The Zeitgeist Movement

[Selene]

Well...Well - Now here is a movement that you should immediately be aware of which is launching in January 2011

What is The Zeitgeist Movement?

Started in late 2008, The Zeitgeist Movement exists as the communication and "Activist Arm" of an organization called The Venus Project. The Venus Project was started many decades ago by Social/Industrial Designer Jacque Fresco and his life's work has been to address and overcome the lack of sustainability existing currently across the world and work to incorporate new methods and values before it is too late. The basic pursuit of The Movement is to begin a transition into a new, sustainable social design called a “Resource-Based Economy”. This term was first coined by Jacque Fresco of the Venus Project and refers to an economic structure based exclusively on strategic resource management as the starting point for all decisions.

Basic Observations:

In the view of The Movement, the world today has become very detached from the physical world, with techniques of production and distribution that have no relationship to the environment. Our use of a profit based, “growth” driven monetary system has become one of the greatest destroyers of the natural world, not to mention sustainable human values. It is important to understand that the entire global economy requires “cyclical consumption” to operate, which means that money must constantly be circulating. Thus, new goods and services must be constantly introduced regardless of the state of the environment and actual human necessity. This "perpetual" approach has a fatal flaw, for resources as we know it are simply not infinite. Resources are finite and the Earth is essentially a closed system.

The true goal of any economy is to preserve - or "economize" - this is not occurring and cannot occur in a monetary driven system where labor for income requires consumer demand. We actually live in a global "anti-economy" by all rational standards.

Also, the intents inherent within a monetary system are counter progressive and derive a strategic edge from scarcity. This means that depleted resources are actually a positive thing for industry in the short term, for more money can be made off each respective unit. This is known as the basic law of supply & demand and hence “value” in economics. This creates a perverse reinforcement to ignore environmental problems and the negative consequences of scarcity, for it literally translates into profit. There is little intrinsic motivation to "solve" any problem or to make things that last in the current model. It is much more beneficial for jobs and hence profit to "service" things- not resolve them.

In other words, the system requires problems/constant consumer interest in order to work. The more people who have cancer in America, the better the economy due to expensive medical treatments. Needless to say, this generates an inherent disregard for human well being. The monetary arrangement, whether in the form of capitalism, communism, socialism, fascism, free-market or the like, is utterly detached from natural resources and thus human well-being. It is erroneously assumed that the incentive to seek money is also the incentive to help society. Nothing could be further from the truth. For example, every single product created by a corporation today is immediately inferior by design, for the market requirement to cut creation costs in favor of lowering the output "purchase price" to maintain a competitive edge, automatically reduces the quality of any given item by default. In other words it is impossible to create the “strategically best”, long lasting anything in our society and this translates into, again, outrageous amounts of resource waste. This is entirely and provably unsustainable as a social system and the world you are beginning to see emerge around you, with growing starvation, poverty, unemployment; along with the growing scarcity of water, food and arable land, is the result.

Likewise, most occupations are not directly related to the actual necessities of life. Rather, they are artificial concoctions in order to keep people employed so they can acquire purchasing power to keep cyclical consumption going. The very reality that each human being is required to be put in a position of servitude to a corporation or client in order to gain income to purchase the necessities of life also perpetuates extreme, needless waste... however, this time, it is the waste of the human mind and human life. In the modern world, advancements in science and technology have shown that we can automate a great deal. In fact, statistically speaking, the more we have applied mechanization to labor, the more productive things have become. Therefore, it is not only negligent for us to waste our lives waiting tables, working at a bus station, fixing cars, or other repetitive, monotonous jobs, it is also entirely irresponsible for us not to apply modern mechanization techniques to all industries possible for, apart from strategic resource management, this is a powerful way to achieve balance and abundance for all the world's people, reducing crime generating imbalances.

In other words, it is time to update society to present day knowledge, taking the carrying capacity of the earth into account and realigning our methods based not on the reward of monetary gain..but the goal of social sustainability as a whole.

Even with our current, destructive methods, the Earth is still abundant with resources. Today our practice of rationing resources through monetary methods is irrelevant and counter-productive to the well-being of people. Today’s society has access to highly advanced technologies and can easily provide more than enough for a very high standard of living for all the earth’s people. This is possible through the implementation of a Resource-Based Economy.

A Resource-Based Economy utilizes existing resources rather than money, and provides an equitable method of distribution in the most humane and efficient manner for the entire population. It is a system in which all natural, man-made, machine-made, and synthetic resources would be available without the use of money, credits, barter, or any other form of symbolic exchange. A Resource-Based Economy would utilize existing resources from the land and sea, and the means of production, such as physical equipment and industrial plants, to enhance the lives of the total population. In an economy based on resources, conservation and the most advanced methods of science and technology, we could easily produce all of the necessities of life and provide a high standard of living for all. To do this, we have to overcome our current, outdated, establishment practices. This is the purpose of The Zeitgeist Movement- to create a global awareness to thus transition into a new, sustainable direction for humanity as a whole.

http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/joomla/index.php?Itemid=50

[sjw]

I.e., repackaged communism. The element of truth there is a dangerous hook -- through automation mankind does have the possibility of raising standards of living tremendously -- but not through the centralized dictatorship this calls for.

Shayne

[kiaer.ts]

Ooh, ooh, ooh! Can I call dibs on dictator? Pleeeeease?!

[Rich Engle]

I want the black market operation.

[kiaer.ts]

Is anyone else reminded of Earl Williams from

His Girl Friday and his motto of "production for use"?

Death springs eternal.

[Selene]

Is anyone else reminded of Earl Williams from

His Girl Friday and his motto of "production for use"?

Death springs eternal.

Yes. Brilliant movie. That scene when she interviews him is sheer perfection. The rapid fire dialogue between the two (2) stars is basically perfect.

Edited November 20, 2010 by Selene

[kiaer.ts]

Yes. Brilliant movie. That scene when she interviews him is sheer perfection. The rapid fire dialogue between the two (2) stars is basically perfect.

His Girl Friday, Gilda, and African Queen are the holy trinity of flawless movies.

[Kimmler]

Yes. Brilliant movie. That scene when she interviews him is sheer perfection. The rapid fire dialogue between the two (2) stars is basically perfect.

His Girl Friday, Gilda, and African Queen are the holy trinity of flawless movies.

Not a bad list...but my own holy trinity of flawless movies are Citizen Kane, The Lost Horizon (1937) & The Bride of Frankenstein

[kiaer.ts]

Yes. Brilliant movie. That scene when she interviews him is sheer perfection. The rapid fire dialogue between the two (2) stars is basically perfect.

His Girl Friday, Gilda, and African Queen are the holy trinity of flawless movies.

Not a bad list...but my own holy trinity of flawless movies are Citizen Kane, The Lost Horizon (1937) & The Bride of Frankenstein

Citizen Kane is brilliant but naturalistic, at least in theme. I will check out The Lost Horizon.

[LH looks really good from the descriptions at wikipedia and netflix and I have moved it to the top of my queue]

Edited November 22, 2010 by Ted Keer

[truths-seeker]

Here is what they think of Ayn Rand and Objectivism, prepare to be as annoyed as I was:

http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_kunena&Itemid=99999&func=view&catid=8&id=114589

[kiaer.ts]

Here is what they think of Ayn Rand and Objectivism, prepare to be as annoyed as I was:

http://www.thezeitge...tid=8&id=114589

Well, don't tell me you're surprised.

[Selene]

Here is what they think of Ayn Rand and Objectivism, prepare to be as annoyed as I was:

http://www.thezeitge...tid=8&id=114589

First of all Ly, welcome to OL.

I thought was remarkable that the US Coordinator was as fair as she was with Ayn's ideas. She stated:

Rebel fire posted the following: " Wow. This people, is what one would call a stunning intellect. If i could bring her into the modern day, the philosophies she expoused here, would be even more relevant. I am taken a-back by her reasoning, i feel sorry for the young Mike Wallace for not being able to comprehend what she was saying.

She then gave a more than fair representation of much of Ayn's ideas:

"Right on, Rebelfire. Most people I know cannot comprehend what she is saying. She is one of the most misunderstood figures in U.S. history. Her biggest critics have often never read one of her novels to completion or did so way back in high school when they weren't really digesting it. So, here goes...

What Ayn Rand would love about the Venus Project:

- focus on creativity instead of competition (study her book heroes if you doubt me on this)

- the move away from mythological, toward the rational (fits her Objectivist philosophy and her dislike of religion)

- real education that cultivates constructive thinking

- absence of government regulation, by design

- focus on constantly improving technology in a way that is logical

- focus of form designed for highest level of function and buildings that embrace the natural environment (Howard Roark's ideal architecture in The Fountainhead)

- recognition that humans should not be asked to sacrifice time, health and energy for other humans when this can be done by machines

Also, it should be noted that both Rand and J.Krishnamurti encourage people to not be second-handers to have no guru, to think for yourself and not care what anyone's opinion is of you because it is not relevant.

Rand believed greedy, corporate government prevents progress of mankind by stifling great minds and rewarding incompetence. Even though she carried the flag for capitalism, all of her writings suggest that she values individual freedom of creativity over profit and competition, earning a living by passion and productivity versus capitalizing on the achievements of others. In her ideal world, wealth is distributed in direct relation to each person's contribution to society by way of a true free-market sans government manipulation.

Charity, as defined by Rand, is when you sacrifice yourself for something that does not have meaning to you- that you are not passionate about. So, most people miss that she changes the definition of charity. She believed that most acts of 'altruism' call for man to sacrifice himself or his resources out of guilt and believed this type of expectation is immoral. Any claim that she believed in the rights of the individual at the expense of the community are inaccurate. She believed that allowing thinking men to reach their highest potential would be the greatest asset to a community/the world and that government regulation and greedy corporate interests prevent this.

Rand defines altruism as a form of coercion that puts one man's value above another- she believes this is immoral. So, she is going beyond the lay-man's definition of altruism. She is a champion of individual, civil liberties - why the libertarians sing her praises. She believed a person's reward or compensation should be in direct relationship to his/her achievement instead of in relation to his/her need: no one should get a free hand-out if it means taking resources from those that are hard-working.

When she says selfishness is good, she means self-preservation and on the flip side of this says to respect that same sense of self-preservation in your fellow man by not asking another man to . Essentially the "golden rule".

She championed an idealized free-market which is not possible in a monetary system. But, you must remember, she did this in the 1940s after coming to the U.S. - likely a reaction to Communist Russia. She was working within a system of scarcity and fearful of government control of resources to support an undeserving elite group.

If you are not willing to read one of her books, Google all of her video interviews on You Tube and watch them.

I don't agree with all of Rand's view (especially on Iraq/oil - I think she was misinformed on this), but I do have great respect for her."

Adam