Verlagstext:
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.
This book is about how the money system will have to change—and is already changing—to embody this transition. A broadly integrated synthesis of theory, policy, and practice, Sacred Economics explores avant-garde concepts of the New Economics, including negative-interest currencies, local currencies, resource-based economics, gift economies, and the restoration of the commons. Author Charles Eisenstein also considers the personal dimensions of this transition, speaking to those concerned with “right livelihood” and how to live according to their ideals in a world seemingly ruled by money. Tapping into a rich lineage of conventional and unconventional economic thought, Sacred Economics presents a vision that is original yet commonsense, radical yet gentle, and increasingly relevant as the crises of our civilization deepen.
Stimmen zum Buch:
"This brilliant and beautifully written book is an indispensable must-read for all those who believe our economic system is terminally sick and in need of radical, sacred rehaul. Charles Eisenstein has the great gift of being able to make complex ideas both thrilling and inspiring. I hope this book begins a serious, worldwide conversation on how we can reinvent our attitude to money."
-Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism
"If you want a convincing account of just how deep the shift in our new axial age is and must be, look no further than this brilliant book by Charles Eisenstein, one of the deepest integrative thinkers active today."
-Michel Bauwens, founder of the P2P Foundation
"With his breadth of knowledge, enthusiasm, commitment, diligence, and sensitivity, Charles has become a beacon of hope for others. Your heart and mind will be opened by this treasure of a book that shines with wisdom of crucial importance to our troubled world today."
-Kamran Mofid, founder of the Globalisation for the Common Good Initiative
"[Sacred Economics] meticulously explains why our current system will inevitably give rise to cyclical and worsening economic crises. [Eisenstein] exposes the myths and lies that sustain power structure, the social and spiritual devastation in which we are all complicit, and lays the foundation for a way of thinking that can restore hope and help us emerge to a positive future. … Eisenstein's book provides some of the most creative and hopeful ideas out there."
-New Consciousness Review
/ AUS DEM INHALT: / / /
Sacred Economics1
Introduction5
Part I: The Economics of Separation10
Chapter 1: The Gift World10
Chapter 2: The Illusion of Scarcity18
Chapter 3: Money and the Mind25
Chapter 4: The Trouble with Property34
Chapter 5: The Corpse of the Commons44
Cultural and Spiritual Capital44
The Strip-Mining of Community47
The Creation of Needs48
The Money Power52
Chapter 6: The Economics of Usury55
An Economic Parable56
The Growth Imperative58
The Concentration of Wealth60
Wealth Redistribution and Class War64
Inflation
More for You Is Less for Me68
Chapter 7: The Crisis of Civilization
Chapter 8: The Turning of the Age78
Money: Story and Magic
Humanity's Coming-of-Age Ordeal
Part II: The Economics of Reunion88
Chapter 9: The Story of Value88
Chapter 10: The Law of Return95
Chapter 11: Currencies of the Commons101
Chapter 12: Negative-Interest Economics108
History and Background109
Modern Application and Theory113
The Debt Crisis: Opportunity for Transition
Thinking for the Future119
More for Me Is More for You123
Chapter 13: Steady-State and Degrowth Economics130
Sustainability Reconsidered130
Transition to Steady-State: Bump or Crash?
Shrinking Money, Growing Wealth136
Disintermediation and the P2P Revolution138
Chapter 14: The Social Dividend140
The Paradox of Leisure140
The Obsolescence of "Jobs"142
Sacred Economics 4 CHARLES EISENSTEIN
The Will to Work145
Who Shall Remove the Garbage?147
Chapter 15: Local and Complementary Currency150
The Catch-22 of Local Currency152
Experiments in Local Money156
Reclaiming the Credit Commons159
Chapter 16: Transition to Gift Economy163
Chapter 17: Summary and Roadmap168
1Negative-Interest Currency168
2Elimination of Economic Rents, and Compensation for Depletion of the Commons169
3Internalization of Social and Environmental Costs170
4Economic and Monetary Localization171
5The Social Dividend172
6Economic Degrowth
7Gift Culture and P2P Economics173
Part III: Living the New Economy174
Chapter 18: Relearning Gift Culture175
Chapter 19: Nonaccumulation182
Chapter 20: Right Livelihood and Sacred Investing188
The Dharma of Wealth188
Robbing Peter to Pay Paul190
Old Accumulations to New Purposes194
Right Livelihood19
Chapter 21: Working in the Gift198
Trusting Gratitude198
Business in the Gift200
The Sacred Professions203
Chapter 22: Community and the Unquantifiable206
Chapter 23: A New Materialism210
Conclusion: The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Tell Us Is Possible214
Appendix: Quantum Money and the Reserve Question218
Bibliography224