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What would life look like if saving money became impossible for everyone? In this thought-provoking episode of Next Economy Now, Janelle Orsi, lawyer, writer, cartoonist, and activist for social and environmental justice, shares her journey of questioning traditional systems. From her early days as a “sharing lawyer” to her leadership at the Sustainable Economies Law Center, Janelle explores how wealth redistribution, Indigenous land relationships, and love-driven collaboration can redefine society.

In our conversation, Janelle shares insights from her experiments in alternative living, such as living nomadically, parting with her life savings, embracing the gift economy, and challenging the societal norms of accumulation and individualism. She also delves into her current work supporting radical land projects, where she collaborates with Indigenous and Black-led initiatives to design legal frameworks that prioritize community and connection over bureaucracy. Through anecdotes and insights, she invites us to rethink our beliefs about wealth, power, and what it means to thrive collectively.

Listeners will come away inspired by Janelle’s call to center love, trust, and reciprocity in building a regenerative economy. Her experiences remind us of the power of human connection and the possibilities of a system that nourishes all. Tune in for an episode brimming with ideas to reimagine a sustainable, equitable future!

Key Points From This Episode:

• How Janelle became a sharing lawyer and started the Sustainable Economies Law Center. [0:01:52]

• Answering the question, “What if it became impossible for anyone to save money?” [0:06:47]

• Our culture of individual accumulation and what the alternative might look like. [0:09:53]

• Janelle’s current projects: lessons from Catholic convents and Buddhist monasteries. [0:11:37]

• The root of our habits of accumulation and how to adopt a different belief system. [0:16:57]

• Janelle’s radical decision to let go of her savings, what that process looks like, and how the experience has shaped her outlook. [0:19:35]

• Reclaiming the power of “living off the generosity of others” and reflections on why that is radically in line with human nature. [0:24:06]

• Janelle’s toolkit for living more lightly on the planet and redistributing wealth. [0:29:48]

• Insights from the radical land projects that Janelle is involved with. [0:34:31]

• Reading and resource recommendations from Janelle. [0:39:02]

Quotes:

“There's something about – sharing and cooperation that feels like a path to a world that empowers young people, that takes the resources we have and uses them in better ways to nourish everybody. So I said, ‘What if I become a lawyer who helps people share things?’” — Janelle Orsi [0:02:40]

“We need to [share] what we have. Rather than a system that relies on individuals accumulating to meet their needs, we need a system that gets people what they need when they need it. That creates all kinds of new flows, new relationships.” — [0:10:41]

“We could believe that [humans] are nasty and brutish – and that we're inherently competitive. Or we could believe that we're inherently cooperative and loving. There's a lot of evidence for the latter.” — Janelle Orsi [0:17:29]

“My entire life has been living off the generosity of other people. Even when I had a respectable salary, – the way we raised money was by asking people to donate. I was always asking people to give, and people were always giving. So I [said], ‘I'm just going to live like that.’” — Janelle Orsi [0:22:29]

“Because I'm working with groups that center spirituality or center love, – they are very willing to work with us to say, ‘How can we not disrupt what is so sacred at the center of our work?’” — Janelle Orsi [0:36:21]

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Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Janelle Orsi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janelle-orsi-69521a8/
The Sustainable Economies Law Center: https://www.theselc.org/

The Sustainable Economies Law Center – Sacred Legal Circles: https://www.theselc.org/sacred_legal_circles

The Sustainable Economies Law Center – Wealth Redistribution: https://www.theselc.org/wealth_redistribution
Janelle Orsi: Leveraging the Legal System towards an Equitable & Inclusive Next Economy: https://www.lifteconomy.com/blog/janelle-orsi-leveraging-the-legal-system-towards-an-equitable-inclusive-next-economy

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