Mark Boyle (Moneyless Man)
Mark Boyle | |
---|---|
Born | Ballyshannon, County Donegal, Ireland | 8 May 1979
Alma mater | Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (BA) |
Occupation | Writer |
Mark Boyle (born 8 May 1979), also known as The Moneyless Man, is an Irish writer best known for living without money from November 2008,[1] and for living without modern technology since 2016.[2] Boyle writes regularly for the British newspaper The Guardian, and has written about his experiences in a couple of books. His first book, The Moneyless Man: A Year of Freeconomic Living, was published in 2010.[3] His fourth book, The Way Home: Tales from a life without technology, was published in 2019.[4] Boyle lives near Loughrea, in the west of Ireland.[5]
Early life
Mark Boyle grew up in Ballyshannon, County Donegal. He took a degree in Business at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, before moving to Britain in 2002.[6][7]
During the final year of his degree, Boyle watched the film
Early career
During his first six years in Britain, Boyle lived in Bristol and managed two organic food companies. In 2007, after a conversation with a friend during which they decided "money... creates a kind of disconnection between us and our actions", Boyle set up the Freeconomy Community.[9]
Moneyless lifestyle
A few months after creating the Freeconomy Community, Boyle set out on a two-and-a-half-year trek from
Later in the same year, Boyle developed an alternative plan: to live without money entirely. After some preparatory purchases (including a solar panel and wood-burning stove), he began his first year of "moneyless living" on Buy Nothing Day 2008.[13][14]
Boyle has received considerable positive and negative publicity for his moneyless lifestyle, appearing on television, radio and other media in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Australia, South Africa, United States and Russia. Much of the attention has focused on his day-to-day routine, including food, hygiene, and traditionally expensive aspects of life, such as Christmas.[15][16][17][18][19]
Mark Boyle is one of a small number of well-known individuals who have lived without money in recent times. These include Heidemarie Schwermer , Tomi Astikainen and Daniel Suelo.[20][21][22][23] However, Boyle frequently reminds his readers that a moneyless life is not a new idea; indeed it is the system of money itself that is the new development, having existed for only a small fraction of humanity's c. 200,000-year existence. Other observers note that for nearly all of recorded human history (the c. 5,000 years since the invention of writing) there has been a system of money or currency in place.[7][24]
Freeconomy Community
The Freeconomy Community was created to allow people to share, moving away from exchange economies towards a pay it forward philosophy. The original www.justfortheloveofit.org site shared similarities with websites such as The Freecycle Network, Freegle and Streetbank, and in 2014 Streetbank and Freeconomy decided that "the two projects would be so much stronger if they came together" and merged.[25]
Freeskilling
Alongside the online component of the Freeconomy Community, several areas including Bristol and London hold Freeskilling sessions, where freeconomists take turns to pass on their skills in free one-off evening classes. Past topics have included subjects ranging from charity fundraising and anger management to bicycle maintenance, bread-making and campaigning skills.
Freeconomy Blog
Boyle has been the primary author of the Freeconomy Blog since it was launched in 2007. Guest writers have recently included fellow moneyless people Heidemarie Schwermer, Daniel Suelo and Tomi Astikainen.[26]
The Freeconomy Village
Boyle is currently working with others to set up the UK's first land-based Freeconomic community. Other founding members include Shaun Chamberlin, author of The Transition Timeline (2009), and Fergus Drennan, also known as the BBC's 'Roadkill Chef'.[19][27][28]
Works
- The Moneyless Man – Boyle's first book, The Moneyless Man: A Year of Freeconomic Living, was published in June 2010 by Oneworld Publications.[3] The book documents his first moneyless year, including many of the practical and philosophical challenges he faced. The author's proceeds go to the Freeconomy trust, towards purchasing land for the foundation of the Freeconomy Community.
- The Moneyless Manifesto: Live well, live rich, live free – a follow-up guide to beginning your own moneyless journey, which he also offers free on his website (http://www.moneylessmanifesto.org/why-free/).
- Drinking Molotov Cocktails with Gandhi – published October 2015. In this book, Boyle argues that our political and economic systems have brought us to the brink of climate catastrophe and peaceful protest is no longer enough to bring about change.
- The Way Home: Tales from a life without technology – published June 2019.[29]
- Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild Series 13, 2021
Quotes
- "If we grew our own food, we wouldn't waste a third of it as we do today. If we made our own tables and chairs, we wouldn't throw them out the moment we changed the interior decor. If we had to clean our own drinking water, we probably wouldn't contaminate it."[8]
- "The degrees of separation between the consumer and the consumed have increased so much that we're completely unaware of the levels of destruction and suffering embodied in the stuff we buy."[8]
- "If you don't own a plasma screen TV, people think you're an extremist."[8]
- "It was really important for me to give up bank accounts so I closed my bank accounts so there was no safety net. I think that's the key. I think if I had a safety net I would not have got the benefits that I got from it. It was the fact that I knew I was living moment to moment, day to day."[30]
See also
References
- ^ Mark Boyle, "My year of living without money" The Guardian, 9 November 2009
- ^ Mark Boyle, "After two years off-grid, I'm embracing daily letters, good sleep and my DIY hot tub" The Guardian, 30 March 2019
- ^ ISBN 978-1-85168-781-7.
- ISBN 978-1-78607-600-7.
- ^ Bryony Stone, "What do we own? Living off the land in Galway with the Moneyless Man" Unlimited, 16 August 2016, retrieved 17 May 2017
- ^ Conor Pope, "Putting cash in the trash", Irish Times, 9 August 2010
- ^ a b c Mark Boyle, "Mark Boyle – The Moneyless Man", The People's United Community, retrieved 14 February 2011
- ^ a b c d Mark Boyle, "I live without money – and I manage just fine", The Guardian, 28 October 2009
- ^ Matt Ford, Free and easy? One man's experiment in living without money", CNN, 18 May 2010, retrieved 29 September 2011
- ^ Kimberley Mok, ""Freeconomy" Pilgrim Begins Walk From Britain to India", Treehugger, 1 February 2008
- ^ BBC, "Penniless India trek is under way", BBC News, 30 January 2008
- ^ a b c Steven Morris, "Passage to India curtailed in Calais as language barrier trips campaigner", The Guardian, 1 March 2008
- ^ The Mirror, "Meet the man who lived on no cash for a year", The Mirror, 25 November 2009
- ^ Simon Newton, "Man To Go Cashless For A Year" Archived 29 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Sky News, 29 November 2008
- ^ Matt Ford, "Free and easy? One man's experiment in living without money" Archived 14 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine, CNN World, 18 Many 2010
- ^ Jessica Salter, "The man who lives without money", The Daily Telegraph, 18 August 2010
- ^ Mark Boyle, "Mark Boyle's 'Moneyless Man': Why I Live Without Money (VIDEO)", The Huffington Post, 23 September 2010
- ^ Mark Boyle, "The man who lives without money", ABC Environment, 12 April 2010
- ^ a b Tiara Walters, "Priceless liberation", Times Live (South Africa), 31 October 2010
- ^ Heidemarie Schwermer Living without Money
- ^ Stefanie Marsh, "Living without money", The Times, 24 November 2009
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Christopher Ketcham, "Meet the man who lives on zero dollars", Details, July 2009
- ^ David Fleming, "Money, The Fallacy of" LeanLogic.online, retrieved 15 June 2020
- ^ "Streetbank and Freeconomy unite to become the one-stop shop for neighbourhood sharing" Streetbank.com, retrieved 15 June 2020
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 February 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Shaun Chamberlin, "Dark Optimism – Projects Page", Dark Optimism (blog), retrieved 14 February 2011
- ^ Mark Boyle, "Celebrity Short With Mark Boyle", World News, retrieved 14 February 2011
- ^ "The Way Home: Tales from a Life Without Technology review". The Irish Times. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
- ^ "'Moneyless Mark' the Donegal man who plans to live in money-free community". Donegal Democrat. 20 May 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
External links
- The Freeconomy Blog
- Moneyless man Guardian column
- Video of Mark Boyle speaking at TEDxO'Porto, June 2011