Billionaire Buddha | Rivera Sun and Dariel Garner
Does more money lead to greater happiness? In Rivera Sun’s novel, Billionaire Buddha, inspired by the life of Dariel Garner, true happiness doesn’t come until immense wealth is given away. In our 20th episode, Mel and Steff chat with Rivera and Dariel about income inequality, the immense damage being done to people and planet in the name of wealth accumulation, and the importance of reexamining our values to build a more collaborative and equitable future. (45m 10s)
Rivera’s Bio
Author/Activist Rivera Sun has written numerous novels, including Billionaire Buddha, The Dandelion Insurrection and The Way Between. She is the editor of Nonviolence News and a trainer in strategy for nonviolent movements. She has been working on issues of inequality since the Occupy Protests in 2011. Currently, she is working with Dariel Garner and Chuck Collins on a culture shift project that collects and shares true stories of people who have given away fortunes, walked away from wealth, and created fair systems for how money moves in our world.
Dariel’s Bio
Dariel Garner’s life story inspired the fictionalized story of Billionaire Buddha. He is a serial entrepreneur who has started over 40 businesses. He was a multi-millionaire by the time he was 30 years old. In 2003, he was a member of not the 1%, but the 0.01% and had a personal net worth of over $100 million. Dariel chose to turn his back on wealth, give it all away and stop pursuing concentrated wealth. Now, he lives simply and modestly, works for social justice causes, and speaks out about ending extreme inequality and concentrated fortune.
