Moneyless Manifesto...

I've been meaning to write something about this book since I read it on our last camping trip, and seen as though we are going camping in a day and I'll be reading Mark Boyle's other book - Drinking Molotov cocktails with Ghandi, I figured it was time to get this one done.

I stumbled upon this book title when I was flicking through Pinterest looking for ways to live with less, and it CHANGED MY LIFE - it seriously changed the way that I think about EVERYTHING.

I've always had this dream to go off and live in the forest totally off the grid, my family can attest to this, as I never stop going on about it,

and I am constantly showing them weird and wonderful ways to build eco houses, and bombarding them with ideas of what we can use instead of this or that electrical gadget and so on...

so naturally I was very curious about this guy who ended up living money free for 3 years?!

To say that this book was profound is an understatement.

The way that Mark puts things into perspective is incredible,

and when you read what he has to say,

you feel almost stupid for never having thought of the workings of the world that way before.

He doesn't come across as self righteous or sanctimonious and he has a genuine kindness and compassion in the way he speaks.

What he writes will first open your eyes,

and then give you details on how you can replicate a simpler life,

no matter what your situation is.

I guarantee that anyone who reads this book will walk away from it feeling enlightened and free.

All I can say is read this book!

Blurb:

Drawing on almost 3 years of experience Mark not only demystifies money and the system that binds us to it, he also explains how liberating, easy and enjoyable it is to live with less of it.

Mark takes on an exploration that goes deeper into the thinking that pushed him to make the decision to go moneyless, and the philosophy he developed along the way. Bursting with radical new perspectives on some of the vital, yet often unquestioned, pillars of economic theory and what it really means to be sustainable - as well as creative and practical solutions for how we can live more with less.

Boyle is living proof that it's not only possible to live without money, but that life is more heart-ful, more real and infinitely more sustainable.

It is an inspiring meditation on the divisive power of money, which also offers excellent practical suggestions for escaping its grip.

This book is available to read or download online for free, so do yourself a favour and break free from the world of make believe.

Imagine an evening.

The stars are high in an ink-black sky,

and you are sitting,

watching logs burn slowly on a campfire.

You feel nothing, except warmth.

Suddenly, a young woman casually begins setting fire to a thick wad of twenty pound notes above it,

one-by-one.

Emotions, like the spring sap, surge through you.

Indignation.

An uncontrollable urge to physically stop her.

Utter bewilderment.

The thought of all the useful things you could have done with those thin paper sheets, perhaps.

Burning logs, burning paper.

Why do the two acts invoke such vastly different emotional reactions,

when,

on a fundamental level, we are incinerating the same thing?

The only significant distinction is that one wears a symbol.

Because of a little symbol,

and the cultural stories underlying it,

people either live luxuriously or starve;

forests stand proud or are clear-cut;

oceans are left abundant with life or have their bottoms trawled.

For reasons that have long since become obsolete,

this is the power we have granted the story of money.