Sacred Economics, Revised Money, Gift & Society in the Age of Transition

by Eisenstein, Charles

• ISBN13: 9781623175764
• ISBN10: 1623175763
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781623175771
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2021-02-16
• Publisher: North Atlantic Books
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Summary

Expanded and updated, Charles Eisenstein's classic treatise on capitalism, currency, and the gift economy.

This revised version traces the history of money, from ancient gift economies to modern capitalism, and includes new material on cryptocurrencies and emerging research that has come out since the book's original publication. Charles
Eisenstein shows how capitalism contributes to alienation, competition, and scarcity; destroys community; and necessitates endless growth at the cost of social and environmental devastation. Today, these trends have reached their extreme--and their collapse presents a golden opportunity to transition to a more connected, ecological, and sustainable way of being.

Eisenstein describes the deeper narratives beneath our economic system, and how we can reimagine it to align with a new story. Applying a broadly integrated synthesis of theory, policy, and practice, he explores avant-garde concepts of the New Economics, including negative-interest currencies, local economies, gift economics, cryptocurrencies, and the restoration of the commons. Tapping into a rich lineage of conventional and unconventional economic thought, Eisenstein presents a vision that is original yet commonsense, radical yet gentle, and increasingly relevant as the crises of our civilization deepen.

Author Biography

CHARLES EISENSTEIN has four sons and currently lives in Rhode Island. He is a speaker and writer focusing on themes of civilization, consciousness, money, and human cultural evolution. His viral short films and essays online have established him as a genre-defying social philosopher and countercultural intellectual. Eisenstein graduated from Yale University in 1989 with degrees in Mathematics and Philosophy and spent the next ten years as a Chinese-English translator. In July 2017, he was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey on SuperSoul Sunday. He is the author of Climate: A New Story (North Atlantic Books, 2018), The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible (North Atlantic Books, 2013), Sacred Economics (North Atlantic Books, 2011), and The Ascent of Humanity (North Atlantic Books, 2013; self-published, 2007).