Sacred Economics

Saturday, April 3, 2021
10am-1pm Eastern (US+Canada).

Charles Eisenstein

Originally published in 2011 and revised as of 2020, Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society at the Age of Transition 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.

In this seminar with author Charles Eisenstein, we will explore the book’s key arguments for how the current money system came to be through practices of accumulation, property, usury, and enclosure of the commons. We will then define the guiding values and policies we will need to to transition to a new economic system, including negative-interest currencies, local currencies, gift economics, degrowth, and the restoration of the commons. In light of the book’s re-release, we will reflect on how the events of the last decade have catalyzed both the urgency and possibility for some of these proposed transformations. Finally, we will consider the personal dimensions of this transition for those concerned with “right livelihood” and how to live according to their ideals in a world seemingly ruled by money.

Reading:

Time: Saturday, April 3, 10am-1pm. Online via Zoom.

Seminar Cost: