Sacred Economics

Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition

By: Charles Eisenstein

Narrated by: Steve Wojtas

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 in to 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.

©2011 Charles Eisenstein (P)2017 North Atlantic Books

Critic reviews

"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)

"While political pundits, financial analysts and Occupiers fumble on how to transcend the intensifying global financial crisis, Eisenstein is trailblazing bold new ideas and possibilities for how we conduct monetary exchange." (Jonathan Phillips, Huffington Post)

"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)

lots of good things to chew on

This book as recommended to me ages ago. It was far from the top of my list of things I really wanted to read, but I'm glad I finally did. There are so many things to think about and ideas for experimentation in this book. I will be listening a swerving and probably a third time.

This book changed my life

My gratitude can only be fully expressed by a (sacred) book of my own: working on opening myself up to it :)

Insightful book. Decent narration.

The contents of this book we buying short of insightful. Eisenstein presents a hopeful yet logically rigorous vision of the world to come.

The narration is decent, although the speaker's cadence and tone indicates lack of understanding of what some of the sentences mean, and thus obfuscates some of the content. As I heard it, there are also a handful of audio editing errors in which sections of a sentence are repeated, but I'll chalk these up to playback malfunctions in the app.

From unholy economics to the sacred, Yes!

Thank you Sir for showing us the way out of this unholy economics that theatens all. This is as it will be. It's only those that won't consider the possibility that will delay the implementation.

Amazing articulation of the needed changes

This book is a foray into not only the solutions to our crisis, but the causes as well. Audacious and visionary.

I Learned SOoo Much!

Well there were certainly parts I did not understand, I was amazed at how simple this author made most things to comprehend and truly Digest.

Heart based revolution

How do we heal the world from the inside out… ?with relationships and connection. A truly revolutionary book that fills in, for the lay person ,how we got here economically and lays out why and how we can make changes to heal our world. Essential reading

A better works for all

This is a must read for all humanity. When we all honor each other and our planet we will all be rich.

Everybody needs to hear this. Please share widely.

humanity needs to think differently. we need to transition out if a capitalist society.

Absolutely Beautiful

This book is amazing.
Much easier to listen to, rewind, take notes, digest, discuss, come back to, analyze, reflect on, and get through than reading it alone. Although, you may want to purchase a copy as well for highlighting, note taking, sharing, and recovery purposes.
This should be required reading (or listening) for all human beings on this planet.
Thank you Charles Eisenstein for this beautiful gift.