From here to 'Sacred Economics'
abracad, · Categories: books, externally authored, in the news, spiritual politicsby Elisa Graf and Thorsten Wiesmann
A discussion of Charles Eisenstein's book, Sacred Economics: Money, Gift and Society in the Age of Transition, which details the development of the use of money from gift economies to the current capitalism with its pathologies of alienation, competition and scarcity.
Few today would argue with the fact that nearly all human institutions appear to be in parallel crisis. Charles Eisenstein is a philosopher, teacher and author whose latest book, Sacred Economics: Money, Gift and Society in 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. In line with esoteric thinking he suggests that humanity is now making a transition away from a cultural identity that defines human beings as separate, discrete entities in competition with each other for finite resources, to one that expresses the connected relationship between ourselves and other human beings, and ourselves and nature. He presents an idealistic vision of how living without society’s over-riding focus on money would transform our sense of self and our relationship to others: a change in sensibility. He talks of "The self of ‘inter-beingness’ that understands that we’re the same being, looking out through different eyes; that what I do to you I’m really doing to myself; that your well-being is connected to my wellbeing; your suffering is connected to my suffering". As our institutions fall apart, Eisenstein says that they are, in effect, ‘birthing’ us into a new world.
In considering this new world, Eisenstein asks: "What would a money system look like that was aligned with the connected self, and in co-creative partnership with Earth?" He advocates the shrinkage of money to a far less prominent role in our society, in conjunction with the restoration of what he calls the "gift realm", in terms of both social relationships and of the "commons", the gifts of nature. Meeting each other’s needs in the form of gift exchange and peer-to-peer economics, would engender a sense of connection and empowerment, and at the same time diminish the current economy of alienation and separation. The internet itself, he suggests, is largely the work of a burgeoning gift culture.
Giving, Eisenstein asserts, is fundamental to human nature; everyone is born with the desire to give. He reminds us that all human beings begin their lives as helpless infants, dependent on gifts to survive: "One doesn’t do anything to deserve being nursed; one doesn’t earn one’s milk. One doesn’t earn being clothed, being taken care of and loved. Human beings don’t earn having a planet that can support life, or having soil that can grow food. It’s all a gift." As a natural result of these recognised gifts, we are inclined to respond with gratitude and the desire to give in turn.
Our sense of separateness is a consequence of our cultural heritage, that tells us we are independent beings who do not need others. But we do, and no action by any can truly be seen as separate from the greater matrix in which we reside."
The idea of a gift-based economy appears to contradict everything that current economic theory says about work: that people will only work if paid to work. As Eisenstein puts it, "it forces one to give their gifts". He sees human nature differently. He says: "If you’re in a life, a profession, or a relationship where you’re not giving your gifts or where your gifts are not being received fully, you’re not going to be happy. You’re going to feel, ‘this isn’t my life. I wasn’t put here on Earth to do this.’" Everything in nature decays, rots, rusts or goes bad; if one holds onto it, it becomes less and less valuable. But in our current economic system, money grows; it gets more valuable as one holds onto it, thus violating nature’s law of impermanence.
Eisenstein asks us to consider what would happen if money had negative interest instead; what if it "went bad"? If money were allowed to decay, in other words no longer able to generate interest, it would increase in flow, and at the same time would have the effect of recreating or encouraging the psychology of a gift society. "By giving, and receiving gifts, we enter into a kind of magical exchange, in which gratitude expands, and gifts circulate. To begin to see one’s life as a gift, and to treat one’s own wealth as if it were a gift, is to be given a corresponding and equal gift in return, strengthening a sense of community and connection. Our sense of separateness is a consequence of our cultural heritage, that tells us we are independent beings who do not need others. But we do, and no action by any can truly be seen as separate from the greater matrix in which we reside."
Eisenstein outlines a society where all monetary transactions are publicly transparent. Such a system would radically change business as financial transparency reflects openness, trust, generosity, and lack of fear; one who is comfortable in society. There are signs that we are already moving in this direction, not only with the digitisation of currency, but with the new "social currencies" of various online ratings systems that are, by their very nature, public. At the same time the "creation of objects with soul", the realisation of the sacredness inherent in materiality will allow us to align our work with a 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. In this way he sees sacred economics as part of the healing of the spirit-matter divide, the human-nature divide, and the art-work divide that has increasingly defined our civilisation for thousands of years. In the developing world there still remain people who live substantially in gift cultures, where natural and social wealth is not yet the subject of property. As he puts it: "The gift expands the circle of self."
For more information: Charles Eisenstein, Sacred Economics: Money, Gift and Society in the Age of Transition. Evolver Editions, USA, 2011. www.charleseisenstein.net
Published courtesy of Share International magazine.
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Filed in: books, externally authored, in the news, spiritual politics
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