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by Peter Joseph, Roxanne Meadows, Jacque Fresco February 2009 from TheZeitgeistMovement Website
The Zeitgeist Movement is the activist arm of The Venus Project, which constitutes the life long work of industrial designer and social engineer, Jacque Fresco. Jacque currently lives in Venus, Florida, working closely with his associate, Roxanne Meadows.
Now, let it be understood that Mr. Fresco will be the first to tell you that his perspectives and developments are not entirely his own, but rather uniquely derived from the evolution of scientific inquiry which has persevered since the dawn of antiquity.
Simply put, what The Venus Project represents and what The Zeitgeist Movement hence condones, could be summarized as:
Through the humane application of Science and Technology to social design and decision-making, we have the means to transform our tribalistic, scarcity driven, corruption filled environment into something exceedingly more organized, balanced, humane, sustainable and productive.
To do so, we have to understand who we are, where we are, what we have, what we want, and how we are going to obtain our goals.
Given the current state of affairs, many of which will be addressed in the first part of this book, the reader should find that we not only need to move in another direction…we have to. The current economic system is falling apart at an accelerating rate, with the prospect of worldwide unemployment occurring on the largest scale ever seen.
Simultaneously, we are courting the "point of no return" in regard to
the destruction of the environment.
Considering the current vastness of human values and ideologies, coupled with the identification that grows over time with associations to a particular train of thought, tradition or notion of reality, it can be difficult and even painful for a person to revise or remove the cherished understandings which they have considered true for long periods of time.
This 'ego' association, coupled with the perpetual state of 'limited knowledge' each one of us has, will be the biggest hurdle many will face when reading the information presented here. It is time to broaden our loyalties and affiliations beyond the narrow confines of the marketplace, tradition, and the nation-state to encompass the human species as a whole, along with the planetary environment that supports us all.
It is time we
view the earth as an indivisible organic whole, a living entity composed of
countless forms of life, all brought together in a single community.
There is no such thing as a Utopia. Therefore, in order for us to grow productively as a species, we need to become experts at "changing our minds" about anything and everything.
If you choose to approach this
material with a conscious attempt at being open minded and objective, we
feel the ideas expressed here will realign your vision of the world,
yourself, and the future of our human family in a way that is the most
productive, humane and effective.
Part 1
Monetary Economics
Chapter 1: Mechanisms & Consequences
The current 'sliding scale', moving from more regulation to less regulation, typically,
These
variations of economic application could be termed "Social Systems".
Capitalism,
which is often placed under the umbrella of another theoretical concept
known as the "Free Market", is defined as: "an economic system by which the
means of production are owned by private persons, operated for profit, and
where investments, distribution, income, production and pricing of goods and
services are predominantly determined through the operation of a 'free
market' 2."
2 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism
3 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_market The evolution, application and
interpretation of Economics are staggeringly large bodies of material with
endless debate. It is not in the interest of this manual to present a
treatise on the whole of Economics. In fact, a partial basis of this manual
is to
show how, through the advent of Technology and the elimination of Scarcity,
99% of all economic theory is now an outdated and irrelevant practice.
There are also even more subjective forms of value that are demographic
specific, where certain "brands" create prices
(projected value) not based on tangible human labor or material value, but
on the "status identity" of the item itself, as perceived by the consumer
culture. This is a less relevant form of "economic value" and will be
discussed more so in the section entitled: "Distortion of Values" later in
the Chapter. Also, financial instrument values, such as issues traded on the
stock market are also irrelevant, in and of themselves, when it comes to
actual production and distribution.
The level of a product or service's 'value' is derived essentially from two factors :
For instance: Imagine the amount of time and effort it would take to create
a simple shirt before the advent of electricity and advanced industrial
technology. The overall process might be to: prepare the soil - plant the
cotton seed - oversee the growth period - pick the cotton - tease out the
seed - spin the cotton into thread - weave it into the cloth - and shape
the cloth into shirt form.
Therefore, the real value of this shirt comes from
the labor involved.
Obviously, it
really wouldn't have a value at all.
The point is that the position of "Economic Value", as a seemingly static economic notion, is now being overhauled by this technological influence (increasing ease of production/material abundance), which could, theoretically, eliminate the notion of 'value' entirely.
When human labor is reduced/displaced by technology and automation, the
assumed 'value', which is to equate that 'labor' to 'price', drops
respectively. The 'value' of the output would then move to the
creation/maintenance of the machinery, which now serves as the role of
laborers. Consequently, the more efficient, durable and sustainable these
worker machines are, the further the 'Value' of the production drops.
Regardless of your opinion, the fact is, the pattern of constant technological improvement coupled with automated machinery can theoretically create an economic environment where the abundance of materials and production mediums are so high and efficient, most humans will have little need to 'purchase' anything, let alone 'work for a living', in the traditional sense.
More specifically, even if machines slowly displaced only a large minority of people, expanding unemployment, the ramifications would be systemic, and the entire economic system would grow more and more unstable and inoperable. This issue will be expanded upon in Chapters 2 and 5.
That point aside for now, let's examine some empirical mechanisms that Monetary Economics, specifically in the context of Capitalism, requires in order to maintain the integrity of the system.
In
the remaining sections of this chapter, we will discuss the 5 most
foundational attributes needed for maintaining the system, the reasoning
behind them, and their consequences.
There is also the Investor who gives fiscal support to an
Employer/Owner/Producer, or trades in the Financial markets for gain. This
isn't relevant to the context for an investor is not required to exist in
order for the market system to operate.
The act of purchasing goods and services, which
is the role of the Consumer, is what allows the Employer to make its
"Profit", while also enabling the payment of the Employee's "Wage".
To express this from a different angle, imagine the economic ramifications of production methods that strategically maximized the efficiency and sustainability of every creation, using the best-known materials and techniques available at that time. Imagine a car that was so well designed, it didn't need maintenance for 100 years.
Imagine a house that was built from fireproof materials where all appliances, electrical operations, plumbing and the like were made from the most impermeable, highest integrity resources available on earth.
In such a saner world, where we actually
created things to last, inherently minimizing pollution/waste due to the
lack of multiplicity and maximization of efficiency, a monetary system would
be impossible, for 'consumption cyclically' would slow tremendously, forever
weakening so called "economic growth".
For example, drinking water was historically a very abundant resource, which didn't typically require payment for its consumption in a commercial sense. However, as pollution of the water table and city water systems have developed, filtered drinking water is now being commercially sold, often at a higher price than oil per gallon. In other words, it is profitable for resources to be scarce.
If a company can convince the public that their product is "rare", the more they can charge for that product. This provides a strong motivation to keep their items scarce. On yet another level, it should be pointed out that the central banks of nearly all countries also create scarcity within the money supply itself in order to keep pressure on the market system.
Bernard Lietaer, designer of the EU currency system points out:
4 Lietaer, Bernard "Beyond Greed and Scarcity". Yes Magazine 1997 For the sake of simplicity, the term 'profit' is going to be used here as synonymous with 'income' and 'wage'. While the classical economic classifications separate these notions, these terms simply refer to the acquisition of money. The wage earner 'profits' from his work, for it is just income, very simply.
The ramifications of this abundance of scarcity are nothing but detrimental.
If profit can be made as a result of scarcity generated by environmental pollution, then this creates a sick reinforcement of indifference to environmental concern. If companies know they can make more money by having their resources or products remain scarce, how can a world of abundance ever occur? It can't, for the corporation will be motivated to create the scarcity if need be.
In turn, the scarcity created in the money supply
itself by the central banks compounds the motivation for us to compete with
each other, generating an ethic-less, primitive tribalism with everyone out
for themselves, producing human stress, conflict and illness.
A "wage" earner seeks out the best possible pay he can get for his services, while the Employer (owner/producer) seeks to constantly reduce costs in order to maximize profit. This is the dominant "mentality" in a Monetary System and those who are in positions of great wealth (material "success") are often the most ruthless.
While many people who favor the profit system
will talk endlessly about their "ethical" standards in regard to their
practices, history has shown that the priority of profit is actually a
sickness which is not only poisoning our personal/social well-being and
standards of living, but also the environment on which we rely for virtually
everything we need as a species.
While it is true that useful inventions and methods do come
from the motivation for personal gain, the intent behind those creations
typically have nothing to do with human or social concerns, for detached
self-interest and survival are really the true motivations.
Problems
in our monetary based society will only have a resolution if profit can be
made from solving those problems.
For example, when you go to the grocery store and buy a box of cereal, 9/10 times the amount of cereal occupies only 60% of the space within the box.
This 'advertising strategy' as the producing company would call it, is
actually just a blatant, wasteful lie. The advertising agencies, with all of
their tactics of social manipulation, are likely one of the most corrupt
institutions on the planet. Sadly, we have been conditioned to call it 'promotion' or
'strategy' instead. More on the social distortion created by
advertising will be presented in the "Distortion of Values" section of this
chapter.
If you were to take a well-to-do, ethical, 'stand-up' person, strip them of their wealth and resources and drop them into a poor city with nothing but the shirt on their back, there is a very high probability that this person will begin to lie, cheat and steal in order to survive. It is no surprise that the poorest neighborhoods in the United States maintain the highest crime rates.
A person born into a deprived environment, with little
resources, poor education and few opportunities for work will do what they
need to do in order to live. The point here is that economic depravity
(scarcity), not so called genetic "criminal tendencies", creates this kind
of aberrant behavior.
...are just a few to note.
From Enron's deliberate shutting down of California's Power Plants to boost its Energy stocks 6, to the Bayer Corporation's knowing distribution of HIV tainted drugs 7, it should be clear to most people that corporate crime is constant and often times more insidious than "General Crime", for the repercussions tend to affect very large groups of people.
5 Merva & Fowles, Effects of Diminished Economic Opportunities on Social Stress, Economic Policy Institute, 1992 6 http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/04/national/04energy.html
7
http://www.naturalnews.com/News_000647_Bayer_vaccines_HIV.html
The notion of "Greed", which manifests from a perpetual insecurity derived from the fear of losing what one has, serves as the motivating factor for most corporate crimes. It is like a gambling addiction.
The more you get, the more you want. This neurosis is perpetuated/reinforced by the social stratification that the monetary system creates, for there is a never-ending progression of "luxuries" available as one's purchasing power increases (i.e.: mansions, yachts, limos, diamonds, land, etc).
More on this
will be addressed in the next section: "The Distortion of Values".
The same can be said for the US Invasion of Iraq,
which was fueled initially by public support, simply because of the hate and
fear of so called "Islamic terrorists", generated by the attacks of
September 11th 2001. That being said, let's put aside our traditionalized
values of loyalty and "patriotism" and take an objective look at what
government within a Monetary System actually is and represents.
Taxes are
generated through 'commerce' or 'income from commerce', while loans must be
paid back with money manifested in some way either through more commerce,
more loans, or more taxes, theoretically.
This, of course, makes sense for the value of any nation is really determined by the state of its economy. This means the government has a '"Vested Interest" in the economic state of its nation, most specifically an interest in those within its own class - the rich upper class. "Vested interest" or a person or group having something to gain or lose by a governmental decision is a two way street.
A
politician can gain monetary 'contributions' from a company he favors in his
rulings, while the company thus gains from the rulings made in favor of
itself. Lobbying and Contributions in America constitute Billions of dollars
a year and this money is given entirely under the pretense of putting the
donating parties "agenda in action".
In the words of Two-Time Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient, Major General Smedley D. Butler:
World War II, The Korean War, Vietnam and now Iraq and Afghanistan are no different.
Accelerated industrial creation, military contracts, reconstruction contracts, energy/resource acquisition (theft), high interest austerity driven World Bank and private bank loans for post war economies, and even drug trafficking by the CIA 9, are just a few of the highly profitable mediums.
8 Butler, Smedley D., War is a Racket, Feral House, 1935, Chapter 1
9 Webb,
Gary, Dark Alliance, Seven Story Press, 1999
This is one of the greatest sicknesses caused by the need for wealth and power.
Government, with its team of brainwashed assassins on hand, is
involved in the ultimate form of self-preservation, and as long as all the
resources of the world remain 'hoarded' for the interest of a few, this
pattern of War will never end.
Given this reality, each party is forced to enable conditions that are most profitable for them, therefore strategic edges are always sought and thus a constant battle is always raging. We are constantly at war with each other in order to live.
This battle creates little over time in the way
of sustainable human progress, and the sick, polluted, distorted world you
see around you is the result.
The characteristic of advertising
is 'promotion' and promotion is a manner of communication, which, generally
speaking, creates a bias in favor of the product in question. In other
words, advertising's job is to entice…or in more direct terms – manipulate
the consumer into purchasing a product. This manipulation takes many forms,
but one of the most effective is the manipulation and/or exploitation of the
viewing audience's "values" - what he or she finds important.
Advertising
agencies switched their arguments from utilitarian ones to those gauged for
emotional appeal and status. Consequently, today the average American
consumes twice as much as he or she did since the end of WWII.10
10 Schor, Juliet, The Overworked American, New York Books, 1991, p. 208
Signature "Tommy
Hilfiger" shirts, trade marked "Prada Bags" and flashy Rolex watches are
examples of products where the utility or function of an item has lost total
relevance, with importance now derived by what the item "represents".
Due to the inherent stratification of goods and services (and hence standards of living) available to those with more and more purchasing power, the human being is groomed to perpetually want "more" material wealth, for the "more" seems to go to infinity. The result is a culture which doesn't have a concept of balance, or a sense of what is actually important, or "enough".
Advertising compounds
this by its constant depictions of "the possibilities", often making people
question their own self worth because they do not "have the best things in
life", etc.
Regardless of its origin, a classic tactic of
advertising is to exploit this neurosis by using the media to depict a
person with something that you do not have, making you feel as though you
need to have it in order to be "equal". This is very similar to greed, with
the exception being that people grow to despise others for what they have,
creating social tension and often conflict.
This distortion takes essentially two forms:
The latter, for many, almost seems "natural", for people today love to "take credit" for their ideas and inventions.
This has a strong reinforcement in the monetary system, for when it comes to making a "profit", one is literally being "rewarded" and "acknowledged" for their personal inventions and actions. This further compounds the propensity for a person to demand credit for what they do, even if it has nothing to do with money. It should be pointed out that no human really "invents" or creates anything on his or her own. Every idea and creation that has emerged has been done so based on the contributions of prior generations' work, environmental influences and/or peer feedback.
As Isaac Newton once said:
11 Newton, Isaac, Letter to Robert Hooke February 5th 1675
His point was that he
built his research, and hence discoveries, upon the work of many other great
scientists who lived before him. His credit therefore is not only his, it
goes to the whole body of scientific discovery that he had learned and
worked with.
On another level, blind elitism, in the form of a kind of
'class
based racism' leads people to dismiss those with less purchasing power as
simply being "inferior" or "undeserving", for the social stature, education
and lifestyle afforded by this elite, is vastly out of reach for those
without similar purchasing power, therefore creating gross differences in
culture.
While many people give lip
service to 'honesty, caring for others and humility', it is easy to see why
these qualities do not prevail, for the system of survival in society today
does not support or reinforce them.
Many years ago, most
currencies were on a 'gold standard' which provided a pseudo-empirical basis
for the value of a currency note, but this was still entirely arbitrary, for
the source of value was simply shifted to this raw material called "Gold",
which also has no intrinsic value in and of itself. The 'value' of any
material is relative to its scarcity (supply) and demand, and these
attributes are always in flux and hence unstable.
This phenomenon is called "Inflation" and "Deflation'', generally speaking *.
* The classic definition of Inflation is 'rising prices' (price inflation), while Deflation is 'falling prices'. However the primary cause of this 'Price Inflation' and 'Price Deflation' is the increase and decrease in the supply of money (Monetary Inflation). That being said, this is not the only possible cause of these conditions. Over/Under Production itself can influence this as well. There can also be a period of Inflation and Deflation at the same time, such as when a systemic crisis occurs, which contracts the money supply faster than money can be created and put into it.
Very simply, if new money is pumped into an economy, without regard for the current demand for goods and services, the prices in the economy will eventually rise as the value of the currency becomes worth proportionally less. This is an "Inflationary Effect". However, if the new money is quickly put to use in the creation of new goods and services, while there exists a demand to purchase those products, it can be introduced into the economy without a substantial inflationary effect.
For example, if there is a demand
in the market for new homes, and the government injects 1 billion dollars of
new money into the economy,
and all that money is put to use for creating these new homes, which are
then bought, the inflationary effect is minimal.
Generally speaking, the Expansion period is usually associated with so
called "Economic Growth", for more money is being put to use and often more
jobs are created. Conversely, the Contraction period is often called a
Recession or Depression, for money is drying up and hence there is less
money to put to use, so jobs are lost and companies fail.
The
GDP ('gross domestic product') measurement system, which basically compares
the 'income' and 'output' of an economy in a certain time period, is
commonly used to gauge this so called "Economic Growth".
There is no such thing as true economic growth in and of itself, for the underlying mechanism is based almost entirely on the amount of liquidity (money) in the system. In other words, if I counterfeit 100 million US dollars and give it to you to start a business (you don't know it's counterfeit) and you buy and fix up an old building, hire a team of employees and start to produce a product that the public buys, this would be considered an 'expansion' of the economy.
You
have invested in real estate – increased the employment rate – and created
new products that others buy, therefore exciting the circulation of currency
(the 'consumption cycle'). Now, what if it was found out that all that money
you had was counterfeit, and the whole operation was shut down? This would
be a 'contraction' of the economy, for the money thus vanishes; your
employees would be laid off, the building foreclosed upon, and the
production halted.
An Interest Rate is a fee charged to a borrower for the use of an amount of money. This fee is based on a percentage of the amount borrowed.
Since all money in the US economy and nearly every other economy in the world is created out of debt through loans, the speed by which money comes into existence depends on how much a person is willing to pay in interest to acquire that loan. The Commercial Banks base their interest rates on values set by the Central bank.
For example, in America the "Prime Rate" is the lowest interest rate charged by banks to their most creditworthy customers. This rate is based on what is called the "Federal Funds Rate" which is dictated by the Federal Reserve. Now, it is not the scope of this book to dissect the complex, jargon filled methods used by the banking system. However, the important point here is to understand that the Federal Reserve has the power to influence the interest rates of all banks.
This translates into the power to
control the amount of money being borrowed, and hence the amount in
circulation.
In a high interest environment, less can
afford to borrow money, less is put to use and economic growth slows or
reverses (Contraction). This is all the so-called "Business Cycle" is, and
the Federal Reserve, through its use of interest rate
manipulation, can "throttle" the expansion and contraction of money at will,
to a certain degree.
* Chicago Federal Reserve, Modern Money Mechanics, 1963 * In the event of economic failure, where debt/inflation exceeds manageability, interest rate manipulation can have little or no effect. More on this in Chapter 2
To understand this, you need remember that,
If the money supply was allowed to constantly increase (expand), it is simply a matter of time before the market becomes saturated with excess liquidity stifling the resulting economic growth.
This will then lead to Inflation, depreciating the value of the currency, raising prices. Likewise, outstanding debt is directly proportional to the money supply, so the more an economy 'expands', the greater the debt that is created. This sets up an inevitable systematic crisis for the money needed to pay the interest charged on the loans does not exist in the economy outright.*
* For those not familiar with this reality, see Web of Debt by Ellen Brown, Chapter 2.
Therefore, there is always more outstanding debt than money in existence.
Once the debt grows larger than a person/company can afford, defaults begin
(often in a systematic way), loans slow and/or stop and the money supply
begins to contract. This particular scenario of debt overpowering and
nullifying expansion could be termed "financial failure", very simply.
Therefore keeping people motivated to be employed and fearful of losing their jobs and thus subservient, is a positive circumstance for those at the top. A person, who "needs" a job, is more likely to take a lower wage, and less likely to cause problems. One of the most reliable ways to get people to work and maintain subordination is to put them into debt. A person in a lot of debt is going to be much more submissive to the system, than a person who has no debt.
This mechanism of "Debt Slavery" is little talked about, for most simply do not even think about it.
Every dollar in existence theoretically has to be paid back to the
banking system and in order to pay that money back, it must be "earned" by
the indebted parties, usually through the form of "wage" or "profit", hence
requiring human service/servitude.
Based on this value theory, if goods and services
could be produced with no human labor, coupled with resources that were in
complete abundance, the value (price tag) would be
zero, hence not having a monetary value at all. If such a situation were to
occur, perhaps with the use of automation for labor and chemical processes
to find substitutions for scarce resources, the entire financial/profit
system would have no true basis and could not exist.
Also, the currency in the system is deliberately made scarce by the central
banks, forcing humans to battle each other on a daily basis, with there
never being enough to go around, perpetuating poverty and class
stratification.
This leads to
high levels of multiplicity, waste and pollution. If products in society
were actually designed to last long periods of time, through the use of the
best known materials and methods, the monetary system could not exist, for
it can only work when constant financial "input" is generated by purchases.
Of course, advocates of the system will tell you that the system creates "incentive", but this incentive is really the incentive for monetary gain and nothing more. Meaningful contributions to society in this system are a chance byproduct, not the initial intent. Financial corruption is also always constant, with many forms simply accepted as "the way it is" and legal.
Concurrently, War
is the ultimate form of economic stimulus and this makes death and
destruction a positive thing for those who are in commercial/political
positions to benefit from it. War is in fact wanted by industry, regardless
of its inhumanity. Given this reality, war will likely never go away as long
as the profit system is in place, while human behavior itself will always
have an abusive propensity, due to the need to gain advantage over each
other for survival.
Vanity, Ego,
Jealousy and Greed are all byproducts of the system and when it comes to the
'promotion' of sales, the end result is more important than the means.
Likewise, the competitive, self-interest oriented motivation inherent in the
pursuit of profit creates a general disregard for the well being of others,
perpetuating inclinations for abuse and advantage.
Debts generated by loans (remember that money comes into existence from loans; hence money is created out of debt) are exaggerated by the use of interest, for the money to pay back the interest charged on the loan is never respectfully created in the money supply. Therefore, when the money supply is expanded, typically creating "economic growth" (new money being put to use), a proportionate amount of debt is created as well, forcing people to submit to employment to afford the debt obligation.
Since the interest + principle of the outstanding loans will always exceed the available money supply, this aspect constitutes nothing less than a form of economic slavery, for it is virtually impossible for the collective public to ever get out of debt. Also, the term 'Economic Growth' is actually nonsense, for all expansive growth is temporary and must be counter balanced by contraction.
The only reason more jobs are created is
because more money is in circulation.
Chapter 2: The Final Failure
Beyond Irresponsibility
A study authorized by the US Treasury in 2001 found that in order to keep servicing the debt at its current rate of growth, by 2013 income taxes would need to be raised to 65% 13. If the United States cannot afford to pay the interest on its debts, that would be the final stage of economic collapse and hence result in a total textbook bankruptcy.
12 Al Martin , Protocols for Economic Collapse in America (article) 2008 13 Ellen Brown, Web of Debt, Third Millennium Press p.368
The systematic crisis would in turn likely spread
to the rest of the world, due to the financial/commercial interconnections
inherent.
Of the 203 countries in the world today, only four (!) do not owe
others money. The collective external debt of all the governments in the
world is now about 52 trillion dollars 14 and this number doesn't include the
massive about of household debt in each country
There is no such thing as 'money'. There are only planetary resources, human labor and human ingenuity. The monetary system is nothing more than a game… and an outdated and dysfunctional one at that. Those in positions of social power alter the rules of the game, at will.
The nature of those rules is guided by the same competitive, distorted
mentalities that are used in everyday "monetary" life, only this time the
game is rigged at its root to favor those who run the show.
That being denoted, if you are a lower to middle class person, who is limited in funds, and must get interest based loans to buy your home or use credit cards, then you are paying interest to the bank, which the bank is then using, in theory, to pay the person's return with the 5% CD!
Not only
is this equation outrageously offensive due to the use of usury (interest)
to 'steal from the poor and give to the rich', but it also perpetuates class
stratification by its very design, keeping the lower classes poor, under the
constant burden of debt, while keeping the upper classes rich, with the
means to turn excess money into more money, with no labor.
The 'Boom and Bust Cycle' (aka - "The Business Cycle")
14 CIA World Factbook ,2009, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2079rank.html
15
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
However, this says nothing about the cause of the
fluctuation. While there are various theories on the cause, it seems most
economists tend to shy away from the 'elephant in the living room'… and that
is the powerful effect Monetary Contraction (money removed) and Expansion (new money added) have on
the Business Cycle.
Very often these reasons include starting a business,
buying a home, investing in the stock market, etc. This application of money
often translates into so called "economic growth". Credit Expansion, in the
form of personal and business loans, is really the hidden force behind
economic growth. This is basically the 'Boom' period of the Boom and Bust
cycle. If you examine prior trends of economic expansion in the United
States, you will find a lockstep correlation to the expansion of credit. (i.e.
1990-2000 stock market bubble)
What this means is that after a period of growth (boom) with the economic indicators now pointing towards a weakening economy, a choice can be made by the financial regulators/government to either:
As far as history is concerned, the pattern has been to do both, basically with the idea being to "ease" the recession by increasing liquidity.
The reasoning is simple. It is politically unpopular for the ruling class to have unemployed, poor citizens. This can lead to contempt for the leadership and perhaps revolution. Therefore, there is always the game of placating the public with false security in order to avoid the truth coming out about the inherent dysfunctionality and corruption of the Ponzi scheme known as the Monetary System.**
* These are generalized, summary examples. It is not in the interest of this booklet to detail all components and attributes. ** In a system where money is created on top of money out of debt, with interest charged, creating more debt owed back than is even in circulation- this system is a textbook pyramid scheme. The tool is called the "Fractional Reserve System". Read Web of Debt, chapter 2, by Ellen Brown, for more about this monetary expansion policy.
Figure 1
But considering that money has always been strategically injected into the system when contraction occurs, the 'mean' path is actually ascending.
Figure 2 below is an idealized depiction of what has actually been happening for the past 70 years and what could be in store as the "big contraction" looms.
Figure 2
As of March 2006, the US Government stopped reporting M3, which is the total amount of money in the economy in virtually all forms. What is the reason for this? - they don't want the public to realize how much money is being pumped into the system.
Figure 3 below shows M3 up until they stopped reporting it.
Figure 3
Regardless of the discontinued reporting by the Fed, secular economists have been able to track the components of the M3 independently* and what has been noticed is that since 2006, M3 has grown from about 10 trillion to 14.5 trillion by the end of 2008, a near 50% increase in less than 3 years. (Figure 4).
*
http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/money-supply
Figure 4
How far can we go? At this rate, by 2015, the money supply will be about
30
trillion dollars.
Figure 5 below shows the US unemployment levels, including the SGS component which takes into account those non-working Americans who are not currently counted as "unemployed" simply because the period of acknowledgment has ended.
Figure 5
While official government agencies reported that unemployment was around 7% at the end of 2008, deeper research reveals it is actually closer to 18% of the US population. More on the reasons for this reality will be addressed in the next section.
(The Ultimate Outsource), but for now let's simply use this information to understand that the current infusion of money into the money supply is not having an effect in the current financial crisis. As noted earlier, money cannot be added into the economy infinitely, for the Debt and Inflation caused by the expansion will eventually overcome the "growth" benefits.
This is what is now happening and no intervention
(bailout) to "ease" this crisis is likely to work.
Mainly because the debt levels are too high.
Total debt of the US government plus its citizens was about 53,000,000,000,000 16 in 2007(Figure 6).
Figure 6
This is insane when you realize that in 2007 the total US money supply (M3) was only about 12,000,000,000,000.
Are we going to now inject over 40 trillion dollars into the US economy to cover this? No, because not only would this create trillions in new debt, it would likely cause hyperinflation on a grand scale.
From a different angle, the GDP of the US
in 2007 was only about 14 trillion! 17
Once that crashed, the Derivatives market, (which is holding values that exceed the GDP of the entire planet many times over 18) which gambled on those home mortgages, became "toxic" due to the foreclosures.
16 http://mwhodges.home.att.net/nat-debt/debt-nat-b.htm 17 https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/us.html 18 Brown, Ellen, Credit Default Swaps: Evolving Financial Meltdown and Derivative Disaster Du Jour, 2008
This triggered
the failure of the investment banks; along with the failure of the
commercial banks following; which leads to the failure of corporations that
require credit; inevitably arriving at the laying off of the work force
itself. This
systemic crisis is global, due to the international nature of
the Financial Markets, which is why the countries in the western world are
now seeing similar economic problems as America.
This failure would have occurred one way or another due to the very nature of the economic system.
However, the incredible irresponsibility involved in
managing this already detrimental system has greatly exaggerated and
accelerated the severity of pending collapse, making the future look very
grim if this false structure, known as the "Monetary System", is to be
maintained.
Our entire economic system is based on human beings selling their
labor as a commodity in the open market. If humans do not have the option to
"work for a living", then the monetary system as we know it is over. No one
can buy goods if they don't earn money. Companies cannot afford to produce
if the consumer has no purchasing power. This issue overrides everything
that has previously been discussed in this chapter.
While politicians, business leaders and labor leaders bicker over issues they claim are responsible for the growing unemployment in the world, such as foreign company outsourcing or immigrant labor, the real cause is going unaddressed in the public debate:
Technological Unemployment
Since Market Capitalism is built upon the logic of reducing input costs
(including the costs of labor) to increase profits, the inclination to
replace human labor whenever possible by machine automation is a natural
progression of industry. After all, a machine doesn't need to take breaks,
it doesn't require health insurance or benefits, and it isn't a part of a
demanding Labor Union.
This pattern of Increasing Productivity and Profit, coupled with Decreasing Employment, is a new and powerful phenomenon, with no changes in sight.
19 Keynes, John Maynard, The General Theory of Unemployment, Interest and Money, 1931 20 Loentief, Wassily, National Perspective: The Definition of Problems and Opportunities, June 30th 1983, p3 21 Peterson, Willis, The Cotton Harvester in Retrospect: Labor Displacement or Replacement? St Paul, 1991, pp 1-2 22 Kahn, Tom, Problems of the Negro Movement, Dissent, 1964, p 115 23 "Why job growth is Stalled", Fortune, 3/8/93 p.52 24 http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2002-12-12-manufacture_x.htm 25 Schwartz, Nelson D. Will 'Made in the USA' fade away? Fortune Nov 24th 2003, p. 102 26 US Weekly Economic Update: Manufacturing Payrolls Declining Globally: The Untold Story, Alliance Bernstein Oct 2003
The Service Sector
While from 1950 to
2002, the percentage of
Americans employed in the service industries went from 59% to 82% 27. For the
last 50 years, the service sector has been absorbing the job losses from
Agriculture and Manufacturing.
McDonalds, for example, has been talking about full automation of its restaurants for many years now, introducing Kiosks to replace the front of house staff, while using automated cooking tools, such as burger flippers, for the back of house staff 29.
The fact that they haven't done so is likely a public relations issue, for they know how many jobs would be cut in the event they did automate.
There isn't one area of the Service Industry that
isn't being affected by computerized automation. In fact, if one was to
think creatively about the application of technology that currently exists,
but is not yet applied to the service sector, it is easy to see how, almost
overnight, the majority of all service jobs could be phased out today,
starting with tellers, cashiers, waiters, and phone operators.
27 http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2002-12-12-manufacture_x.htm 28 Retooling Lives, Vision 2000 p. 43 29 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20030801/1345236_F.shtmls 30 Interview, 3/15/94 noted in The End of Work (by Jeremy Rifkin), p. 143
As this transition occurs, where is the emerging new sector to employ all the newly displaced workers?
There really isn't one…at least not yet. While there are many specialized fields emerging in the Information realm, they are extremely limited in their ability to offer anything close to compensation for the vast job loss on the horizon.
And while economists struggle to create models to deal with this issue of nearly unstoppable unemployment, ranging from the government subsidization of labor (welfare) to novel notions such as a 'negative income tax', most refuse to consider what is really needed in order to prevent total chaos on this planet.
The
solution lies not in attempting to 'fix' the issues that have emerged, but
rather it is time we transcend the system in its entirety… for the system of
monetary exchange, along with Capitalism itself, is now completely obsolete
in the wake of technological creativity.
Regardless, the mechanisms of the system, both structurally and psychologically, have created dramatic problems for the whole of society, ranging from monetary crime and emotional distortion, to the abuse and exploitation of the planet and each other on vast scales.
The world today is really just a series of tribalistic Mafias.
The line between organized crime and traditional business is really nonexistent. In turn, the whole world stands at odds with itself, with individuals, businesses and countries perpetually working to defend what they have, while always working to gain more, often by force and corruption. In turn, now the whole world is in debt to itself, owing comical amounts of money, while the very integrity of the world financial structure is on the verge of collapse due to its own shortcomings.
However, even with these points denoted, there stands an even more powerful, unforeseen force which guarantees the demise of the Economic system as we know it for good, and it comes in the form of Technological Unemployment.
Human beings are being replaced by advanced automation technologies at an accelerating rate, setting up a disaster of unprecedented proportions, for if people do not have jobs, they cannot support the economy by purchasing anything.
This reality is the final proof that our current
system is now out of date, and if we want to deter riots in the streets and
poverty on a scale never before seen, we are going to have to revise our
traditionalized notions about how society functions at the fundamental
level.
Part 2 What is Relevant?
Usually, the work found for income does not reflect the genuine interests of that particular person, nor the interests of society as a whole. If we were to examine the occupations that exist today, we would tend to find that a great majority of them serve no larger function than the perpetuation of 'cyclical consumption'. This arbitrariness constitutes a tremendous waste of life and resources.
For instance, a person who sells insurance is participating in an occupation that is only relevant to the inner workings of the monetary system, and has no basis in nature in regard to a real 'contribution to society'. The same goes for stock brokers, traders and anything else that deals with the financial sector. These are arbitrary, vain roles that contribute nothing real to society in the long term.
While it will be argued that the role they serve affects people on a day to day basis within the economic system, it is time we really step back and begin to focus our efforts on social issues that are actually relevant to social progress… as opposed to arbitrary jobs conjured up to extract wealth from each other. This is a waste of life.
Consequently, the entire educational system in the modern day is nothing more than a cookie cutter processing plant that prepares humans for mostly predefined occupational roles. This element of human life has become so traditionally ingrained, that many falsely consider the nature of 'having a job' some form of human instinct.
Even parents will ask their kids "What do you want to be when you grow up?" as though there was only one thing.
This is disturbing and a violation of human potential. Now, for the sake of argument, let's forget about the current modes of conduct in society and consider what is actually real.
Let's pose the
question:
Natural Law 1
Every human needs adequate nutrition, clean air and clean
water and therefore must respect the symbiotic environmental processes
inherent.
31
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-08/cuns-pc4081307.php
Why are many so-called
scientists today working on esoteric interests like 'black holes', 'quantum
fields' and 'terra-forming' other planets, when we can't even take care of
ourselves yet!
Air, on the other hand, while still very abundant overall, has been heavily polluted in areas of high human concentration, to the effect where in Asia many wear facemasks when they walk around. Of course, polluted air and water lead to countless other problems. In the United States alone about 3 million tons of toxic chemicals are released into the environment a year - contributing to birth defects, immune system disorders, cancer and many other serious health problems.32
In turn, even
the source processes of our air and water are being compromised. From acid
rain to deforestation, we are seeing a continual breakdown of what used to
be a natural, clean abundance.
This cheap replacement for cane sugar has been proven to increase the risk of Diabetes and other health problems substantially.33
32 http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-08/cuns-pc4081307.php 33 http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2008/08/20/4274/the-dangers-of-high-fructose-corn-syrup/
Why do we have it!?… because it is
profitable and the public, always being cost conscious, buys it because it
is more affordable.
If we don't, the consequences of our violation of this law could put
us past the point of no return environmentally - and thus the survival of
the human race will be in question.
The only constant is change and human understandings are
always in transition.
34 Fresco and Keyes, Looking Forward, Barnes, 1969, p. 62
A cursory glance at widely defended historical notions, from the earth being flat to the sun revolving around the earth, teaches us that intellectual change is constant and, in turn, humans must keep as 'open' a mind as possible to new information, even if it challenges that person's sense of identity. It is an unfortunate evolutionary side effect that in modern culture, a great deal of ego is involved with beliefs and values.
Religion, for example, tends to hold tight to static worldviews that often reflect an understanding of reality that stretches back thousands of years prior. Due to the very construct of many religious ideas, which tend to threaten metaphysical consequences (heaven/hell) for those who contradict its teachings, many people in the world today maintain these worldviews out of fear, rejecting new information that could help them in their lives, not to mention society itself.
Of course, religion is far from alone in this, for
it seems most humans tend to want to believe that what they find right and
true is empirically correct. This, of course, makes sense, for society today
often belittles those who "don't know."
Given this reality, it is in our best interest to learn and align with
nature as best we can. Walking with the current of the ocean is much easier
than fighting against it… and while one could believe with all their heart
that they can walk on a ceiling with no physical aides, the Law of Gravity
will not allow it.
* 'Logic' is hereby defined as: a method of human thought that involves thinking in a linear, step-by-step, cause and effect oriented manner, taking into account as much relevant information as possible, in order to reach a conclusion or hypothesis.
The Scientific Method refers to a body of techniques used for investigating phenomena; acquiring new knowledge; correcting and integrating previous knowledge and the application of such knowledge.
The techniques used consist
of empirical observation methods, (such as measurement), along with reasoned
hypotheses and, ultimately, putting those hypotheses to test in the real
world to obtain feedback regarding an idea's validity. All conclusions
require testable proof, not just inference or reason. While logical
reasoning is important to the unfolding of scientific inquiry, it is still
subject to failure, for each one of us is always in a state of limited
knowledge.
He logically assumed that the more weight an object
had, the faster an object would fall in a vacuum. However, he didn't test
the idea. Because of this failure to properly use the scientific method, the
world had to wait 2000 more years, for when Galileo finally tested
Aristotle's hypothesis…he found Aristotle to be wrong - weight does not
determine the rate at which an object falls in a vacuum.
While this
theory might hold true for most fire scenarios, if you throw water onto an
Oil Fire, the oil will quickly float to the top of the water and the fire
will spread. Therefore the hypothesis that "Water puts out fire" is not
exactly true, and would need to be revised to take this new scenario into
account.
35 Chase, Stuart, Tyranny of Words, Harcourt Brace, NY, 1938, pp.-123-24
The scientific method of inquiry is what has allowed the human species to gain comprehension of themselves and the physical world. For better or for worse, it is what's behind virtually every advancement that has improved the lives of the human species.
While some might debate what constitutes "improvement", there is nothing else in life that holds a candle to the vast amount of creation and freedom that science has made possible. All of the physical and material benefits humankind enjoys is a product of scientific inquiry. From the electric light, to the cotton gin, to Penicillin, to the telephone, to the Internet… science has continually made what was previously considered impossible… possible.
Even the most arcane, traditionally oriented
religious believer will usually give in to the world of science and go to a
hospital for medical care in an emergency.
That is our choice.
Let's say, for a simplified example, that you have a small island with a:
The rabbits need the carrots to eat and thus
survive, while the wolves need the rabbits to eat and thus survive. In each
pair, there is an equilibrium that must exist based on the carrying capacity
of the island. If there are not enough carrots to feed the current
population of rabbits, some rabbits will not survive. If there are not
enough rabbits to feed the wolves, some wolves will not survive. If the
carrot crop is destroyed by drought, then no one survives.
The three attributes of management are:
Nature has its own laws and it is in our best interest to acknowledge them and align our behavior accordingly.
We must be prepared to find out that what we think to be true today will be updated tomorrow. This is the emergent nature of knowledge. We learn from our mistakes.
All errors are really gifts, for they can bring us to a higher level of understanding.
The Scientific Method, with its basis of logical thought, evidence and
testable proof, is the guiding philosophy that has solved problems and
improved humanity's quality of life.
Values are not immutable and eternal, yet values pushed upon a person at a young age often have a strong power to perpetuate. Traditional indoctrination, such as nationalistic or religious beliefs, can become pillars of a person's identity and are difficult to overcome emotionally.
The fact is, human
values come from the environment. If you were to take a child at birth from
a white middle class American family and place him/her in the Middle East
with an Arab, Islamic family, that child would most probably grow up
speaking Arabic and become a Muslim, holding those traditional values that
would have been taught by the family and social culture.
What if society didn't need you to work for money? How could that value hold true?
The fact is, values become outdated, just like
knowledge and everything else. With respect to the current findings of
science, most of the values of society seem to be out of date by thousands
of years.
These social goals are far from complex or irrational. In fact, many will
find that both religious and secular philosophers have been poetically
attempting to address these hopes for millennia.
Observation, Logic and Testing, have long since trumped superstition, intuition and metaphysics.
In the words of Karl Pearson:
47 Pearson, Karl, The Grammar of Science, 1911 p.17
The intelligent use
of the methods of science is what has brought us everything that helps us in
our
daily lives. The application of science to social organization as a whole is
the next step in our evolution. (Please see chapter 3 for more elaboration
on scientific methodology)
48 Gallup, George, The Miracle Ahead, New York Evanston and London, Harper
and Row, 1964, p.ix
It can safely be assumed that
whatever the future holds from a technological standpoint, it will likely
seem impossible and "ridiculous" from the standpoint of today's
understandings and methods.
We define our goals based on what we value, we utilize The Scientific Method to solve problems and to create/test hypothesis, and we harness technology to make the goal a reality. It is important to point out that this generalization is not linear and each part has an influence on all other parts.
For instance, our values are often altered by advents in technology,
along with the logical reasoning of the scientific method. If a person is
brought up with a value system of "helping the poor" and then finds him or
herself in an environment where no poor exist, possibly due to technological
advancement, this value would have no basis to exist.
The only relevant values are those that work
to improve society and those that hinder its development.
As time moves forward, our values change.
Sadly, most of the values people have today come from a social system that is largely out of date in terms of its relationship to modern science and technology. The process of accomplishment consists of: knowing what we want (Goals), thinking about the material in the most effective and hence, scientific way (Method), and using our most effective technological instruments to make that goal become a reality (Tools).
The valued goals of The Zeitgeist Movement and hence The Venus Project, are to redesign society for the benefit of all humanity, making sure there is enough of everything for everyone, maximizing personal freedom and happiness, while constantly reducing offensive social behavior, or crime.
These values can only be accomplished using the intelligent and humane methods of science and the tools of technology.
In the next section, we will show how.
A Resource Based Economy
Chapter 5: Social Cybernation
49 Fresco, Jacque, The Best That Money Can't Buy: Beyond Politics, Poverty and War - 2002
The time has come for a restructuring of our world society.
The cause of this need is not some creative interest or intellectual ambition. The cause is the failing monetary structure, increasing world poverty and conflict, the constant corruption generated by the pursuit of profit and the continual poisoning of the planet and ourselves by the commercial industry at large. We stand at the crossroads.
Either we take responsibility for our lives and
for society itself, or we pay the price. The more we continue within this
outdated system, the more unstable things are going to become.
The Venus Project, which constitutes the life long work of social engineer and structural designer Jacque Fresco, is an organization that wants nothing less than a peaceful and sustainable global civilization. It seeks to update society to present day knowledge and modern methods. Its tenets are essentially based on the application of Science and Technology for human and social concern.
The social structure it advocates is called a Resource-Based
Economy.
The Venus Project recognizes that the earth is abundant with resources, and that our outdated methods of rationing resources through monetary control are no longer relevant. In fact, they are very counterproductive to our survival. The monetary system was created thousands of years ago during periods of great scarcity. Its initial purpose was contrived as a method of distributing goods and services based on labor contributions.
It is not at
all related to our true capacity to produce goods and services on this
planet.
It will either lead us unto a new social
system which does not require human servitude for income; where society is
designed as a whole to benefit itself with the use of advanced technology
being purposefully accelerated for social betterment… or we will likely be
led down the path of chaos and disorder,
where unemployment is rampant, crime is epidemic, draconian police state
measures are introduced to suppress dissent and environmental resources
become more exploited and destroyed.
The
intelligent management of the earth's resources is what is important. In a
saner world, we would take account of the dynamic equilibrium within our
global ecosystem, and adjust our production process accordingly.
Sadly, the world today is divided by,
...making it currently difficult to organize a global resource management system. This is another reason why the monetary system, in and of itself, is detrimental to our survival, for it inherently limits cooperation amongst tribes.
As far as ideologies, it is time we put aside our religious and nationalistic differences and realize that we are all here on the same planet, needing the same basic things. It is only when the world works together that sustainability and true progress will be achieved.
More on this problem of
ideological division will be discussed in Chapter 7.
Over time, as this phenomenon progresses, a tipping point will occur when the lack of consumer purchasing power will destroy the monetary based economy, for it won't matter how cost effective the production companies are… people will simply not have any money to buy the items with, thus ending the mechanism of 'cyclical consumption'.
Those who are aware of this, often attempt to create solutions within the monetary system, usually suggesting some form of 'hyper-welfare socialist state", where the rich elite own the factories, a virtually non-existent middle class (perhaps 5% of the world's population) works to oversee the machine operations, while the rest of the world is given money to use, in the form of hand outs from the government.
This type of idea is nothing but horrifying and absurd. It
would lead to dictatorship, extreme liberty restrictions and great public
anger, for the stratification of class is still there, giving those at the
top access to more resources than the billions at the bottom.
The entire point of technology is to free humanity from labor itself! We need a social design that focuses on maximizing our technological abilities for the sake of freeing humanity from drudgery and increasing productivity to its highest potential. Anything less is unacceptable.
Now, for the sake of argument, let's completely forget about our current monetary based social system and take a fresh look at modern industrial production methods, as would be implemented in a Resource-Based Economy.
The question is how would we design a production system that maximizes high quality output, reduces waste, considers the dynamic equilibrium of the biosphere, and reduces repetitive and mechanical human labor?
Based on The Scientific Method, here is how the logical reasoning for industrial production methods would unfold:
Now, one of the more difficult and confusing components for many to consider in regard to the above 5 steps for our Resource-Based Economy's new industrial production methodology, has to do with number 3 and the use of machines for replacing human labor in as many areas as possible. The question of, " Who will maintain the machines?" is common.
This will be
addressed in a moment.
Those who were in the business of making these machines knew exactly what the implications were.
In 1962, John Snyder, the president of U.S. Industries, Inc., a manufacturer of automated equipment, set up the,
He once stated:
In 1946, the first general-purpose electronic computer was developed - called
ENIAC. This computer has 18,000 radio tubes, took up 680 square feet and
weighed more than 30 tons.52 Penn professor Irving Brainerd once speculated
that during the 80,223 hours ENIAC operated, it crunched more calculations
than had been performed by all humanity since time began.53
50 Sprovieri, John , 50 Years of Assembly: Robots to Change the Future—Again http://www.assemblymag.com/Articles/Column/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000127612 51 Rodden, Robert G., The Fighting Machinists, a Century of Struggle. http://www.iamawlodge1426.org/hisupdate63.htm 52 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENIAC 53 Kanellos, Michael, ENIAC--Monster and Marvel, http://news.cnet.com/2009-1006_3-6037980.html 54 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENIAC
55 Fresco and Keyes, Looking Forward,
Barnes, 1969, p. 72
Cybernated machines today are probably the
most powerful and influential inventions humanity has ever created. The
possibilities of these tools are on pace to change the entire fabric of
society… beginning first with the freeing of the human labor force.
This reality is not something we should fight. We should embrace it
emphatically. Cybernation is the Emancipation Proclamation for human kind,
freeing us from the drudgery of common labor, opening new horizons for human
potential and exploration.
These Cybernated Machines far exceed the physical accuracy of a human being, while also being able to compute at incredible rates, also far exceeding the computational speed and capacity of the human brain.
Now, for those who have
been indoctrinated by science fiction to think that these new machines might
gain "consciousness" and "take over the human race", it should be understood
that this has zero basis in reality. Cybernated Machines are nothing more
than creative extensions of human performance. Just as a hammer will help
you drive a nail into a strip of wood, a Cybernated Machine will perform
complex tasks easing the process to obtain a particular goal. The machines
do as they are programmed, and nothing more.
56 Fresco, Jacque, The Best That Money Can't Buy, Global Cybervisions, 2002, p. 54 57 Clarke, Arthur C., Profiles of the Future, NY Harper & Row, 1964, pp.226-227
Now, a very common reaction to the idea of machines taking over the role of human labor is to distrust the idea due to our daily problems with technology today. From cars breaking down, to personal computers freezing, society today seems to have a love-hate relationship with technology.
Well, first of all, as denoted before, in a monetary system everything produced is designed to break down, for everything is a product. Even NASA with its extreme need for the best materials and technology has a budget to deal with, and must cut corners if need be. Your cars and personal computers don't stand a chance.
Both industries have a massive sub-industry for
repairs and maintenance. If computers and cars were not designed to break
down, tens of millions of jobs would be lost worldwide in these sectors
alone.
How can that be said with confidence?
Because the best materials available on this planet, such as Titanium, have sustainable properties that far exceed the life span of a person by thousands of years. Products made today are made out of the cheapest possible materials in order to increase profit margins. Today you will find that most general products in the consumer industry are created in whole, or in part, out of plastic.
Plastic
is one of the cheapest synthetic materials available. It has no heat
tolerance, is often too brittle and it weathers very quickly – so, of
course, everything breaks down… that is the intent.
This idea can be expanded to all machinery to the degree where not only is the machine's on board computer 'aware' of a problem, supplemental machines can thereby be directed to replace the broken part in real time.
Even more advanced, are material technologies such as 'shape memory alloys'. These metals can literally remember their shape. In the event that a machine's physical structure becomes damaged, an electronic current can be sent through that section, instantly correcting the structure. The bottom line here is that self-repairing machines and structures are growing realities.
The problem is
that the production of such efficiency is not rewarded in the monetary
system, so most people in society have no idea of what is actually possible.
58 Veblin, Thorstein, The Engineers and the Price System, NY B.W. Huebsch,
1921, pp.120-121
Now, the role humans will play within the high-tech, cybernetic, automated
industrial production plant of the future will be that of supervisors and
nothing more.
What exactly is a doctor, a carpenter, a plumber, an architect, or the like
actually doing in their work?
Then he or she might take a sample of the skin to be tested by machine analysis. It is a 'technical' process. There is no reason why an optical scanner could not be invented that can scan your arm and immediately understand what the condition might be. A modern programmed computer with optical technology is not limited by the spectrum of the human eye; it has a memory and processing capacity that far exceed a human's.
Even surgery, as sensitive as it may seem to us today, is a purely technical process. It is simply a matter of time before extremely advanced machines replace surgeons. It is already beginning to happen in certain areas. The same goes for every other utilitarian occupation in existence. A 'carpenter' is a person who is hired to fix or create a certain kind of structure.
While there might be so called "creative" elements to the carpenter's ways, he is still basing his decisions on physics, geometry and modern materials. If you want to build a deck, the first thing you need to know is the best available materials to use and then apply the highest integrity methodology to those materials.
Those understandings are completely technical and without the need for human opinion.
And this brings us to a very critical realization… one that will
have a profound effect on our progress on this planet:
However, unrecognized by most, our mental labor
is now being delegated to computers as well. If this sounds foreign to you,
please note that if you have ever used a calculator, you have delegated your
decision making to a machine.
However, a mechanic's human brain is only capable of a certain amount of memory and intellectual processing power. A modern, programmed machine on the other hand, can store tremendously more data than a human, and can consistently and rapidly process information without getting tired or lazy. For instance, let's assume we have programmed a computer with the data set consisting of the car in question.
A computer has been programmed to know every component, every screw and every electronic pathway, etc., of that vehicle. It has also been programmed with the application of physics so it can relate to the actual cause and effect functionality and operation of the machine, not just its parts. When the car is taken in for repair, the mechanic recognizes the physical properties as best he can, and then he goes over to this computer, selects the model of the car and inputs a description of the problem.
He might input, "left headlight not working".
The computer would then immediately present a list of all relevant issues related to the headlight, and then present a series of framed questions to the mechanic that most logically attempt to locate the cause.
The computer might say:
If the mechanic finds that isn't the problem, he inputs that new information into the computer and the computer goes to the next logical possibility.
The computer is really making the decisions… the mechanic is just orienting its focus. The bottom line here is that there really is no area of human operation that cannot be highly perfected by delegating decision-making processes to computer intelligence. In fact, the only thing that now separates us from machines on a cognitive, utilitarian level is our ability to create complex associations in our mind.
No computer today has yet to respond effectively to being "asked a complex question" in the English language. It requires that the language be transformed into one that it is programmed to understand, such as mathematics. However, new fields, such as 'Artificial Intelligence', (AI) are beginning to grow with incredible possibilities for this kind of "awareness".
In time, computers
will be able to achieve complex thought processes that were formerly only
attributed to humans. There is no evidence to support the contrary.
59 Linton, Ralph, The Tree of Culture (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1959, pp
47-8)
As far as social management, all a government can basically do is make laws, establish budgets, and declare wars. They are really monetary system creations. Sadly, due to the very nature of their power, history has become one constant chain of governmental corruption, ranging from the genocidal slaughter of peoples in opposing nations, to the deliberate oppression of a country's own people in order to maintain the established order.
The reason why all governments on the planet are corrupt
is because they have to be in this system. Remember, they are no different
than corporations, trying to survive in the monetary system. They are all in
competition with each other, with periodic "world empires" emerging every
couple hundred years or so.
This manipulation keeps an uninformed public on 'their side' with a narrow worldview.
In the words of Albert Einstein:
For a person to say something like,
Patriotism is racism with a flag… nothing more. The fact is,
Government decisions today are based on the narrow self-interest of an
elite, just like the corporations. This is nothing but destructive and
unsustainable.
Whose opinion would you value more? The person who read the full book, or the person who has only read one page?
In other words, the more information taken into account in the process of decision-making, the more accurate that decision will be. As discussed earlier, computerized machines now have the ability to perform better than humans in both physical and mental areas. Our minds do not technically compare to computers that can access trillions of bits of information across vast informational databases, and compute output results near the speed of light.
The transfer of decision making to machine intelligence is the next phase of social evolution. It greatly reduces human error, and removes dangerous biases, subjectivity and opinion. Because of the limitations of the sensory and cortical equipment in our body and mind, no one can know everything in this world. Our senses are limited in range.
Our eyes can only see a fraction of the electromagnetic field… therefore it is only logical that we delegate decision making to machines, for they do not have these restrictions. Computers, used as tools, can/will be able to solve problems, which humans simply cannot due to our physical and mental limitations. It is no different than a person who uses a pair of glasses to see.
Glasses are a technological tool…an extension of the human being that helps a person see better than they would normally. Cybernated Machines are nothing different. They are simply extensional tools that expand our abilities. The human species has the powerful ability to improve itself through technological invention.
We must realize this and maximize its
potential.
'Politics' is now outdated, for its processes are largely
subjective and without scientific reference. Politics is an outgrowth of the
monetary system and scarcity. We now must work towards a new, emerging
paradigm – moving from a period where the central problem was the sharing of
scarcity, to the problem now being one of creating and distributing
abundance.
Government also becomes a Cybernated System, which is combined with Industry and thus responsible for the production and distribution of goods, along with resource and environmental management.
The structural basis for this "government" system is idealized as follows:
Of course, many people often ask, what about democracy? Is this system a
democracy? How do I participate in the system? Do we elect the
Interdisciplinary teams?
While this notion scares a lot of traditionally minded people, it must be reiterated that our problems in life are technical, and nothing more.
Democracy in today's world is an illusion. It always was. People think they have "choice" in our current system because they can press a button on a voting machine and put some pre-selected person into power.
Once that person is in power, the public then has no power.
No, you didn't...
The traditional concept of
a "participatory democracy" is a cruel joke. The game has been used to give
the public the illusion of control for countless generations, while the
distorted monetary powers at the top continue to do whatever they please.
There never was a true democracy in any country in history and there never
will be as long as the monetary system is in operation and scarcity is
perpetuated.
First, they would interact with the Central Database System program, which would likely come in the form of an advanced Internet web page which every person has access to.
They would then input their proposal. The Central Database,
with its historical knowledge databases and full integration of all
scientific fields, would then analyze the concept for its scientific and
technical integrity along with optimizing the materials required based on
current understandings and availabilities. If the proposal makes logical
sense and the optimized resources to make it happen are available, it would
be turned over to the Interdisciplinary Teams that oversee the
implementation of the new proposal and orient it into the system.
This is an incredible triumph for the collective human spirit, for even with the sickness of self-interest generated by the monetary system, humans still strive to help each other and give to society without reward. In the future, those who choose to work in the Cybernated Industrial System will do so because it is an honor to serve humanity.
They will understand that it is in their self-interest to see to
it that humanity lives and works together for the greater good. The reward
in a Resource-Based Economy would be the continual improvement of society
for all.
60 Hodgkinson & Weitzman, Giving and Volunteering in the United States: Findings from a National Survey, 1992, p2 61 Krikorian, Robert "Have you noticed…", Vital Speeches of the day, 1985, p 301
In a Resource-Based Economy, participation is open to everyone, because all issues are fundamentally recognized as technical. The degree to which a person contributes is based simply on that person's education and ability to create and problem solve.
This is why expanded education is critical. In society today, the public is always kept uninformed and as dumbed-down as possible. This way the government can maintain control. In a Resource-Based Economy, the goal of the educational system is to produce the most intelligent and aware human beings as possible.
Why?
Because everyone can
then become a contributor, greatly affecting our social evolution for the
better and improving the lives of all.
Decisions are arrived at by the use of The Scientific Method, utilizing computers that gain real-time feedback from the environment, along with a Central Historical Database of all known technical information, and maintained by evolving Interdisciplinary Teams. This combination could be called the Cybernated Industrial System. This reduces erroneous opinions and subjectivity. We don't want people in control of government.
We want to utilize Scientific Methods for arriving at more appropriate decisions. In the end, the only real issues for society in the natural world are:
Without the wasted energy and resources from going to war and other aspects of the monetary system, we could address true threats to humanity, such as unforeseen variables like tsunamis, earthquakes, illness and disease.
The only real problems in life
are the problems that are common to all humans.
However, today's cities,
as modern as they may seem, are in fact extremely outdated in the face of
modern technology and scientific ingenuity.
A systems approach thus means that the 'elements' of the city, such as houses, power generators and production facilities, be intricately interconnected to the 'processes' of the cities, being waste disposal, irrigation, power distribution, goods and services production, etc. In a Resource-Based Economy, the cities are designed to be extremely flexible, allowing for constant upgrades and changes.
They are emergent, fully integrated systems designed to evolve like a living organism.
Jacque Fresco's innovative, multidimensional and circular city designs would use the most sophisticated resources and construction techniques. However, they require that we start fresh. Trying to fix our current cities is not worth the time, material and effort. It is much less problematic and effective to build newer cities from the ground up than to restore old ones.
The design and development of these new cities emphasize the restoration and protection of the environment and efficiently apply resources with energy conservation, ease of fabrication, and relative freedom from maintenance.
Many of the old, inefficient cities will be mined
for resources, while others will be kept as museum cities.
Model by Jacque Fresco
Photo by Roxanne Meadows
The circular city permits the most efficient use of resources, travel techniques, and general functionality, with a minimum expenditure of energy.
The geometrically elegant circular arrangement is designed to allow for the
highest standard of living in the most productive and efficient ways
possible. These cities serve the role of extensions of human activity and
utilitarian expression; in compete harmony with the environment. The
configuration of these cities would be a direct representation of the
function they serve.
Continuing in, eight green areas provide clean renewable energy sources for the entire city.
While these energy sources would be region specific, often these methods will include Geothermal, Wind and Solar technologies, while those cities near water would extend to utilize Wave and Tidal power. The largest of these green areas is also the 'residential belt', containing unique homes and apartments. The residences are constructed by extrusion technology and other methods of high-tech prefabrication.
The days of bricks and wood being stuck together are no more. Structures of the future can be near solid units, extruded as a whole. All homes and apartment complexes are also virtually self-contained systems. For instance, the outer surfaces of the structures serve as photovoltaic generators, converting solar radiation directly into electricity.
The homes are fire resistant, require little maintenance and are impervious to water and other environmental influences. The effects of floods, earthquakes and hurricanes are also considered and incorporated into the design, respective of the characteristics of the region of the earth employed. Moving in past the residential district are education, science and research centers, along with production and distribution centers.
Automated
inventory systems would integrate the distribution centers and manufacturing
facilities in a highly coordinated and efficient way. Without the problem of
money and value, limits on production would not exist.
For example, in regard to the agricultural belt, electronic probes monitor and maintain the soil conditions, including the water table, nutrient allocation and other attributes. This method of 'environmental feedback' is applied to the entire city complex. This way a 'balanced load economy' can be maintained, with overruns and waste eliminated.
Also, within this central dome is the central transportation hub… more on this in a moment.
Surrounding the central dome,
are eight smaller domes that are used as culture centers, such a performance
venues, conference centers, exhibitions and the like. Waste recycling and
other such needs are located beneath the surface of the city, always
utilizing the most advanced methods in clean technology.
Oceanic city communities will develop as artificial islands, floating structures and under sea observatories.
"Land City (Variation)"
"Enclosure City"
"Oceanic City"
The cities on earth, in whatever form they take, are all tightly interconnected within a worldwide system.
Just as each city has a central organizational dome which functions as the brain, along with its nervous system consisting of computerized environmental monitoring via satellite and electronic probes, the larger world complex absorbs each city and monitors the broader spectrum of the environment, making sure there isn't a material resource needed in any of the individual cities, while also regulating larger order processes for all cities and the environment as a whole.
This "government", if that is what you want to call it, is where the Central Database is located, as denoted in the previous chapter, with its nervous system stretching into all city complexes and beyond.
Interconnected Circular Research Cities
The transportation system is deliberately designed to
reduce the need for any kind of automobile. This system can take you
anywhere in the city. If you want to travel outside the city, monorails,
streamlined cars, vertical take off/landing aircraft and Maglev trains are
used for continental and intercontinental travel. Airports and International
shipping systems are also implemented in and around the cities.
However, due to battery patents controlled by the
oil industry, which limit their availability to maintain market share,
coupled with the political pressure from the profit based energy industry,
the accessibility and affordability of this technology is limited. There is
absolutely no reason, other than pure, corrupt profit interest, that every
single transport vehicle in the world could not be utterly clean, with zero
need for gasoline.
A Maglev train uses magnets for propulsion. It is fully suspended by a magnetic field, and requires less than 2% of the energy used for plane travel. The train has no wheels, so nothing can wear out. These tube based Maglevs could travel up to 4000 miles per hour, in a motionless, frictionless tube, which can go over land, or underwater.
They are fast, clean, and efficient with only a fraction of the energy usage we use today for the same means.
Maglev Train Rendering by Roxanne Meadows
In a Resource-Based Economy the integrity of the family will be returned.
Likewise, the cultural values of society as a whole would also undergo profound change. With the monetary system outgrown and the world working together to produce abundance for all the citizens of the planet, activities we appreciate will expand greatly, for the amount of human freedom would be unlike anything we know today.
Some often respond to these possibilities with the question:
The answer is, of course, what you like to do.
For many in our current society, options in life are very limited due to the scarcity conditioning perpetuated. Within the monetary system, the very idea of freedom is undermined, for a person is only as free and their purchasing power will allow them to be. This stifles the creative outlook of people and today many have an extremely limited frame of reference as to what is possible.
For example, if a woman in ancient times
had the role of walking from her hut to a nearby creek to fetch water every
day for cooking, she would likely feel a displaced sense of responsibility
if suddenly there was a plumbing system in the house with a faucet that
brought the water to her directly. The fact is, advents in technology can
actually change our values and it is important that we 'update' our value
systems to reflect the modern period.
With the powerful tactics of modern advertising, most in the world support an artificial, materialistic value system that entails wanting more and more goods and services, often regardless of their necessity or utility. In a Resource-Based Economy, the monetary system will no longer pollute the human mind via its manipulative arm - "advertising".
The endless
sea of billboards, media commercials, magazines and the like will no longer
poison the landscape or our perceptions. This will cause a dramatic shift in
the human value system and hence lifestyle.
People
claim "ownership" because it is a legal form of protection.
There is no reason for abuse for there is nothing to gain. You can't steal things that no one owns and you certainly couldn't sell them. Household items are obtained through central distribution in the cities, while recreational items are available on call or near the location of their use. For example, if you go to a golf course you would select, on site, your clubs from the most effectively designed models available. You use them, and then you return them.
If you decide to keep the clubs, go ahead - that is your burden… for why would a person want to transport, maintain and store golf clubs, when they can always have access to them and then return them onsite?
Our homes today are full of junk that we hold onto because of the supposed value they maintain. This waste will no longer be needed. In this model, the city complex or, in fact, the entire world, is really your home. Instead of having extraneous items like recreational equipment and vehicles sitting about your physical house, collecting dust when they are not in use, they are stored centrally for everyone's free access, with products being utilized actively, minimizing redundant waste.
If you require an automobile for whatever reason, the car is made available for you.
When you get to your
destination, the satellite based driving system will automatically make the
car available for others to use, as opposed to sitting in some parking lot
wasting space and time.
It is much more intelligent to
create a universal shared system, for it dramatically reduces waste,
redundancy and increases space and efficiency.
While there are many designs possible, including 'Oceanic', 'Full Enclosure' and, of course, 'Land Cities', the Circular City, as designed by Jacque Fresco, comprises one of the most efficient. Its different circular tiers each operate as a component to the overall functionality of the city, with room always for change, upgrades and transition.
Lifestyles in a Resource-Based Economy will be very different from the lifestyles of today, for the values of human beings will undergo profound change once the influence of the scarcity-based monetary system subsides. One of the more profound changes will be regarding our sense of ownership and property. There will be no need or reason for property in the future for importance will logically move from 'acquisition' to 'access'.
Everyone in the world will have access to their needs, with the entire system based on making that possible.
Part 4 Overcoming Mythology
The
argument is that humans are inherently competitive, greedy and blindly
self-serving, implying that no matter how technically good things are in
society, there will always be 'corrupt' people who want to abuse others and
seek dominance.
Therefore,
the implication of the term is that certain psychological, hence mental
behaviors are in some way "hardwired" into a person. We are thus supposedly
born
with some preset psychological inclinations.
First, what exactly is criminal behavior? How do we qualify behavioral distinctions that have been invented by man and change over time? The entire concept of criminality is temporal and relative to a culture's values and concepts of morality.
Only 600 years
ago, the Aztecs engaged in mass human sacrifice for their gods, often
killing tens of thousands at a time. Was this criminal activity? To us,
perhaps, but to them it was an accepted social custom. What about the
generations and generations of accepted slavery? In modern society it would
be illegal to keep somebody in bondage and force them to work without pay.
Is a criminal someone who steals food in order to feed his starving family?
63 Joseph, Jay, A critical review of twin and adoption studies of
criminality and antisocial behaviors, The Journal of Mind and Behavior.
However, behavioral geneticists today will
admit that no one has ever found a 'criminal gene'. Rather, their work now
tends to focus on the interaction of Neurochemicals in the brain, along with
observational studies involving family, twins, and adoption.
Today, the most heavily cited studies in support of a
genetic basis for personality disorders and behavioral tendencies come from
Three hundred and forty eight pairs of twins were studied at the
University of Minnesota, with the most noted case from this study, often
cited to defend the genetic basis of behavior, known as the "Jim Twins"
case. Jim Lewis and Jim Springer were separated four weeks after birth in
1940, they grew up 45 miles apart in Ohio, and were reunited in 1979.
First of all, let it be firmly established that both "Jims" grew up only 45 miles from each other in Ohio.
Considering the close proximity of the twins and the general cultural disposition of the region, it is safe to assume that the two men each were subjected to very similar values and traditions.
Culturally, Ohio as a whole has little diversity when compared to other states. 86% of the state is white 66 while 82% are Christian.67
64 http://mctfr.psych.umn.edu/research/UM research.html 65 http://mctfr.psych.umn.edu/research/UM research.html 66 http://www.census.gov/popest/states/asrh/tables/SC-EST2005-03-39.csv 67 http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/ohio/demographics.html
This is important because the less diversity a region has, the more uniform the environmental influences.
Another important element that this author cannot
express due to the lack of available information is the cultural
dispositions and values of the parents involved. If the parents of both
"Jims" were also native to the Ohio region they were brought into, it
further
compounds the propensity of cultural similarity and hence behavioral
similarity.
This is statistically staggering in view of the number of names in existence, showing a high probability of coincidence. As far as the names 'James Alan' and 'James Allan', the most common male name in America… is James! 69 As far as Allan/Alan, more research would need to be done on the cultural reasoning behind those middle names in the region of Ohio that they both lived.
68 http://names.mongabay.com/female_names.htm 69 http://names.mongabay.com/male_names.htm
In regard to "Both twins have an adopted brother whose name is Larry", this is a rather odd thing for the Minnesota researchers to report, for the tradition of naming children typically comes from the parents, not children.
What this actually reveals has nothing to do with the 'Jim Twins', but rather shows a powerful cultural similarity of the parents. If each set of parents both had a propensity to name a son Larry, then it suggests that the parents were possibly very culturally similar, hence revealing that the environmental influences on both 'Jims' were also very similar. Then there are the dogs named "Toy".
Well, while 'Toy' is not a common dog name, we need to know where the name came from initially. Someone had to suggest the name to the 'Jims' in order for them to be aware of the name to begin with.
The reasoning for this name could be multifaceted and logically derived from the environment. For example, nearly all domesticated dogs traditionally have toys that their owners provide. The advent of the name 'Toy' could have come from an association made by a young Jim hearing his parent reference the toy when playing with the dog. For example, there have been historical instances where a mother would say to a young child who is just learning to speak something common like, "Daddy's home", when announcing the arrival of the father to the child.
The child would eventually hear these words and associate them with the father walking into the house. In this common scenario, some children have confused the father figure with the word "home" rather than "daddy". They would thus later ask "when is home coming home?". In other words, the word toy could be a reference name that has been contextually redefined.
In the case of the
Jim twins, we don't have enough information to know if the name "Toy" is
genetic or environmental, but reasoning would naturally lean towards
environmental.
The 'Jim Twins' grew up in the same areas and
had similar values and environmental influences. This point must be factored
in and an in-depth analysis needs to be done regarding the cultural causes
involved in such a study. Overall, the Twins Studies, while highly praised,
show extreme weakness in understanding the true causality of a particular
concordance.
For example, suppose you have two identical twins separated at birth and each has the genetic predisposition to grow to over 6 feet, each has a high metabolism that keeps him or her thin, and a neurological wiring that supports acute eye-hand coordination. Let's say they are both adopted by middle class families in suburban environments and grow up in what would be considered a traditional American childhood culture, including sports activities.
Since each brother has
outstanding height and increased coordination genetically, they will have an
advantage in sports. Since basketball and football are the two main sports
in America, they will likely play one or the other at some point. Given
their slender build and tall height, they might gravitate towards
basketball. If they obtain moral support from their friends and family,
perhaps they will each grow up to play professional basketball.
The fact is the propensity for playing
basketball is derived from physiological advantages that are genetic, along
with environment based cultural traditions. There is no evidence to suggest
that genes somehow make the basketball player. This is similar to genetic
studies which claim they are looking for the gene which causes smoking or a
makes a person become a Republican… it's rather absurd. The true genetic
basis relevant here is physiological, not behavioral.
70 Elliot, FA, A neurological perspective of violent behavior. In DH
Fishbein, The science, treatment, and prevention of antisocial behaviors,
pp. 19-21, 2000, Civic Research Institute
Be that as it may, Neurochemicals do not instruct a person's behavior in specific ways. Just like other physiological attributes, they set certain propensities. While there is certainly a genetic basis to these chemicals, which could relate to familial heredity and generate so-called 'personality disorders' that result from chemical imbalances, the Neurochemical behavior assumption does not give any specifics as to how those chemical propensities will manifest.
In other words, the behavior that might result from the interaction of these chemicals can only be extremely generalized. One could say that a person with a certain imbalance has a propensity to get "angry" more easily than the standard population. While this is informative, it tells us nothing about how that behavior will manifest.
It is the environment that determines
the actual behavior or lack thereof it.
The pursuit of people who seek to find
the "gene" or the like which causes a particular behavior is essentially a
form of superstition. It is like a person being "possessed by demons" which
control their behavior.
Not only that, they also found that those who were recently unemployed and deprived were especially vulnerable to illness and disease. Their findings found that a 1% rise in unemployment also resulted in: a 5.6% increase in death from heart attacks a 3.1% increase in death from strokes Based on the 1990-1992 unemployment rate, this resulted in 35,307 more heart attack deaths and 2771 more stroke deaths.
They also found that those unemployed had a much higher likelihood of high stress, alcoholism, cigarette smoking, depression and the consumption of less healthy diets.71
An insulted man who pulls out a gun and shoots somebody had to learn, at some point in his life, what a gun was, how to pull the trigger, along with what he was to find 'insulting' to begin with. Every word on this page is learned by this author one way or another. Every concept is a collective accumulation of experience.
There is really nothing that we think which isn't presented to
us in some environmental form. A person born in a particular culture will
absorb the values, traditions and hence behaviors of that culture. A Chinese
baby taken at birth and raised in a British family in England will develop
the language, dialect, mannerisms, traditions and accent of the British
Culture.
Therefore, our goal as a society would be to eliminate the motivations, or conditions that generate socially offensive behavior. In society today, the most fundamental condition for offensive behavior is derived from The Monetary System. As expressed before, The Monetary System perpetuates corruption, scarcity and insufficiency.
So-called decency cannot exist in a world of competition, wealth imbalance, poverty and deprivation. The despotic behavior we see in the world today is not the result of ingrained genetic forces. It is essentially the result of years of scarcity and competition oriented conditioning. Hierarchy, greed, competition and dominance are social manifestations. If you look to the animal kingdom, you usually see social hierarchy and brutal dominance. Many often say it is an instinct for these animals to behave this way and that humans share the same instinctual nature.
While this seems observationally logical, it isn't
taking into account the scarcity that exists in the animal kingdom. If there
isn't enough to go around, the more aggressive animals will rise to the top
generating hierarchy, while the rest compete for resources in a seemingly
greedy fashion.
The troop was exposed accidentally to a disease that killed off the Alpha male baboons, leaving only the subordinate male baboons along with the females. This event dramatically altered the social nature of the troop. None of the remaining baboons filled the newly open positions of dominance. The hierarchy virtually stopped and aggressive behavior subsided tremendously.
This is still the case with this
troop 20 years later. Even when new, adolescent males would come join the
troop, it took about 6 months for the behavior of that new baboon to adjust
from the typically competitive patterns to the troop's new balanced and
non-aggressive behaviors.72
Dr. Sapolsky adds:
73 Interview with Sir Micheal Marmot, Stress, National Geographic, 2008 74 Interview with R. Sapolsky, Stress, National Geographic, 2008
In a Resource-Based Economy, the goals are equality, liberty and abundance.
If these environmental factors can be created for humanity, our social
system will evolve out of the degenerative, corrupt and self interest
oriented patterns we see today.
Rather than consider the root causes,
society takes the easy way out and often removes the "criminal" via prisons.
75 Walmsley,
Roy, World Prison Population 2007, International Center for Prison Studies,
London
The great majority of people in
prisons come from deprived socioeconomic positions.
Therefore, if we want to alter the behavior of people, we have to alter the social conditions. We want to 'design out' the flaws. We design out the need for paper proclamations and laws. Laws are byproducts of insufficiency.
You don't put up a sign that says:
You design the system technically so safety is built in and human error is not an option.
If you don't want a person to steal, you make what they need readily
available to them without the need for subservience or competition.
This isn't to say that overnight all other forms of socially offensive behavior will disappear. Jealousy and other forms of confidence issues will still generate problems. However, the treatment of those who commit socially offensive acts in the future will be dramatically more humane and proactive. If a serial killer is found and brought in, he or she would not be treated as a criminal, but rather as a sick patient.
Society
will understand that people are products of their environment and rather
than condemn the person to a cold concrete cell, social scientists will
heavily research the cultural causes that generated the serial killer's
behavior, and consider those conditions that need to be altered.
Therefore, since it is the environment that influences our behavior itself, if we find patterns of behavior in our society that are socially offensive and abusive, we should look to the environment to figure out why those behaviors manifest to begin with. The legal system today is a massive social distortion that does not take into account the environmental influences of a supposed "criminal".
In a Resource-Based Economy, where
scarcity and deprivation are deliberately reduced through modern
technological methods, the behavior of society will change dramatically for
the better.
Knowledge is an evolutionary phenomenon just like everything else in nature. Therefore, it is critical that we all be mentally and emotionally prepared for our traditional beliefs to lose relevance. For some, this is a very difficult process due to the emotional attachments that have been created around certain beliefs. Religion is a powerful example of this ideological attachment.
Establishment Religion, in many ways, seems to be rooted in a perceptual misunderstanding about life's processes.
For instance, it presents a worldview that often puts the human on a different level than other elements of nature. This 'spiritual ego' has led to dramatic conflicts for generations, not only between human beings, but inadvertently between us and the environment itself. However, as time has moved forward, Science has shown how human beings are subject to the exact same forces of nature as everything else.
We have learned that we all share the same atomic substructure as trees, birds and all other forms of life. We have learned that we cannot live without nature's elements... we need clean air to breathe, food to eat, energy from the sun, etc. When we understand this symbiotic relationship of life, we begin to see that as far as 'relationships' are concerned, our relationship to the planet and nature is the most profound and important.
The medium by which this is expressed,
is Science, for The Scientific Method has allowed us insight into these
natural processes, so we can better understand how we 'fit' into this life
system as a whole.
Regardless of these notions, one glance at society today makes one wonder why the ideal of universally valuing and respecting your fellow human being has never taken root.
It was the Jesus character who said:
But how? How can we have a society where people live
together in harmony, working for the common good, as the religious ideals
promote?
Unlike those who endlessly talk about peace, love and harmony among the peoples of the earth, science can actually work to make it happen. There is nothing more caring than The Scientific Method, for the results have proven to be cataclysmically beneficial to the whole of humanity.
While many people look upon Mother Teresa's selfless nature with great awe and respect, few tend to see Alexander Fleming, the man who discovered Penicillin, in the same romanticized way. Penicillin has saved countless more lives today than any charitable idea or organization.
The point is that science and technology
are divinity in action.
While there are endless scientific and superstitious opinions about who we are and where we have come from, the most important issue at hand exists in the here and now. In view of the terrible suffering and questionable future of the human race, worrying about if god created the universe…or if we were created by extraterrestrials…or even if we are a product of evolution and celestial matter, is meaningless.
Big Bang or no Big Bang it doesn't change the problems we have now. We cannot wait for some divine revelation or some "great man" to guide us. We must realize that we are on our own on this planet and it is up to us to change the world for the better.
Science is the
tool for this functional spirituality and if we work to apply its method for
the betterment of civilization itself, we can reach the spiritual goals we
have sought since antiquity.
Part 5
Taking Action
While it is important to understand that everything in life is a
natural progression, we must also acknowledge the reality that the human
species has the ability to drastically slow and paralyze progress, through
social structures which are out of date, dogmatic, and hence out of line
with nature itself. The world you see today, full of war, corruption,
elitism, pollution, poverty, epidemic disease, human rights abuses,
inequality and crime is the result of this paralysis.
While this path does exist, it is
unfortunately hindered or not recognized by the great majority of humans,
who continue to perpetuate outdated and hence degenerative modes of conduct
and association. It is this intellectual irrelevancy that the Movement hopes
to overcome through education and social action.
The fact that technology is not being allowed to flourish for the benefit of human kind is, in fact, a Civil Rights issue on a certain level. It is time we forget about our differences and come together for the collective benefit of our species. We all need food, air, water and the like, and we all want liberty and happiness. The only way this is going to be accomplished is if we all work together to overcome a now-obsolete social system.
Of course, this is easier said than done, as humans who have undergone tremendous social distortion currently run our world. Their often elitist values are constantly reinforced by the material benefits their business and political corruptions obtain. We should feel pity for their ignorance, however.
In the words of Ghandi:
The fact is, traditional political activism is not the path. The establishment has gotten far too good at controlling traditionally oriented dissent. Rather, the path of this movement is to first create grassroots awareness on a global scale.
This comes down to communication. Those of us who believe in this direction must work to spread awareness of its ideas. Humanity must first be aware of this social direction before any kind of action can be taken. As of now, thezeitgeistmovement.com is being developed into 30+ languages.
We will be creating country, state and regional organizations in the hopes of eventually having a Movement organization in every area of the globe. This kind of communications project will have difficult barriers from various ideological groups. It very important that we bridge the differences between cultures by expressing how, at the core, we are really all the same.
Our similarity and needs greatly over-shadow our religious and political differences. Apart from spreading awareness, our focus should also be on continually exposing the monetary frauds and social corruptions that are endlessly churned out in our society. We want to make the governments and peoples of the world feel embarrassed by the sickness their systems generate, while also making the population understand the root causes of the corruption and how to move away from it with the intelligent application of science and technology for social and environmental concern.
As expressed, the monetary systems of the world are all failing at this
time. The result of this could be catastrophic. It is critical that we
absorb those who are being hurt by this monetary failure and give them
direction. Once a very large number of people on the planet join hands in
common pursuit of a dramatic social shift, we will begin the next phase,
which will put pressure on
The governments of the world today are run by businessmen, lawyers and military men… likely three of the most useless specializations we have. When we understand that our problems on this planet are technical, we then see that if any group of people were to be considered as qualified to make decisions about anything, they would naturally be technically and thus objectively focused… not politically motivated.
Politics is a monetary creation.
Everything listed above would constitute some action of this team. Anyone who supports this direction should help to inform others. We are all a part of the Communications Team on a certain level. In turn, more teams will be created that will work in specific areas related to the implementation of a Resource-Based Economy. There are many scientific fields that are needed to solidify the underlying mechanisms of the project. These Interdisciplinary Teams would include research into computer programming, city planning, robotics, education, data collection, etc.
Please check back to www.thezeitgeistmovement.com for organizational announcements in this regard. If you feel you have a skill that would contribute to this development, please let us know when we begin to setup the teams. A whole section of the website will be devoted to this interaction and focus. As we grow, full conferences will emerge.
In time, we will eventually be able to
begin the first city, even if it is only a prototype of sorts.
We have come from a world of extreme superstition, abject slavery and
extreme racism and social prejudice, to a slowly emerging world of race
equality, scientific ingenuity and emerging values that desire to see
humanity benefit as a whole.
76 Sagan, Carl, Cosmos Video Series, Cosmos Studios, 1980 We have gone from smoke signals to the telephone to electronic mail sent at near the speed of light. Everything that has once been considered impossible has gradually become possible. The Wright Brothers were told by "experts" that it was impossible to fly… years ago people who talked of traveling to the moon were dismissed and labeled as "Mooniacs".
To assume something is
'impossible' in this world is a failure of creativity.
It is time we unleash our 'Weapons of Mass Creation' (WMCs) unto the world.
It is time we take
responsibility for each other and ourselves. We have the knowledge, means
and initiative to devise an entirely new social architecture that can create
a world we actually enjoy and flourish in.
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