Charles Eisenstein
Author and essayist
“I no longer think that ecological limits, resource limits, energy limits are going to force us to change.”
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens · September 2026
Context
This is the line the episode opens on, and Eisenstein frames it as the biggest change in his beliefs over the last ten years. He is giving up the idea that running into physical limits will do the persuading for us; we can keep going, he says, at greater and greater cost. What replaces the forcing function is a question nobody can be compelled to answer: what do we actually want to sustain?
Transcript
This is the biggest change in my beliefs that has happened over the last 10 years. I no longer think that ecological limits, resource limits, energy limits are going to force us to change. If we want to continue the story of separation, we will do so at a greater and greater and greater cost to the rest of life and to our own souls. The increasingly difficult conditions to sustain that are a louder and louder invitation for us to ask: what do we want to sustain? How do we want to live? How do we want to be? Got to bring it all in. Once we do that, then let's start asking, What is mine to do?
You're listening to The Great Simplification. I'm Nate Hagins. On this show, we describe how energy, the economy, the environment, and human behavior all fit together and what it might mean for our future. By sharing insights from global thinkers, we hope to inform and inspire more humans to play…
Good to be here, Nate. Happy to be talking to you.
So, you are probably one of the top five most requested guests over the years. So, I'm glad we're finally able to schedule this and have a conversation. You have spent over two decades writing and speaking about foundational stories and mythologies that underpin human civilization. You especially…
More from The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
