If you haven’t heard of Charles Eisenstein, check out his informative and inspirational video, entitled Sacred Economics, featured below.  It summarizes the insightful perspective of this thought leader and author who presents a vision for a future economy that is grounded in gratitude, giving, and connection, in contrast to the current global economic structure that operates from the perspective of scarcity, greed and unending growth.  He describes this healthier, natural and more sustainable system as the “Gift Economy.” (The video serves an intro to the book he published with the same title).

On a psychological level, Charles outlines how the “story of self” as a separate entity from other people and the environment fosters an attitude of conquer or be conquered.  With that perspective, much effort is expended on gaining power and control over people and nature.  This is what gives people a sense of security.  When the assumption of scarcity exists, competition arises, which leads to a commoditization of “nature” – which basically includes everything; natural resources and all the varied services performed by people, that were at one point given and used freely.  It then becomes a downward spiral, where the commoditization process creates further disconnection among people, and between people and the environment. This in turn leads to greater psychological vulnerability, which then fuels more effort toward sources of external power and control.

But, the separate self is a myth, and we’re seeing the price of this in the lack of community and economic stability that is increasing around the world.  As Charles notes, “You can’t have community as an add-on to a monetized life…you have to actually need each other.”

In an economy that is focused on “gifts” – giving when you have more than you need, and gifting in the sense of contributing to your community and the world by using your natural talents and interests – security is a natural outgrowth.  He goes on to say that the challenge that humanity currently faces is how to align the financial system with a true expression of the concept of the Gift, which is rooted in an inherent recognition that life itself is a gift, something to be shared, rather than monetized.