On October 9, from 7:30 – 9:30 pm, a large group discussed what money can mean to us – “us” being Transition Wayland and, by natural extension, the Wayland community. We thank Fred Moser and the Church of the Holy Spirit for hosting us.
Transition Wayland has a bank account now, people are donating (check it out), we received a generous NEGEF matching grant, and let’s not forget our ambitions for a co-op, so… Let’s talk about money and ask, What could and should money do for us?
Charles Eisenstein writes: “[Money’s] original purpose is simply to connect human gifts with human needs, so that we might all live in greater abundance. [It can be] an agent of the gift.” His book, 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.
You don’t have to have read the book, available for free online at sacred-economics.com, to participate in this discussion. We’ll start with a short summary, an introduction to the idea of a co-op, and use that as a jumping board.