Sacred Economics - The brilliant ideas of Charles Eisenstein

I was just introduced to this guy and I'm so excited by his ideas...

He asks the fundamental question, that many of us ask, about the problems of our world - WHY? His assertion is that the answer is always money. He argues that we have separated Spirit from Matter. That we need to be MORE materialistic and not less, in the sense that people and materials (resources of the Earth) need to matter more than money.

Many feel there is something intrinsically wrong with our current economic paradigm but it's just so hard to articulate what it is. It's hard to be compelling when discussing it with friends, family or internet denizens because so often my thoughts are shot down with easy accusations and labels like "communist!" or "socialist!". But, really, those are just hot-button words used because people fear change and, additionally, they are rooted in more socio-political rationales when my objections to the current system run so much deeper than that.

I think this series of videos captures the essence of what is wrong with the economy and offers some hope for a possible change in mindset and direction. At least for me, it really helped to frame our current form of social structure and culture as being more about money than humanity or ethics. And that is really the crux of what has been bothering me and what, until now, I have been unable to articulate clearly.

sacred-economics.com...

Sacred Economics traces the history of money from ancient gift economies to modern capitalism, revealing how the money system has contributed to alienation, competition, and scarcity, destroyed community, and necessitated endless growth.

Today, these trends have reached their extreme - but in the wake of their collapse, we may find great opportunity to transition to a more connected, ecological, and sustainable way of being.

I'd love to hear what ATS thinks of this. BTW, he has degrees in Mathematics and Philosophy from Yale.

Youtube is killing intellectualism. Watching a video is passive, it doesn't give you solid retention of an idea full of context.

I don't generally watch videos. I wish there was written material instead.

Originally posted by bigfatfurrytexan
Youtube is killing intellectualism. Watching a video is passive, it doesn't give you solid retention of an idea full of context.

I don't generally watch videos. I wish there was written material instead.

I must agree with your position on this one.I let out an internal groan when I see a you tube link.

Yes I can see the argument ~ watch and make your own mind up as opposed to reading someone else interpretation of the video but still i'd rather read about the subject whether the OP's take,cited documents of write ups or preferably both.Rant over !!!

I'll watch the videos and express an opinion after !!!

I have just watched these videos and this guy is really good. He is 98% correct about money and that the real world actually trumps the symbolic money world when it comes to human values. He is really good at speaking and getting across the answer to the question 'what is money?' I agree completely with his assessment that hoarding things that are useful to other people like oil, food, wood, silver, general services is a bad idea because it slows down the circulation of useful things that creates more wealth and therefore makes us all collectively a bit poorer.

He does however have one erroneous conclusion about there being unlimited extractable resources and unlimited extractable energy for human use. This idea leads to further erroneous conclusions that preserving anything of value is stupid, like fine art, vintage cars, antique artifacts because more can always be created thanks to unlimited everything. These items of value are useless at providing a useful good, you don't drive a collectible vintage car to work everyday or wood chip the Mona Lisa to make a fire. These items simply store value for later in life and as an ultimate retirement item. Gold is also almost completely useless and yet stores value in this way.

If he could just get a better handle on the store of value function of money and get off the free energy machine gig then he will have a better final conclusion.

Highly recommended expert otherwise. Thanks

Great stuff! Thank you!

For those lamenting the youtube links - I agree, hate vids. That's why I actually clicked on the Sacred Balance link , looked for text, and found the Get the Book link.

True to the gift economy, the book is offered on a "pay what you want" basis, as well as hard copy. Learn more about the options below.

Read the book

Get a Hard Copy

FYI - I downloaded the free book - looking forward to reading it.

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


You're one of the brightest, most thoughtful ATS members..use the links sofi provided. I tried to offer a brief synopsis but, obviously, I can't post the whole book on ATS. Also, it's kind of elitist clap-trap to say videos kill intellectualism, especially when the guy is speaking in his own words.

From one of the links above:

Today we associate money with the profane, and for good reason. If anything is sacred in this world, it is surely not money. Money seems to be the enemy of our better instincts, as is clear every time the thought “I can’t afford to” blocks an impulse toward kindness or generosity. Money seems to be the enemy of beauty, as the disparaging term “a sellout” demonstrates. Money seems to be the enemy of every worthy social and political reform, as corporate power steers legislation toward the aggrandizement of its own profits. Money seems to be destroying the earth, as we pillage the oceans, the forests, the soil, and every species to feed a greed that knows no end.

From at least the time that Jesus threw the money changers from the temple, we have sensed that there is something unholy about money. When politicians seek money instead of the public good, we call them corrupt. Adjectives like “dirty” and “filthy” naturally describe money. Monks are supposed to have little to do with it: “You cannot serve God and Mammon.”

At the same time, no one can deny that money has a mysterious, magical quality as well, the power to alter human behavior and coordinate human activity. From ancient times thinkers have marveled at the ability of a mere mark to confer this power upon a disk of metal or slip of paper. Unfortunately, looking at the world around us, it is hard to avoid concluding that the magic of money is an evil magic.

Obviously, if we are to make money into something sacred, nothing less than a wholesale revolution in money will suffice, a transformation of its essential nature. It is not merely our attitudes about money that must change, as some self-help gurus would have us believe; rather, we will create new kinds of money that embody and reinforce changed attitudes. Sacred Economics describes this new money and the new economy that will coalesce around it. It also explores the metamorphosis in human identity that is both a cause and a result of the transformation of money. The changed attitudes of which I speak go all the way to the core of what it is to be human: they include our understanding of the purpose of life, humanity’s role on the planet, the relationship of the individual to the human and natural community; even what it is to be an individual, a self. After all, we experience money (and property) as an extension of our selves; hence the possessive pronoun “mine” to describe it, the same pronoun we use to identify our arms and heads. My money, my car, my hand, my liver. Consider as well the sense of violation we feel when we are robbed or “ripped off,” as if part of our very selves had been taken...

That should give a good hint of it.

Does the guy in the videos get paid? Does he sell books?
My guess is he is yet another one who talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk.
Remember all those hippies in the 60's free love, and self sufficient communes?
Most of them graduated into credit card wielding baby boomers.
Unfortunately even high principles are easy sold out.
Rampant materialism is not good for the planet or the soul...but once this farcical system reboots..oh id say after WW3...everyone who survives will go back to the same old same old...until WW4...and so on.
There would need to be a fundamental change within human beings...like a change to our DNA, that made us committed, socially responsible beings, who were not so easily brainwashed by the media etc.
I cant see any of that happening.