Paradise or Oblivion
This video presentation advocates a new socio-economic system, which is updated to present-day knowledge, featuring the life-long work of Social Engineer, Futurist, Inventor and Industrial Designer Jacque Fresco, which he calls a Resource-Based Economy. This documentary details the root causes of the systemic value disorders and detrimental symptoms caused by our current established system. The film details the need to outgrow the dated and inefficient methods of politics, law, business, or any other "establishment" notions of human affairs, and use the methods of science, combined with high technology, to provide for the needs of all the world's people. It is not based on the opinions of the political and financial elite or on illusionary so-called democracies, but on maintaining a dynamic equilibrium with the planet that could ultimately provide abundance for all people.


Paradise or Oblivion, by The Venus Project, introduces the viewer to a more appropriate value system that would be required to enable this caring and holistic approach to benefit human civilization. This alternative surpasses the need for a monetary-based, controlled, and scarcity-oriented environment, which we find ourselves in today.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KphWsnhZ4Ag[/media]
posted this in another thread but I feel it deserves its own.
Fantasy utopia that will never happen
Utopia is defined as "an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect." by the oxford English Dictionary.
However the Venus Project constantly plans on evolving and changing with new technology and ideas. Therefore it is impossible for it to be a utopia.
[quote=TheVenusProjectFAQ]The Venus Project is not a Utopian concept. We do not believe in the erroneous notion of a utopian society. There is no such thing. Societies are always in a state of transition. We propose an alternative direction, which addresses the causes of many of our problems. There are no final frontiers for human and technological achievement - it will always undergo change. Even if we can design a society having all of the modifications to improve the lives of people and protect the environment we will still be at the beginning of the next phase. We are always in transition and learning new things.
The survival of any social system ultimately depends upon its ability to allow for appropriate change to improve society as a whole. The patterns we choose determine whether or not there is intelligent life on earth. In closing, to achieve this new social design, it will require much voluntary, unselfish participation for its realization. The future does not depend solely on The Venus Project. We only propose a direction. Our future depends on the decisions we make today.[/quote]
[editline]1st October 2012[/editline]
Also, classifying something as impossible or a utopia and failing to even try it or inform others of it makes it that much more impossible.
This debate makes me so mad.
The first bit sounded like a kind of "inconvenient truth" thing. Second bit also seems fairly optimistic.
Personally, I have doubts for the society in the future being anything other than an environmental wasteland. Where once originally common resources are now fought and killed over. It is such a shame because the proposed idea in the film looks to be such an appealing alternative in comparison.
There is credibility in the idea that without the needs for food and clothing and shelter, we would focus on more productive endeavors. But there is also a risk that those without the goals to guide them, people will stagnate and get into mischievous or unproductive ventures instead. I seriously doubt that most people will be motivated towards maintaining the responsibility to work on tasks for the betterment of mankind. I foresee a lot of people with no drive, who drift from place to place with no real reason for existence. As it were, "idle hands are the devil's tools", I imagine it would apply to this scenario very easily.
Assuming the current state of affairs, the only real feasible opportunity I see for this scenario to exist is if society as it is today were to suddenly collapse in its entirety. And only then, when humanity unites as one international collective, would be to work in cooperation against the now impending total annihilation. The reason I believe this, is because the way things are right now, people will continue to try to be at the top in this mess of an economy, and will teach future generations to continue in this process. We would need a change so drastic, that nobody would be able to continue maintaining the status quo, and would instead be forced to adopt and integrate new mindsets and methodologies for the new human society.
[QUOTE=Leintharien;37906702]The first bit sounded like a kind of "inconvenient truth" thing. Second bit also seems fairly optimistic.
Personally, I have doubts for the society in the future being anything other than an environmental wasteland. Where once originally common resources are now fought and killed over. It is such a shame because the proposed idea in the film looks to be such an appealing alternative in comparison.
There is credibility in the idea that without the needs for food and clothing and shelter, we would focus on more productive endeavors. But there is also a risk that those without the goals to guide them, people will stagnate and get into mischievous or unproductive ventures instead. I seriously doubt that most people will be motivated towards maintaining the responsibility to work on tasks for the betterment of mankind. I foresee a lot of people with no drive, who drift from place to place with no real reason for existence. As it were, "idle hands are the devil's tools", I imagine it would apply to this scenario very easily.
Assuming the current state of affairs, the only real feasible opportunity I see for this scenario to exist is if society as it is today were to suddenly collapse in its entirety. And only then, when humanity unites as one international collective, would be to work in cooperation against the now impending total annihilation. The reason I believe this, is because the way things are right now, people will continue to try to be at the top in this mess of an economy, and will teach future generations to continue in this process. We would need a change so drastic, that nobody would be able to continue maintaining the status quo, and would instead be forced to adopt and integrate new mindsets and methodologies for the new human society.[/QUOTE]
I don't think a total reset will result in that unless we physically change human nature first. There's a certain extent that collective ideology and cooperation can reach even when pushed.
Human nature; and in the words of Dr. Breen, instinct, will limit people for a very long time. And by the time we have the power to change it I doubt we will need to form any kind of society perceivable by the level of knowledge people have now.
I feel the same way, our current society is horribly short-sighted.
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