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Sacred Economics: Resource List for Faith Organizations
Books:
- Sacred Economics, by Charles Eisenstein (also check out his website
- What’s the Economy for Anyway?, by John de Graaf
- Creating A World That Works For All, by Sharif Abdullah
- Sapiens, by Yuval Noah Harari (at least chapter 16 on Capitalism)
- The Soul of Money, By Lynne Twist (also her Soul of Money Institute)
Organizations:
New Economy Coalition: https://neweconomy.net/
Center for the Advancement of a Steady State Economy (CASSE): https://steadystate.org/
Post Carbon Institute: https://www.postcarbon.org/
Post Growth Institute: https://www.postgrowth.org/
Schumacher Center for a New Economics: https://centerforneweconomics.org/
New Economics Foundation (Europe): https://neweconomics.org/
The ReThink: https://therethink.org/
Unity EarthCare resources: Facebook page. Youtube Channel.
Beyond GDP Metrics:
- Gross National Happiness Index: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_National_Happiness
- Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genuine_progress_indicator
- Human Development Index: http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-index-hdi
- Doughnut Economics. Kate Raworth’s TED talk.
Personal Actions:
- Dwell in the concept of ENOUGH.
Explore what makes you feel that you are enough, that you have enough. Consider what it will look like when all beings have enough (it is within our means right now).
- Question Consumerism: How much is Enough?
This is both an inside and outside job. Explore your thoughts and feelings about enoughness and your relationship to consumption, things and your self-esteem. And, continuously ask, “Do I need to accumulate this __________?”
- PLASTICS!
Just say NO! It’s hard, in the plastic-soaked culture we are in but this is one area where we can make a real difference.
- Local and Reused
In this consumerist economic system, every dollar we spend is a vote. The more we keep our spending local the more we grow community economic resiliency and
- FOOD!
This is another huge area that you can research. Some of the big considerations are reducing meat consumption, purchasing local products, reducing food waste, composting the food waste you do wind up with.
- Divest
Do a little research into your investments and your home/car insurance, etc. to see if they are investing in or insuring destructive industries.
- Invest
Socially responsible, or impact investing is a huge growth area. If you are an investor you can definitely target your investments toward new economy companies and get comparable results over time.
Organization Actions:
- Divest
If your organization has an investment fund make sure it is invested in socially and environmentally responsible funds.
- Waste-free purchasing strategies
- Use your voice and platform (political does not mean partisan!)
- Spiritual/Sacred Activism
Ask and Reflect on the Key Questions:
What do we want the economy to do for us, as individuals, as society?
Growth of What and For What?
What is Enough? How much consumption is optimal?
What are the properties of a sacred economy, a restoration economy?
Sources of Less Sensationalized, and even POSITIVE News: