What is true abundance? And how have the ideals of our capitalistic culture separated us from it?
In this episode, I take a deep dive into unpacking the “extractive mindset” at the root of capitalism with Miki Kashtan, the co-founder of Bay Area Nonviolent Communication. Miki has thought deeply about how our reliance on money and exchange pulls us out of relationship with each other and stunts our ability to care for ourselves and for one another. We discuss how to release these extractive ways of relating to each other and move towards more community and shared risk.
* This episode was originally recorded in front of a live Zoom audience on November 9, 2021 when I had a very bad cold — hence, the scratchy voice.
Key takeaways from this conversation:
- How a focus on accumulation and exchange separates us from each other
- Why money, exchange, and debt interrupt (and close off) the natural flow of life and energy
- How capitalism masks our dependency on others and keeps us focused on the individual
- How we can move more towards community and shared risk
- What true abundance is: Everyone taking no more (and no less) than they need
Favorite Quotes
“That we live as individuals makes us extremely weak. Extremely weak in terms of being able to create a good life. Sure, if we have enough privilege, we can compensate for that weakness by buying and buying and buying things and relationships and services, but it doesn’t actually give us rootedness, care, community, wholeness, reverence for life — all the things that make for a real experience of aliveness and flow.”
“If we want to restore flow, fundamentally it means uncoupling giving from receiving. So we learn to do unconditional giving, which is hard, but only half as hard as unconditional receiving.
“If you ask me, the question is not, what do I do better as an individual? Or what do I do better as a couple? The question of our time is, how do I move towards community? How do I move towards creating shared risks with more and more people?”
Resources
The articles and ideas that we mention in this epi:
- Miki’s books: Reweaving Our Human Fabric and Spinning Threads of Radical Aliveness
- Caliban & the Witch: Women, The Body, and Primitive Accumulation by Silvia Federici
- Greensburg Kansas, the town that built back green
- Suzanne Simard and the “wood wide web”
- Follow Miki Kashtan: Fearless Heart Blog |Events with Miki | Miki’s newsletter
Call to Action
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