The Venus Project is a educational think tank operating out of a 25-acre Research Center located in Venus, Florida.
When one considers the enormity of the challenges facing society today,
we can safely conclude that the time is long overdue for us to
reexamine our values, and to reflect upon and evaluate some of the
underlying issues and assumptions we have as a society. This
self-analysis calls into question the very nature of what it means to
be human, what it means to be a member of a "civilization," and what
choices we can make today to ensure a prosperous future for all the
world's people.
At present we are left with very few alternatives. The
answers of yesterday are no longer relevant. Either we continue as we
have been with our outmoded social customs and habits of thought, in
which case our future will be threatened, or we can apply a more
appropriate set of values that are relevant to an emergent society.
Experience tells us that human behavior can be modified,
either toward constructive or destructive activity. This is what The
Venus Project is all about - directing our technology and resources
toward the positive, for the maximum benefit of people and planet and
seeking out new ways of thinking and living that emphasize and
celebrate the vast potential of the human spirit. We have the tools at
hand to design - and build - a future that is worthy of the human
potential. The Venus Project presents a bold, new direction for
humanity that entails nothing less than the total redesign of our
culture. What follows is not an attempt to predict what will be done -
only what could be done. The responsibility for our future is in our
hands, and depends on the decisions that we make today. The greatest
resource that is available today is our own ingenuity.
While social reformers and think tanks formulate strategies
that treat only superficial symptoms, without touching the basic social
operation, The Venus Project approaches these problems somewhat
differently. We feel we cannot eliminate these problems within the
framework of the present political and monetary establishment. It would
take too many years to accomplish any significant change. Most likely
they would be watered down and thinned out to such an extent that the
changes would be indistinguishable
The Venus Project advocates an alternative vision for a
sustainable new world civilization unlike any social system that has
gone before. Although this description is highly condensed, it is based
upon years of study and experimental research by many, many people from
many scientific disciplines.
The Venus Project proposes a fresh approach--one that is
dedicated to human and environmental concerns. It is an attainable
vision of a bright and better future, one that is appropriate to the
times in which we live, and both practical and feasible for a positive
future for all the world's people.
The Venus Project calls for a straightforward approach to
the redesign of a culture, in which the age-old inadequacies of war,
poverty, hunger, debt, environmental degradation and unnecessary human
suffering are viewed not only as avoidable, but totally unacceptable.
One of the basic premises of The Venus Project is that we
work towards having all of the Earth's resources as the common heritage
of all the world's people. Anything less will simply result in a
continuation of the same catalog of problems inherent in the present
system.
Throughout history, change has been slow. Successive groups
of incompetent leaders have replaced those that preceded them, but the
underlying social and economic problems remain because the basic value
systems have gone unaltered. The problems we are faced with today
cannot be solved politically or financially because they are highly
technical in nature. There may not even be enough money available to
pay for the required changes, but there are more than enough resources.
This is why The Venus Project advocates the transition from a
monetary-based society to the eventual realization of a resource-based
global economy.
We realize to make the transition from our present culture,
which is politically incompetent, scarcity-oriented and obsolete, to
this new, more humane society will require a quantum leap in both
thought and action.
An Obsolete Monetary System
The money-based system evolved centuries ago. All of the
world's economic systems - socialism, communism, fascism, and even the
vaunted free enterprise system - perpetuate social stratification,
elitism, nationalism, and racism, primarily based on economic
disparity. As long as a social system uses money or barter, people and
nations will seek to maintain the economic competitive edge or, if they
cannot do so by means of commerce they will by military intervention.
We still utilize these same outmoded methods.
Our current monetary system is not capable of providing a
high standard of living for everyone, nor can it ensure the protection
of the environment because the major motive is profit. Strategies such
as downsizing and toxic dumping increase the profit margin. With the
advent of automation, cybernation, artificial intelligence and out
sourcing, there will be an ever-increasing replacement of people by
machines. As a result, fewer people will be able to purchase goods and
services even though our capability to produce an abundance will
continue to exist.
Our present, outmoded political and economic systems are
unable to apply the real benefits of today's innovative technology to
achieve the greatest good for all people, and to overcome the
inequities imposed upon so many. Our technology is racing forward yet
our social designs have remained relatively static. In other words
cultural change has not kept pace with technological change. We now
have the means to produce goods and services in abundance for everyone.
Unfortunately, today science and technology have been
diverted from achieving the greatest good for reasons of self-interest
and monetary gain through planned obsolescence sometimes referred to as
the conscious withdrawal of efficiency. For example, the U. S.
Department of Agriculture, whose function is presumed to be conducting
research into ways of achieving higher crop yields per acre, actually
pays farmers not to produce at full-capacity. The monetary system tends
to hold back the application of these methods that we know would best
serve the interests of people and the environment.
In a monetary system purchasing power is not related to our
capacity to produce goods and services. For example, during a
depression, there are computers and DVD's on store shelves and
automobiles in car lots, but most people do not have the purchasing
power to buy them. The earth is still the same place; it is just the
rules of the game that are obsolete and create strife, deprivation and
unnecessary human suffering.
A monetary system developed years ago as a device to control
human behavior in an environment with limited resources. Today money is
used to regulate the economy not for the benefit of the general
populace, but for those who control the financial wealth of nations.
Resource Based Economy
All social systems, regardless of political philosophy, religious
beliefs, or social customs, ultimately depend upon natural resources,
i.e. clean air and water, arable land and the necessary technology and
personnel to maintain a high standard of living.
Simply stated, a Resource-Based Economyutilizes existing
resources rather than money and provides an equitable method of
distributing these resources in the most efficient manner for the
entire population. It is a system in which all goods and services are
available without the use of money, credits, barter, or any other form
of debt or servitude.
Earth is abundant with plentiful resources; today our
practice of rationing resources through monetary methods is irrelevant
and counter productive to our survival. Modern society has access to
highly advanced technologies and can make available food, clothing,
housing, medical care, a relevant educational system, and develop a
limitless supply of renewable, non-contaminating energy such as
geothermal, solar, wind, tidal, etc. It is now possible to have
everyone enjoy a very high standard of living with all of the amenities
that a prosperous civilization can provide. This can be accomplished
through the intelligent and humane application of science and
technology.
A Resource-Based Economywould make it possible to use
technology to overcome scarce resources by applying renewable sources
of energy, computerizing and automating manufacturing and inventory,
designing safe energy-efficient cities and advanced transportation
systems, providing universal health care and more relevant education,
and most of all by generating a new incentive system based on human and
environmental concern.
Many people believe that there is too much technology in the
world today, and that technology is the major cause of our
environmental pollution. This is not the case. It is the abuse and
misuse of technology that should be our major concern. In a more humane
civilization, instead of machines displacing people they would shorten
the workday, increase the availability of goods and services, and
lengthen vacation time. If we utilize new technology to raise the
standard of living for all people, then the infusion of machine
technology would no longer be a threat.
To better understand the meaning of a Resource Based Economy
consider this: if all the money in the world were destroyed, as long as
topsoil, factories, and other resources were left intact, we could
build anything we choose to build and fulfill any human need. It is not
money that people need; rather, it is free access to the necessities of
life. In a Resource Based Economy
, money would be irrelevant. All that would be required are the
resources and the manufacturing and distribution of the products.
When education and resources are made available to all
people without a price tag, there would be no limit to the human
potential. Although this is difficult to imagine, even the wealthiest
person today would be far better off in a resource based society as
proposed by The Venus Project. Today the middle classes live better
than kings of times past. In a Resource Based Economy everyone would live better than the wealthiest of today.
In such a society, the measure of success would be based on
the fulfillment of one's individual pursuits rather than the
acquisition of wealth, property and power.
The Choice Is Ours To Make
Human behavior is subject to the same laws as any other
natural phenomenon. Our customs, behaviors, and values are byproducts
of our culture. No one is born with greed, prejudice, bigotry,
patriotism and hatred; these are all learned behavior patterns. If the
environment is unaltered, similar behavior will reoccur.
Today, much of the technology needed to bring about a global
Resource-Based Economyexists. If we choose to conform to the
limitations of our present monetary-based economy, then it is likely
that we will continue to live with its inevitable results: war,
poverty, hunger, deprivation, crime, ignorance, stress, fear, and
inequity. On the other hand, if we embrace the concept of a global Resource Based Economy , learn more about it, and share our understanding with our friends, this will help humanity evolve out of its present state.
The only limitations are those we impose upon ourselves. The
Venus Project is neither utopian nor Orwellian, nor does it reflect the
dreams of impractical idealists. Instead, it presents attainable goals
requiring only the intelligent application of what we already know
Your help is needed to bring the concept of a Resource-Based Economyto world attention. What can you do?
1. Donate to our non-profit organization, Future By Design. Dedicate your efforts to build the Research Center Circular City needed to bring a Resource Based Economy to world attention. Donations are tax deductible.
2. Purchase a copy of The Best That Money Can't Buy: Beyond
Politics, Poverty & War by Jacque Fresco. Purchase additional books
for your family your friends, your schools, and libraries.
3. Purchase one or more Videos and share them with your friends. Show the videos at civic clubs and schools in your town.
4. Arrange speaking engagements at local libraries, radio stations, colleges and universities for The Venus Project speakers.
Designs by Jacque Fresco.
Model, Rendering, and Photos by Jacque Fresco &
Roxanne Meadows
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The Venus Project