prosperity without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet free online) provides the best political response I've read, and this links well with an emerging political/activist movement of Degrowth.In summary please get this book and spread the message. You will not regret it for one moment.