posted on Mar, 13 2010 @ 12:14 AM
What is The Zeitgeist Movement?
Started in late 2008, The Zeitgeist Movement exists fundamentally as the communication and activist arm of an organization called The Venus Project.
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 resource management and relevant
education.
The world today has become very detached from nature, with techniques of production and distribution that have no relationship to the physical
environment. Our use of a profit based, “growth” driven monetary system has become one of the greatest destroyers of the natural world and
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 not infinite. Resources are finite and the Earth
is essentially a closed system. Once we run out of life sustaining resources, the game is over. For example, our entire society is constructed out of
fossil fuels, which are not renewable, and require millions of years to develop. The plastics in everything you own, along with the ammonia-based
fertilizer which is used for the mass production of food, coupled with the outrageous amounts of energy used in transportation, along with the
electrical grid that powers your home, are almost all derived from fossil fuels. In other words, we have constructed a society based on a resource
that is nonrenewable. What is going to happen when we run out of this resource? It is simply a matter of time, isn't it? This is a question which is
critical to consider, for the consequences are dire and staggering for the human species unless we make a quantum and radical change quickly.
Sadly, the intents associated with the monetary system are counter progressive in this regard, and derive a strategic edge from scarcity itself. 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.
To make matters worse, 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 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 “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 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 maintain purchasing power. 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 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, established 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.