*This article is taken from CE Magazine’s July issue, be sure to check out the issue archives at http://magazine.collective-evolution.com/portal/view-issues/
Jacque Fresco is an inspiration to many, with his innovative ideas and blue prints for a sustainable society and planet that reject the current models of mass consumerism and self-destruction. Fresco holds many titles, such as educator, architectural designer, and concept artist but is known to most as a leading futurist who has spent the majority of his life promoting a re-structuring of our current way of living. His latest venture, called The Venus Project, advocates what Fresco has coined as a “resource-based economy”, a society which runs on socio-cooperation and which utilizes the methodology of science and the advancements in technology in one of the cleanest and most energy efficient systems ever conceptualized.
Fresco was born in Brooklyn, New York, in the 1920s amidst the Great Depression. Fresco is stated as saying that his experiences growing up around poverty, war, and devastation influenced his later work and views on society and provided him with the incentive for his life’s work. He spent the majority of his young adult life pursuing a career in structural design, where he worked in such fields as aircraft design, Trend Home building, science fiction film set design, and freelance inventions. In the 1960s, Fresco co-wrote a book titled “Looking Forward”, which broke down the three important components of society which needed re-working: humanity’s values, people’s way of thinking, and the utilization of science and technology.
Although he did not gain popular acceptance his later years, Fresco continued to promote his concepts throughout the 1970s and 80s, lecturing at different venues and universities about his new theories such as “Socio-cyberneering”, an idea which implemented the highest advancements in technology to aid in human affairs such as building new cities and the replacement of common labor jobs. It wasn’t until the late 80s that Fresco and his friend Roxanne Meadows developed and incorporated The Venus Project.
Located in Venus, Florida, The Venus Project is a research center which develops innovations in the fields of freelance inventing, industrial engineering, and conventional architectural modeling. The Venus Project aims to answer the question, how can we utilize technology wisely so that there is more than enough for everyone on our planet? To make this happen, Fresco proposes that a planning process must first occur, where the entire infrastructure of the planet is re-worked as a coherent resource trading system. This means the planet working together as one, eliminating the false borders that separate continents and countries and looking at our planet as an open trading highway system. For example, where in the world is the most efficient place to grow certain crops and produce?
Today our resource production is based around mass consumerism which promotes environmental neglect, as apposed to being based around dynamic equilibrium or the carrying capacity of the planet. This means we are not living in a sustainable society, and it is only a matter of time before we suck the planet dry of its resources. The key to abundance and high standards of living for all, Fresco suggests, is to automate as much as possible in the shortest period of time, working alongside technology to produce and distribute resources in the cleanest and most efficient way possible. The Venus Project suggests that our biggest problems right now are technical, not political, and that our questions can be solved through the use of science and technology to benefit all, not just a select group. Fresco believes that computers can serve everyone, and that computer intelligence and engineering will be at the epicenter of the global intelligence network of the future planet. The computer systems would oversee things such as production and distribution of goods, to ensure there would be no shortages or overruns of resources to any location on the planet. Decisions being made in this innovative society would be based around the needs of the people and the conservation of the planet, not corporate interests.
The Venus Project works to showcase the amazing and inspiring potential of computers and technology, and to help people understand that it is not technology that is responsible for the deterioration of the planet and society, but rather it is the abuse and misuse of machines and automated technology for selfish benefits that we should be weary of. Fresco and Meadows have been working together since the early 90s to provide technical blueprints for this proposed society, revealing how it would operate and how it would affect the entire social spectrum.
More interesting aspects of Fresco’s utopian world include the dissolution of automobiles, and the introduction of a complex but energy efficient transveyor and monorail system which would transport people wherever they needed to go. This would eliminate the pollution and high death rates caused by automobiles. The cities would be rebuilt as a circular shape, for this would allow the important resources to be readily accessible to everyone living in the city. The cities would be built using the least amount of materials as possible, and would be flexible enough to allow for innovative changes while preserving the local ecology.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Fresco’s society is the termination of the monetary system. He suggests that we must come to a point where the level of production is high enough that scarcity no longer exists, and that any resource or material need is readily available within these redesigned cities, without a price tag. Fresco states,
“people don’t really want money, but rather they want access to things when they need it, and people in a society of abundance… will really no longer begin to store and accumulate [unnecessary] things.”
In a society where everyone has equal access to goods and services, there is no need to fight for civil rights, or no need for laws that state “don’t steal”, because the abundance in this society would bypass that sort of behavior.
The cities would utilize the best in clean energy which would be harmonious with nature such as wind power, geo-thermal power, solar power, temperature difference, etc. This would supply energy to everywhere on the planet and ensure the highest standards of living for everyone. Polluting with hydro-carbons will be a thing of the past.
Some argue that Jacque Fresco’s plans are idealistic and crazy, and that our world is too far away from such a utopia. However, if we take a moment to observe our current state, it is easy to see that people are not content with the way the world is currently run. Countries all around the world are standing up to their governments with hope of reconstructing a future which provides equal and harmonious living standards for all. We are aware that we need to create something new, and perhaps Jacque Fresco’s blueprints hold the key to the new Earth we’ve been waiting for all along.
agenda 21 on steroids.
nice one Collective Evolution…
Dude, it is just the opposite of your little agenda 21, I encourage you to go and check their FAQ:http://goo.gl/K03gE3
Nice. Reminds me of the concentric layout of Atlantis as described by the Egyptians to the Greeks…
I dream of a new and better world but alas, it isn’t going to happen without an all-destructive world war to anihilate the old systems and ‘reset’ the hands of power.
Why do you believe that there much be an ‘all-destructive world war’ in order to form a new and better world? And the world wouldn’t be a better place if one set of hands holding power just changes to another or ‘resets’ it. The world will never be a better place if people still hold power over others .
There is a global social movement called The Zeitgeist Movement whose goal is a Resource-Based Economy as originated by Jacque Fresco.
http://thezeitgeistmovement.com
SORRY…BUT IT LOOKS LIKE THE PERFECT PRISON SYSTEM FOR SLAVES!
WE (human beings) have been given “Free Will” and should NEVER embrace something of this nature as it is contrary to…Free Will! Bees, Ants, and ALL other creatures live that way. A “Central” hierarchy to which everyone pay homage…just as it is NOW!
Jacque Fresco’s “VISION” is just a different form of what’s in place…NOW!!!
How is it that the venus project looks like the perfect prison system for slaves? We human beings do have been given “Free will” and in the last centuries we have taken advantage of this. Anyhow nowadays access to freedom is limited by the quantity of money you have. The more money you have, the more possibilities you have and vice versa. Regrettably, in our current social systems a majority of the world’s population don’t have the necessary capital to realize their dreams. That´s why some people work in a scope they probably won’t like, so they can earn the necessary capital for some day perform their ideals (Slavery or Prostitution?). This problematic creates characters which individually try to achieve freedom, competing for their own interests and without awareness with the environment, creating inequality, duality, wars, materialism, destruction of the environment etc.. We now need a more conscious “Free will”, meaning that everything in this planet is one and this implies that by doing good to others and to the nature, I am doing good to me and vice versa. This implies that we need to coexist in favor of the unity values considering that every action we take has a reaction in our environment and in us. Yes, maybe you will have less “Free will”, considering that anything that harms the nature, the people and yourself shouldn’t be done.
The venus project proposes to have access independently of the money, to have an horizontal government where people chooses ideas and not parties or politicians (central hierarchy???) and simultaneously to realize ideas that are good for the environment and the people.
So what do you mean with is just a different form of what’s in place now?
Please explain.
Well, ohlig, you “hit the nail on it’s head!” with your statement,
“…The venus project proposes to have access independently of the money, to have an horizontal government where people chooses ideas and not parties or politicians (central hierarchy???)…”
It’s called, “The Constitution of the United States of America!” Once you read it and comprehend ALL that it says, you will discover the it describes what your “Venus Project” attempts to “replicate.” “WE, the People…” DO have a system in-place already AND “we” can do away with this government that is no longer “working for the GOOD of the People!”
I AM NOT disagreeing with the fundamental ideas as they are already incorporated in “our” Constitution.
PROBLEM being, “WE, the People…” have been “brainwashed” over the years…PERIOD!
“WE, the People…” MUST WAKE-UP!!!
that’s all!
Could you please explain to me how you see this as ‘the perfect prison system’. I’m very curious to why you think that because I would love to view this from your point of view as well before I make any permanent standings.
I thought I made it clear as to my point of view when I mentioned “Free Will”…no? We are ALL equal in the eyes of God…right? If so, then anything that resembles a, caste system (which the Venus Project represents), keeps some of the people enslaved only to serve the wealthy with NO chance of anyone in the lower caste’s to rise up.
As for the Venus Project, what’s the difference between that and any metropolis, today? NOTHING! Food is brought into the cities from all over the world. People commute from outside the city to the inner city to work every day. Utilities are provided for everyone in the inner city, 24 hours a day. BUT, this system is starting to break down as it becomes more economical to produce food locally than to bring it in from distant ports.
As the World populations rise to a higher standard of living, this trend will continue. Socialism is based on economics just as the Venus Project is. The difference is that the Venus Project encourages a caste system which is in no one’s best interest except the wealthy.
Hmmm…just like what’s going on in the world today…No?
The issue with Venus Project and Resource Based Economy is that there isn’t a lot of technical background. There isn’t a blueprint on how it works as a system that much. At least with Marxism , Karl left a book with a basic blueprint of ideas which then Trotsky and the others adopted and added on to ( I’m NOT a communist, or capitalist). But with RBE there isn’t any real workings behind it. Fresco is too old to be putting his all in it, and most Zeitgeisters ( including Peter Joseph) act like dreamers and mostly go on about the “vision” without going into depth with technical details and blueprints as to how it will work as a system on every level.
You have to realize, RBE/ Venus Project requires a new political philosophy that needs to go with it. And a new economy too. When you want something as big as RBE, you need to think on it for years and put in actual in depth details behind it *hint* like Karl Marx had years to put in to forming Marxism.
Yeah! That’s what I was “trying to say!”
btw…Communism along with Capitalism BOTH, lead to “Socialism!” Why is it that everybody overlooks this point? “Communism” in is purest form is NOT a “bad idea” per se’…it’s the “Dictator’s” that rule today’s communist countries that are “BAD!”
The book will be out soon around the start of 2014, it will be called “The Zeitgeist Movement: Defined”.
Until then I suggest watching the “Economic Calculation in a Resource Based Economy” for some “technical background”.
There is plenty of background to these idea’s, but people need to remain open to the fact that an RBE has never been implemented, thus making it impossible to come up with empirical evidence that this is the best possible solution to our declining society and planet.
Marxism was tried and failed!
Resource Based Economy has yet to be tried….
By your own comment “…Resource Based Economy has yet to be tried….” it has ALREADY FAILED!!!
When and where has a RBE been implemented? Please be specific.
re-read my comment…please.
Why don’t we all “try” NOT breathing for a day so we can enter “Nirvana!”
You want to “TRY” RBE??? With whose lives? NOT MINE…that’s for sure!
How do you want to “TRY” this “RBE?” Through a “Dictatorship” or “Militarily” or through the use of “drugging” everyone so they have no choice but to follow? OR, maybe by “making-up” a NEW Religion? Oh! I know! By “enacting laws!”…right! That if you don’t comply, you are an “outcast” or “criminal”…huh!
SORRY, but NO THANKS! The World, whether you are anyone else recognizes it, is well on it’s way to becoming a “socialized” planet in the form of pure “socialism” (per se’). YEAH, we have a long way to go, but, it is on the…Horizon!!!”
btw…RBE is NOTHING NEW…Atlantis was BUILT on such a premise after thousands of years more than a MILLION years ago! (In case you didn’t “know!”)
Zeitgeist should talk about RBE as a system rather than toting it as a utopian idea.
Im NOT against RBE, but none of its voices and leading proponents have ever made a detailed lecture about how it will work in detail. Have you ever heard Fresco talk on how the political system would change? After all it is a global system which requires global cooperation which requires governments to change, and even within single countries things would have to be restructured. I get the technologies that can make it possible- but there needs to be more talk on what i just said. Instead of “self building cities, resource allocation, ect.”
Get what im saying? I support RBE, but no one focuses on that. I hope that the book is what you claim it is, if not i wouldn’t be surprised – i think Peter Joseph has taken his initial fame and intellectual rise to his head and he just sits and expects people to adhere to what he says automatically, with Fresco its his age, he can’t do as much now as back 20-30 years ago when he first started RBE theory.
By your first sentence it appears you are not actually as informed as you think. TZM states explicitly that an RBE is “a full Systems Approach to earthly resource management, production and distribution; with the goal of absolute efficiency, conservation and sustainability.”
http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/faq
Question 5, Answer 3
In other places it’s also stated that an RBE is not, nor ever will be a Utopia.
I want people to educate themselves and if they still don’t agree with TZM, thats okay, just be more informed.
Thank you Evan for saying that. So many of this comments that ive read so far have just nitpicked at all the stuff that they have done so little research on and perched about this ‘Utopian idea’ that they think is a load of crap. Well it is because there is no such thing as a Utopian 😀
Great article and I love the ideas of a RBE. What do you think about this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFHtUrGSh64
The Venus Project website is here: http://www.thevenusproject.com/ . I find their free infrequent but lengthy newsletters share some insightful observations. A documentary on it is available on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zn8MRKOskw . I’m not sure if that is the same as their movie of a couple of years ago “Paradise or Oblivion” which you can watch on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KphWsnhZ4Ag . I think if you want to get more into the nitty gritty you might want to read Buckminster Fuller’s book, “Utopia or Oblivion” which seems to touch more upon what is needed to approach an engineering perspective.
Yes, the engineering aspects of how to make such a world are missing. My take on it is that economy and ecology are not mutually compatible and that we need embrace the latter if we don’t want to destroy ourselves. Ecology is quite a science though it as well as other words are used quite loosely. Economy is not a singular thing. Appears there are as many economies as there are so-called countries, maybe as many economies as there are businesses or even people. I’m reminded of the Jack Benny skit where he is held up by a robber who tells him “Your money or your life!” Jack looks off into the distance with his hand to his head and elbow in the other as seems he often did. The robber asks again “Well? Which will it be, your money or your life?” Jack quips back “I’m thinking! I’m thinking!” Well, that’s what we are doing and we better well figure it out purty durn quick.
Let’s take this a big step forward.
How does a person / a group / a community / or the world design a society that is non-violent. The general idea is to produce a system that does not create the incentive for theft and murder. You would have to declare all the earth’s natural resource as common heritage to all the world’s people and abolish the monetary concept. Money leads to poverty. People living in poverty tend to steal, and sometimes even kill. (It pains me to see my fellow man scrapping garbage for food everyday). The very thought of that can lead to food borne illness and death. Gandhi was right when he said “Poverty has killed more people in history than any form of violence…” The current state of our global human society is already chaotic. What more could we add to this fire?
Yes, we need to change our society and our mental attitude FIRST before we even do anything technical, otherwise, (like Jacque Fresco said) “It will all slip back.”
Fox TV network is trying out this new reality show called “A Brave New World” or something like that. It sounds like a great idea, but it’s not. You’re trying to build a new society from the ground up with the current state of mind. It will not work. Jacque Fresco will say the same thing I just said.