One of our subscribers (aka: a life long learner) had some really great things to say about the email we sent recently introducing the indigenous view "enoughness". I liked what he had to say so much I invited him to write a guest essay on the subject. EnjoY!
To get these emails into your inbox CLICK the Get The Newsletter button in the top right of this page and sign up. WE take it very seriously when folks share their email with us and NEVER sell or share out lists and work hard to have the content be worth our readers time. Thank you!!
On October 22, 2025, I received the iLumn8.life newsletter called i8 - Indigenous Wisdom & the Power of “Enough.” That issue included a link to a video ENOUGHNESS: Restoring Balance to the Economy, which contrasts the differences of the values and economic systems of indigenous cultures versus “the Western Worldview” (which, personally, I believe extends way beyond just “the West”).
I replied to Anne’s newsletter with some thoughts and a link to an article about the harms of capitalism called Why Capitalism Cannot Be Redeemed, by Miki Kashtan.
What I want to look at in this guest essay is questioning some of the messages that I learned from modern culture about money, economics and what it means to be human.
One of the messages I received from modern culture is that people’s decisions are what determine the culture and how society functions. IMO that has some truth to it, but it is not the whole story. I recently read an article by an author named Peter Joseph called, Why ‘Socialism’ Sucks And it is not why you think 😉 In the article, it says:
“…the market system is hence a dynamic system with structure and not a blob of malleable philosophical incentives as many would like to think with people defining the system’s character through collective mass behavior. The system tells us what to do and not the other way around.”
An economic system based on trade incentivizes parties to buy low and sell high, and to accumulate (which has a cascade of social and environmental consequences). There’s no getting around those structural incentives. Yes, individuals can make a conscious effort to have other motivations, but the structural incentives are built in. That’s an example of how systems tell us what to do (and how to be), not the other way around.
My personal struggle is that I’m a capitalist, in terms of my day-to-day concerns and practices, not because I think it’s a good system, but because I basically have to be in order to survive in the system I (and virtually all people on the planet) live in.
I’m so indoctrinated in the capitalist worldview and orientation that if I actually had a viable option to join an indigenous community and exit capitalism, I probably wouldn’t.
In the newsletter, we were invited to consider:
- What does “enough” mean to me—personally, financially, spiritually?
- How has the “more is better” mindset shaped my life and choices?
- What might I be willing to let go of in order to live in greater alignment with interdependence and well-being?
For me personally, these questions are ridiculously confronting, because I can recognize in myself that I am pretty deeply indoctrinated in a capitalist orientation, even though I have learned enough to know just how damaging and unsustainable that system can be.
I used to attend a monthly conference call hosted by Miki Kashtan called Questioning Money . A practice that Miki shared on several of those calls is for someone to do the math on what their financial needs are, and then if someone has more income than whatever that number is, that they give that money away.
She pointed out that money itself isn’t a need; it’s a strategy to get needs met. When a need is met there’s an experience of it being met. For example, if somebody is hungry and then they eat enough food to satisfy their need, they are no longer hungry. But since money isn’t a need, people never get the experience of having enough of it.
To illustrate the point, she cited a study, which I believe was called The Happiness of Millionaires by Harvard Business School and collaborators. The study was about multimillionaires being interviewed about if they have enough money. Fairly consistently, they said that they didn’t, and that they would need about 20% more than what they have in order to have enough.
Have I done the exercise of calculating how much money I need, and then giving away any excess? No. I haven’t. Am I willing to do the exercise? I’m not sure. It kind of lives like an, “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it” kind of thing (I’m certainly not at that number now).
Still pondering!
Another thing I want to say, it seems to me that at this point human extinction is pretty much inevitable, unless we transition away from any economic system based on only exchange. However, I have come to be at peace about the very real possibility of human extinction. There’s a movement called VHEMT (Voluntary Human Extinction Movement). My understanding of their basic philosophy is that we are already on the road to extinction, and if we, as a species, voluntarily stop breeding, we can be stewards of transitioning the planet to the rest of the community of life. To quote from their website,
“When every human chooses to stop breeding, Earth’s biosphere will be allowed to return to its former glory, and all remaining creatures will be free to live, die, evolve (if they believe in evolution), and will perhaps pass away, as so many of Nature’s ‘experiments’ have done throughout the eons.”
Now, I wouldn’t say I’m a proponent of VHEMT (though if you ask me point blank if you should have children, I would advise against it), but being in acceptance of the very real possibility of human extinction does somehow give me an experience of peace.
Having said that, my hope is that we actually do transition away from a market/exchange-based economy to a sustainable economic system, that the human species does continue to exist, and that people live well. And I am heartened by movements that are working towards this goal.
I want to conclude with a quote from Jacque Fresco, who designed a possible economic system called a Resource Based Economy. I believe the original quote is from pages 76 through 78 in Designing the Future by Jacque Fresco. The version I’m quoting is from page 19 of the third issue of The Venus Project Beyond Poverty, Politics & War magazine. There is also another version on the Venus Project website.
“The greatest lesson we might learn could be that human beings free of debt, insecurity and fear become much more amiable. No one will be out to sell anyone anything or to deprive another of possessions or money. In a Resource-Based Economy, the basis for unhealthy human aggression will be outgrown. People will no longer be burdened by the nagging concerns that consume so much of our attention, such as mortgages, health care costs, fire insurance, economic recession, the loss of jobs, depression and taxes. With the elimination of these burdens and the removal of the conditions that create feelings of envy, greed and competition, our lives would be far more meaningful. For the first time we may begin to know what it means to be human.
As we enhance the lives of others, protect our environment and work toward abundance, all our lives can become richer and more secure. If these values were put into practice, it would enable all of us to achieve a much higher standard of living within a relatively short period of time; a standard of living that would be continuously improved.
People would be free to pursue whatever constructive endeavor they choose without the economic pressures, restraints and taxation that are inherent in the monetary system. By constructive endeavor, we mean anything that enhances the lives of the individual and others. When education and resources are available to all without a price tag, there will be no limit to human potential. With these major alterations, people would eventually live longer, more meaningful and healthier lives. The measure of success would be the fulfillment of one's individual pursuits, rather than the acquisition of wealth, property and power.”
Thanks for the opportunity to share my thoughts!
Unnamed guest (this person wished to stay anonymous at this point and we agreed!)
Wow, this gives us a lot to think about. As we often say - progress happens when we ask questions that provoke curiosity and learning. Thank you to our guest for asking so many great questions!
By the way… if you have something you would like to contribute to the learners in our community or a response to an article we have written, let us know by replying to any of our emails. Yes, it comes directly to us.