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Direct Pointing to Real Wealth: Thomas J. Elpel's Field Guide to Money

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All living organisms consume energy, modify resources from the environment and produce waste. That is an inescapable fact of life. But in nature all material wastes are recycled as inputs to other living organisms. The only true waste is diffuse, low-grade heat. In order to create a truly sustainable economy we must mimic the ecosystem so that the waste of every household and business becomes resource inputs to other enterprises and the only waste produced is diffuse, low-grade heat from renewable resources like solar. In Direct Pointing to Real Wealth author Thomas J. Elpel demonstrates that it is inevitable that we will create an ecologically sustainable economy. Tom turns conventional thinking on its head and out-lines steps you can take to increase your prosperity right now while closing the loop on waste and speeding the transition to a greener world. Direct Pointing to Real Wealth is an enlightened look at the nature of money. Discover how the economy is like an ecosystem and how money is a token we use to represent calories of energy in the ecosystem. Toms unique approach to money takes you beyond the numbers game to a direct examination of the laws of physics, biology, and economics. These laws are the same today as in the Stone Age, when people worked only a few hours per day and had much more leisure time than we do now. Whether you are raising a family or running a business, Toms book gives you a fresh new look at economics, ecology and how to achieve your Dreams. Break through perceived limitations to discover a world of prosperity and abundance!

186 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2000

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About the author

Thomas J. Elpel

16 books27 followers
Thomas J. Elpel has authored numerous books on topics ranging from wilderness survival and botany to stone masonry, sustainable construction, and green economics.

He is the founder of Green University® LLC and Outdoor Wilderness Living School LLC (OWLS), as well as HOPS Press LLC and the Jefferson River Canoe Trail.

As a child, Tom was mentored by his grandmother, Josie Jewett. Together they explored the hills and meadows near Virginia City, Montana, collecting herbs, looking for arrowheads and watching wildlife. Grandma Josie helped Tom to learn about native plants and their uses, igniting a passion for nature that has inspired him ever since. She also sparked his interest in survival skills.

Tom's first serious exposure to wilderness survival skills began at the age of 16, when he went on a 26-day, 250-mile walkabout in the desert canyons of southern Utah with Boulder Outdoor Survival School. The following year he and Grandma Josie went together to Tom Brown's Tracker School in New Jersey.

From there Tom spent thousands of hours practicing, developing, and teaching survival skills in his "backyard" in the Rocky Mountains. These experiences led to writing his book Participating in Nature: Wilderness Survival and Primitive Living Skills.

Tom's basic philosophy is that wilderness survival skills are useful to connect with nature, yet you shouldn't run away from the problems of modern society. Instead, we need to apply the lessons of living close to nature to the challenge of solving our worldly problems.

Outdoor Wilderness Living School LLC is dedicated to providing Stone Age living skills classes and camping trips to public school groups. Tom launched Green University® LLC in 2004 to expand the curriculum from teaching merely primitive skills outward towards addressing issues of global sustainability.

In 2019 Tom enlisted former Green University students and led a "Missouri River Corps of Rediscovery" down the 2,341-mile Missouri River, as told in his award-winning book Five Months on the Missouri River: Paddling a Dugout Canoe.

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Profile Image for Abram.
100 reviews2 followers
March 16, 2009
On recommendation from a like minded friend I read both of these topically related books, Living homes and direct pointing to wealth. I was somewhat disappointed in the fact that the book offers some good ideas but fails to be applicable to many contemporary situations. The author leans heavily toward socialist inclination and seems steeped in ideals with some lack of practicality. I had also expected a more through discussion of materials and techniques than was presented.
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