I was playing chess at a local coffee shop last night when someone at another table started talking about The Zeitgeist Movement. I lost the game because I couldn't help being distracted by the what the guy was talking about. So today, I looked it up and found a synopsis on Huffington Post.
The Zeitgeist Movement: Envisioning A Sustainable Future
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')o what exactly is The Zeitgeist Movement? Not even two years old, the movement declares itself as the activist arm of The Venus Project, an organization started in the 1970s by Fresco and his partner, Roxanne Meadows. The Venus Project distributes resources promoting Fresco's vision of an improved society, with the main component being a resource-based economy, rather than a monetary-based one. In Fresco's resource-based economy, the world's resources would be considered as the equal inheritance of all the world's peoples, and would be managed as efficiently and carefully as possible through focusing on the technological potential of sustainable development. It is toward this idea that The Zeitgeist Movement works to educate and inform people.
The movement's founder, Peter Joseph, came to notoriety with his 2007 internet film sensation, Zeitgeist, and it's 2008 successor, Zeitgeist: Addendum. While many people may find it hard to digest the idea of a world without currency, Joseph's argument that our economic system is the source of our greatest social problems was supported with valuable evidence.
PeakOil is You
The Zeitgeist Movement
The Zeitgeist Movement
by Carlhole » Sun 22 Aug 2010, 21:53:39
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'F')rom the maximization of resources and efficiency of automated labor, Fresco imagines a world of abundance, where everything is available to everyone. As idealistic as this may sound, keep in mind that there is currently enough food to feed everyone in the world, but not enough money to pay for it. One billion people (one-sixth of the world) are starving, yet American's throw out approximately 40% of their purchased food. Fresco says that in a world where everything is supplied, the majority of today's crimes would be non-existent, as they are primarily related to obtaining money and property, or born of social inequality. The crimes that still exist would be considered symptomatic of mental aberration, and these people would be given treatment and help, not punished, as no prisons would exist. People would be rewarded with an incentive system for contributions based on social relevance.
Celebrating his 94th birthday, Fresco was lively and animated as he guided the audience through a visual presentation of his conceptual ideas and models for sustainable technology. Wowing the crowd with images that seemed of science fiction, the audience was assured that nothing was unrealistic about his designs, and if science and technology were focused on progress instead of consumption, they would all be easily realized.
Check out The Zeitgeist Movement's website: I've been reading over Designing The Future (pdf).
Seems unrealistic to me, but it's a good topic to post. I looked it up on Wikipedia too and found these main points:
Concepts advocated by the Zeitgeist Movement
- The main concept advocated by the Zeitgeist Movement is that all the worlds resources, from needs such as food and shelter to desires such as vacations and cars should be the common heritage of all the worlds people.
- The entire human race is corrupt to one degree or another, and our system of ethics, which is seen as evil, leads to aberrant behavior.[3]
- The solutions to the world's problem's will not come about through logic or reason.[4]
- The current social order should be replaced with a military dictatorship, which will change culture and remove deviant and socially offensive behavior.[4]
- No Money/Barter or Trade: Money creates established institutions that are forced to protect themselves which inhibits progress. The fractional reserve system, usury/interest, and credit are all functions of this flawed system that creates debt, leading to the need for employment, for the purpose of paying off debts. A process known as 'cyclical consumption.(Zeitgeist Movement Orientation Guide, Page 7)
- Automation: automation is more productive than human labor and frees mankind from repetitive and tedious tasks.
- Artificial intelligence: machines are needed to make decisions objectively, unlike humans who are susceptible to personal projections, desires or bias. Machines are also needed to store and retrieve information because humans have a limited capacity for memory.
- Technological unification of the globe: globally shared technology is required to monitor planetary resources in real time, and make the most efficient use of them in solving planetary problems.
- Scientific methodology: planetary government is obligated to methodology not individuals. Governing decisions are arrived at through scientific method, not belief.
- No property: property is wasteful and unsustainable. It is done away with in favor of a system of universal access, which will be made possible through abundance of goods and services, thus eliminating the need for ownership.
- Sustainable City Systems: unified systems approach. Systems theory and a systemic approach for a self-sustaining globe and culture can be modeled on a smaller scale with a city-size system.
Sounds like Automated Communism to me - instead of all that Marxist analysis of Labor and Capital, this guy's vision is that machines will be doing all the labor and so that part of the old Communist argument, ie. "Workers of the world UNITE!", has been completely dropped. I talked briefly to the guy at the coffee shop and told him as much. He assured me that The Zeitgeist Movement was not Communism. I'm pretty sure it would be possible to control an economy using supercomputers though.
The last paragraph of the HP article summed it up well:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he members of The Zeitgeist Movement seem to face an intimidating wall of those who decree their goals as unattainable. But with 250 international chapters forming in just one year and the membership count rapidly growing, it's undeniable that many easily identify with the message. The evidence shows that our current system is leading us on a collision course; our present model of society cannot sustain itself. While some deny this, others ignore it, and there are those who still try to profit off of it. The Zeitgeist Movement highlights that there are individuals who believe in a sustainable future where humanity is not united by religious or political ideology, but by the scientific method, venerated as the savior that can develop a system of human equality, thriving from the cooperation and balance of technology and nature.
Honest to god, this is the first I've heard of it.
- Carlhole
Re: The Zeitgeist Movement
by Carlhole » Sun 22 Aug 2010, 23:30:02
From "Designing The Future"
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]YOUR CHALLENGE
The future does not just happen. Except for natural events like earthquakes, it comes about through the efforts of people and is determined largely by how well informed people are. You can play a role in the shaping of tomorrow’s world by asking yourself questions like, “What kind of world do I want to live in?” and “What does democracy mean to me?” There are many other options of organization for the future than those typically discussed today.
Here is a scenario for you to consider: Suppose you were called upon to redesign planetary civilization without any limitations based on how things are done today. The goal is to help rid the world of war, poverty, hunger, and environmental degradation, and to create the best world for all inhabitants, given the resources at hand, for the longest period of time. Remember, you are free to rearrange society in any way you think will work. The only limitation is that your social design must factor in the carrying capacity of the planet, which means the resources have to be sufficient to support life on the planet. You can rearrange the entire civilization to make what you consider the best of all possible worlds, bearing in mind that any unmet need for any segment of the population reduces the standard of living for all. This may include not only environmental protection, but also city design, transportation, interpersonal relationships and the restructuring of education, if you feel it is necessary.
The options are limitless. Would you have separate nations? Would you have an international advisory board? How would you manage and distribute the resources of the world to accommodate the needs of all? Would you use the scientific method to make decisions, or rely on politics or mysticism? How would you handle differences in religious beliefs? You may even consider another system of distribution that doesn’t use money as a medium of exchange. On a personal basis, would you seek a position of advantage over others? Would you claim a bigger house, a more luxurious car, or high-definition TV? On what basis would you say you deserve these things? Or that others don’t deserve them? Your skill level? Your investment of time and/or money?
Remember, if you force any predetermined set of values on other nations, or others in your own nation or neighborhood for that matter, you will generate bad feelings. How would you prevent political corruption? Would you declare universal laws and treaties? Would you use military and police methods for enforcement? Would you declare all resources the common heritage of all nations? In order to accomplish this task one must be free of bias and nationalism, and reflect those qualities in the design of policies. How would you approach that? This is a difficult project requiring input from many disciplines. These are some of the problems we must consider when thinking about such a task. It can be a fresh approach, unburdened by past or traditional considerations, religious or otherwise, but always keeping in mind for whom this society is to be designed. Feel free to transcend present realities and reach out for new and creative ideas.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]YOUR CHALLENGE
The future does not just happen. Except for natural events like earthquakes, it comes about through the efforts of people and is determined largely by how well informed people are. You can play a role in the shaping of tomorrow’s world by asking yourself questions like, “What kind of world do I want to live in?” and “What does democracy mean to me?” There are many other options of organization for the future than those typically discussed today.
Here is a scenario for you to consider: Suppose you were called upon to redesign planetary civilization without any limitations based on how things are done today. The goal is to help rid the world of war, poverty, hunger, and environmental degradation, and to create the best world for all inhabitants, given the resources at hand, for the longest period of time. Remember, you are free to rearrange society in any way you think will work. The only limitation is that your social design must factor in the carrying capacity of the planet, which means the resources have to be sufficient to support life on the planet. You can rearrange the entire civilization to make what you consider the best of all possible worlds, bearing in mind that any unmet need for any segment of the population reduces the standard of living for all. This may include not only environmental protection, but also city design, transportation, interpersonal relationships and the restructuring of education, if you feel it is necessary.
The options are limitless. Would you have separate nations? Would you have an international advisory board? How would you manage and distribute the resources of the world to accommodate the needs of all? Would you use the scientific method to make decisions, or rely on politics or mysticism? How would you handle differences in religious beliefs? You may even consider another system of distribution that doesn’t use money as a medium of exchange. On a personal basis, would you seek a position of advantage over others? Would you claim a bigger house, a more luxurious car, or high-definition TV? On what basis would you say you deserve these things? Or that others don’t deserve them? Your skill level? Your investment of time and/or money?
Remember, if you force any predetermined set of values on other nations, or others in your own nation or neighborhood for that matter, you will generate bad feelings. How would you prevent political corruption? Would you declare universal laws and treaties? Would you use military and police methods for enforcement? Would you declare all resources the common heritage of all nations? In order to accomplish this task one must be free of bias and nationalism, and reflect those qualities in the design of policies. How would you approach that? This is a difficult project requiring input from many disciplines. These are some of the problems we must consider when thinking about such a task. It can be a fresh approach, unburdened by past or traditional considerations, religious or otherwise, but always keeping in mind for whom this society is to be designed. Feel free to transcend present realities and reach out for new and creative ideas.
- Carlhole
We'll leave it up to the dictatorship to decide who is a deviant and socially offensive, they will know best. Maybe it will be artists and intellectuals, maybe teachers and scientists, maybe people who look a bit different from good, decent folk. Who knows for sure? We'll let the quirks and obsessions of the guy that runs the military dictatorship decide those pesky little details. Hey, we could call it a "cultural revolution"! And the glorious day when the new system begins, well, we could call that "year zero"! I wouldn't be at all surprised if it lasted a thousand years. This is going to be neat.
