Sacred Economics
Posted: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - 09:10
I spent the day last Monday at the United Nations by invitation of the Bhutanese government (along with about 600 other guests). The event was called “High Level Meeting on Well-being and Happiness: Defining a New Economic Paradigm.” I thought, “It must not be very high-level if I am invited.” Nonetheless, there I was among 600 activists, economists, NGO workers, bankers, et al from around the world, listening to speeches by prime ministers and Nobel laureates. Except for the monks, I was the only man not wearing a necktie. But that wasn't what disturbed me about the meeting.
Let me give you a bit of background. In 1972, the King of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, remarked that, instead of gross national product (GNP), the nation should...
Posted: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 - 13:04
The Occupy Movement has been characterized by, and criticized for, its lack of focused objectives. Originally gathering around issues of economic inequality and debt, it soon ballooned to include every progressive issue under the sun, and then some. Yet amid the cacophony of proposals and messages, we could always detect a hint of a unifying theme. We sensed that all of these issues are somehow connected; we sensed that we were protesting something. What was that thing? What is it now? What is it about current actions to, say, stop the excavation of Alberta's tar sands that makes them Occupy actions? What does ecosystem destruction and climate change have to do with financial inequality?
Just as we suspect, both arise from the same source...
Posted: Friday, March 2, 2012 - 13:53
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.
Posted: Friday, February 10, 2012 - 09:35
Transcribed Talk from January 13, 2012 at “The Hive” in Vancouver, BC.
Thank you for such a warm welcome. I’m quite amazed actually. I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to this large a crowd that was just here for me. I’ve spoken to more people at conferences, but that wasn’t just for me. Part of me doesn’t even believe it. Especially because last year I gave a talk by the exact same title in New York City and 6 people came.
That makes me realize how much of this is really a gift. I’m not really doing anything differently. I didn’t make this happen. I didn’t try harder or exert more effort and that’s why there’s 200 people instead of six. But it happened through some mysterious means. In a way it’s not that mysterious; I could say that it’s...
Our society is fraught with a contradiction: on the one hand, we have vast needs that go unmet; on the other hand, we have vast amounts of labor, wasted resources, and productive capacity that could in principle meet those needs. Money is supposed to bring them together, but it is failing to do so. We can see a local complementary currency as a way to bridge the gap.
Unfortunately, with the notable exception of time banks, the practical results of local currency initiatives in the United States have been disappointing. A common pattern is that the currency is launched with much enthusiasm and continues to circulate as long as the founders promote it. But eventually they get burned out, the novelty factor wears off, and people stop using...
Posted: Friday, December 30, 2011 - 12:55
Wherever I go and ask people what is missing from their lives, the most common answer (if they are not impoverished or seriously ill) is "community." What happened to community, and why don't we have it any more? There are many reasons – the layout of suburbia, the disappearance of public space, the automobile and the television, the high mobility of people and jobs – and, if you trace the "why's" a few levels down, they all implicate the money system.
More directly posed: community is nearly impossible in a highly monetized society like our own. That is because community is woven from gifts, which is ultimately why poor people often have stronger communities than rich people. If you are financially independent, then you really don't...
Posted: Monday, December 19, 2011 - 13:04
Occupy has awakened a potent energy that had been lying dormant. It has made activists of people of a new generation, and brought renewed hope to veterans of past movements. Unlike earlier protest movements, it has not objected to any specific policy, such as segregation or the Vietnam War. It is a protest against a condition of society, highlighted by the maldistribution of wealth and debt whose symbol is Wall Street, that goes deeper than anything the Occupiers can easily name. As we say, no demand is big enough.
Having been awakened though, this energy needs to find appropriate avenues of expression. So far, the movement has eschewed involvement in electoral politics, nor has it adopted any specific social cause. An outside observer...