Charles Eisenstein [part 1]: Beyond the war mentality against climate change, criminal justice, coronavirus
Charles Eisenstein is a public speaker and author of the books Climate — A New Story, The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible, The Ascent of Humanity, and Sacred Economics.
His work covers a wide range of topics, including the history of human civilization, economics, spirituality, and the ecology movement. And some primary themes that he explores include anti-consumerism, interdependence, and how myth and narrative influence culture.
In part one of our conversation, Charles sheds light on how our shortsighted war mentality against climate change parallels with our dominant approaches to combating the coronavirus pandemic as well as crime in our criminal justice system; whether it's possible to be ethical within an unethical system or sustainable in an exploitative and extractive system; and more.
To start, get a glimpse below into the conversation between Charles and Green Dreamer Podcast's host, Kamea Chayne
Musical feature: Trust The Sun by American Dream by Raye Zaragoza
“When we just focus on this separate self and define health as the integrity of the separate self, there’s so much that we don’t see.”
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This is a conversation on Green Dreamer with Kamea Chayne, a podcast and multimedia journal illuminating our paths towards ecological regeneration, intersectional sustainability, and true abundance and wellness for all. This preview has been edited for clarity. Subscribe to Green Dreamer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast app, and support Green Dreamer on Patreon so we can keep the show going and accessible to a wider audience!
On expanding our perspectives on ‘healthcare’:
"What gets lost among the epidemiological and virological conversations are things like natural and holistic approaches to boosting immunity, resisting viral infections, and a larger conversation about the microbiome and the virome and how we're embedded in a web of genetic and biological relationships.
When we just focus on this separate self and define health as the integrity of the separate self, there's so much that we don't see."
On the dangers of having a short-term 'fight' mentality towards health crises:
"Think about [COVID-19] compared to the epidemic in our lifetimes—such as autoimmunity, allergies, depression, suicide. All of these things have been skyrocketing.
The prevalence of childhood chronic conditions, for example, according to Dr. Zach Bush, increased from around 1% in the 1970s to [54%] today. We have an ongoing pandemic of diseases that we cannot identify a causal agent as one bad thing to go to war against.
So we just ignore those crises and focus on the ones where there's something to kill, to exclude, to bomb, to imprison, and to control."
