Awakening
The world today is broken.
Business, financial and political leaders have led us into despair
and the selective pop-culture style news that floods our mainstream media
have done nothing but fuel anger and confusion
among the American population and the population of the world.
Fortunately there is a logical solution to fix
many of the ills that plague us all today
but one of the hardest things for a culture to do
is step back and realize that a major shift needs to occur
in order for the future of their children to be secured.
The solution is simple, but it is not easy.
Changes of this nature never are
but they are obvious throughout history
and they mark key points in humanity where we rose to the next level
and made life better for a larger group of people.
History can be broken into levels of development.
Level 1 showcased the nomadic and cave-based humans
capable of only sustaining themselves, their mate and their children.
Level 2 showcased the hunter/gatherer humans
capable of sustaining their group.
Level 3 showcased the agricultural humans
capable of sustaining their towns.
Level 4 showcased the industrial human
capable of sustaining large cities
their nation, and nations in desperate need.
Now we are at the doorstep of Level 5, the technology human
capable of sustaining the world and the entire human population
at a high standard of living.
As each new level was reached
a change in the economic system needed to occur
in order to be the most efficient for the new paradigm.
What needs to change now is the system of economics
that governs the Technological Age.
What’s needed is the proper resource utilization of the entire planet
for the benefit of the entire human race
and not just a portion of it.
Before we detail this change
we must start by addressing the problems we are facing today
and the root cause as to why we have them in the first place.
Only by understanding our problems
and how they came about, can we begin to develop a solution.
We have inflation, ever-increasing taxes
significant unemployment, political corruption
energy concerns, financial instability
crime, environmental issues, and so much more.
It is obvious why the world is so stressed
and humanity suffers as it does.
Now, more than ever, is the time for humanity
to stand up and do something about it.
Politicians and industry alike have repeatedly tried
over and over to solve these issues, and never once have they succeeded.
The best they’ve ever done is delay or mask the concerns.
The reason for this will be made clear during this video.
In short, it’s because no one has ever seriously addressed
the root cause for all of these issues
and that cause is the outdated system of economics
we use around the world today.
The monetary system, or more specifically the price system
is the basic underlying factor that is the fundamental cause
for all of the issues we are facing today.
By definition, a price system is any economic system
that effects its distribution of goods and services
with prices based on commodity evaluation
and uses any form of money or debt tokens.
Do not confuse this with capitalism, the Free Market
or any other term an economist would use.
It is also very important to understand that this is not a political argument
and has absolutely nothing to do with political controls.
Every nation on this planet, no matter their political ideology
be it a democracy, monarchy, socialism, communism or whatever
operates using this same underlying economic system.
They all employ this system
for the exchange of goods and services throughout the world.
It is the one major common link between everyone
which is also why it is the fundamental cause
for so many problems we see in the world today
and here's why:
The monetary system requires 2 key components to work
scarcity and growth.
In the past, prior to 1800
these two requirements were perfectly valid throughout the world.
This was a time when traveling just 500 miles was dangerous
if not deadly, and the shipping of goods was no less difficult.
Scarcity is very important in this system
because it serves the purpose of establishing value: price.
Think back to Economics 101: Supply and Demand.
The less the supply, the more scarce it is
therefore the price is higher.
The more the supply, the less value it has
so the price is lower.
Prior to 1800 there really was true scarcity as a natural phenomenon.
Since modern civilization was still rather young
there was plenty of room for growth, so both requirements were satisfied.
Today however, these two requirements are gone
and the monetary system is in serious trouble and under great stress.
Just look at all the financial industry problems that have destroyed lives
in the past few years alone. They are impossible to ignore.
Scarcity has been eliminated by the advent of technology
and with the absence of scarcity, there is simply less growth.
We have reached a point where we can produce more of everything
than we can consume and the only true expansion left is into the stars
which itself is severely restricted by cost.
In the monetary system, money or debt
is the lifeblood of the system and therefore it is necessary
to continuously create new debt to validate the existing debt.
Our financial manipulators are always seeking new ways
to justify the creation of additional debt.
They are willfully blind or blatantly ignorant of the root concerns.
Just look at how in debt our society is right now
as compared to just 50 years ago.
It's important to notice
that it was around 1980 when the debt started to skyrocket
which coincides perfectly with the fact that this was also the time
when technology started to seriously expand
giving humanity the ability to make life better for everyone
if the technology would be used that way.
To better understand our present social instability
we should review the principle physical events
that have led up to our current mess.
To help with this, let's establish a time reference.
The two dates shown aren't specifically important
but just separate the time line into 3 distinct regions.
Now let's start adding vital information that will help you understand
how we got to where we are in today's world.
Prior to 1800, the world was a low energy society.
Why? Because throughout all recorded history before this time
the primary energy conversion machine for doing work was the human being
and a healthy human can only produce about 0.1 horse power (HP).
In comparison, a washing machine motor is more powerful
averaging 0.5 horse power (HP).
Regardless of this low power number, 98% of all work done during this time
was a result of human labor, because humanity had not yet developed
advanced technology to do the work for them.
The other 2% came from sources outside of human muscle
which we will call non-human energy.
The sources of this energy came from animals
like horses and oxen, and crude technology like windmills and water wheels.
Because the human being is so limited
the output of his work is also limited
so no matter how many people you had on the job
or how long they worked
they could never produce quite enough to cover growing populations
or provide a high quality of living for everyone.
If ever a few people did enjoy a decent standard of living
it was always at the expense of the many who barely survived.
The fact is that throughout history, 95% of all people were either
peasants, serfs, slaves or indentured servants
even up to the time of George Washington.
From the dawn of man until around 1800
the 98% of work done by humans
and the other 2% by other means never changed, ever.
This is over 7,000 years of recorded human history
with absolutely zero change in this dynamic.
This caused every society on the planet
to live in a social steady state
which means there was no change in the rate of energy conversion at all.
There was no fundamental change in how people worked to produce goods
and so scarcity prevailed everywhere.
Just prior to the year 1800, a very significant event occurred.
In 1782, James Watt developed the first steam engine.
This invention was the beginning of an entirely new way to do work.
It was the beginning of the widespread use of non-human energy
and since that time there has been an accelerated effort to build
bigger, faster and more efficient machines to convert energy into work.
That effort has spread throughout the world
with the US as a primary leader.
Over the next 100 years, from 1800 to 1900
we find that the two energy lines started changing significantly.
The non-human energy line moved up, and the human energy line moved down.
In America, studies were done in the 1920s
to see what social impact this change was having.
Data was gathered on every basic industry in North America
charting the growth of production, the rates of energy conversion
declining man hours, and the overall effects on employment.
It was predicted that if the trends continued at the same rate
the lines would cross and look like this.
Humanity was evolving from a low-energy society
to a high-energy society as the two lines switched places.
This new condition is the exact opposite of what had occurred
all throughout recorded history, and that is no small change.
Time to get a bit technical, so bear with me.
As of 1992, noted by the US Dept. of Commerce and Census
America had over 35.3 billion horsepower of installed prime movers.
What does that mean?
Prime movers are mechanical engines, turbines, and work animals
which originally convert fuels or force (such as wind or falling water)
into work and power. Let's break it down by person.
Prior to 1800, the average society had an energy conversion
of just 2000 kg-calories per person.
Does that number sound familiar?
What is the calorie intake
that is labeled on virtually every food item you buy?
A 2,000 calorie diet.
It makes sense that if people are the primary workers
their energy is limited by their average calorie intake.
Now back to 1992:
35.3 billion HP equals over 22 trillion kg-calories
and the population of the US was just over 250 million people.
In 1992, America was converting more than 89,000 kg-calories per person
of just non-human energy.
That is over 44 times larger, a gain of over 4000%
as compared to the average society prior to 1800.
This was a significant source of American growth and prosperity.
We were the first and only country
that was able to produce more then it could consume.
Fast forward to today and consider these implications
in our globally connected world.
What does the monetary system have to do with all this?
The monetary system has started to falter over the past 90 years
because the conditions of life on this planet have drastically changed.
The two major requirements of the monetary system to survive
scarcity and growth, no longer truly exist.
The globe has stabilized as far as growth is concerned
and scarcity has been eradicated by technology.
As a result, we've experienced serious economic problems
and any solution that has ever been tried has served only
as a patchwork solution of bubble gum
in a cracking dam that is destined to break.
No solution ever addresses the fundamental problem, because to do so
would require a fundamental shift in our economic structure
and the people who have benefited the most from this system
refuse to change the game.
The surveys done in the 1920s covered every manufacturing industry
which were then plotted on charts.
This chart is a summary of all those findings averaged together.
The first line reflects physical production.
From 1830 to 1900 production was low and growth was slow.
Then we moved into a period of rapid growth.
This was due to advances in technology and machinery
and a greater use of non-human energy.
From 1900 to about 1930
there was a spectacular exponential growth in physical production
at about 7% per year, compounded each year.
However, this could not last forever, and a leveling off occurred.
Now let's add another curve
to show what was happening to the man hours per unit.
This represents one person working one hour, regardless of their task.
Notice in the early 1800s that man hours were high
but then dropped as industry developed.
This was inevitable because it was cheaper to use technology vs. people.
A kilowatt hour will do the work of 26 man hours, but at a far less cost.
The monetary system encourages businesses to replace costly manpower
with cheaper and more productive technology
in order to maximize profit!
Now, from the 1980s onward we have a unique situation
that has never been present throughout the history of mankind:
high production with far less human work needed.
This would be great for everyone
were it not for the interference of the monetary system
because labor is a major commodity
that is bought and sold in the marketplace.
Time for a third curve, which shows you what happens to labor
and consequently what happens to purchasing power.
This 3rd curve represents total man hours, the sum total of all time
put in on the job in manufacturing by all people.
As you can see from 1830 to the turn of the century
total man hours was low and the growth was slow.
It followed the growth of production very closely
as they are directly related.
Then it also grew along with production
but it didn't level off like production did.
It reached a peak and then turned downward.
This is an event that occurs in every industry.
Total man hours rises to an all time high and thereafter declines.
It is an event that occurs only once in any given industry.
The peak of man hours in the US occurred in 1920
and since then the monetary system has endured instability
because of the discrepancy between production and man hours.
The ever-widening gap between production and man hours indicates
that the easier it is for us to produce more
the harder it becomes to distribute.
The reason for this anomaly is that there is a close relationship
between total man hours worked and purchasing power.
Most of us receive our income from time on the job
in the form of wages or salaries
and declining man hours usually means declining purchasing power.
Isn't it ironic that as we increase our ability to produce
we suffer a diminishing ability to consume?
This is what happens in the monetary system.
The basic problem today is not balancing the budget
but balancing our new found global resource management capability
with global consumption.
The rules of the monetary system prevent us from doing just that.
Distribution is carried on
by a series of exchanges based on scarcity values
that no longer truly exist, and money is used to make these exchanges.
Money is a species of debt
and we try to balance production with consumption
by creating even more debt. This does not work!
The reason is because there is little relationship
between the creation of debt and anything in the real physical world.
Debt nor money, is a real resource we need to live.
It's a contrived human creation
that is no longer valid in today's advancing world.
The man-hour curve is a physical phenomenon
whereas the growth of debt is an abstraction.
Let's look at the growth of debt and you will see the difference.
This chart represents total debt in the US
all debt public and private.
From 1860 to the end of World War I
debt was low and growth was slow.
Then after the Armistice in 1918, debt moved up rapidly.
This was a period called 'The Roaring 20s'.
The reason for this increase in debt
was because technology had caught up with us.
During the war, we installed more technology
to replace the workers that were off fighting the war.
Purchasing power dropped
and we could produce more than we could readily sell.
Therefore during this decade, the institution known as installment buying
or buying on credit, came into existence
so even if you could not afford something
you were encouraged to buy it anyway
and pay for it out of next month's, or next year's income.
This meant an increase in debt, but by 1929, something had happened.
We had overextended that credit
and the gambling institution known as Wall Street collapsed.
With the crash of the stock market, we plunged into the Depression
which took 4 years to reach the bottom in 1933.
The government stepped in because it had to, and what did it do?
It tried to bolster the failing monetary system by creating more debt!
Sound familiar to what's happening now? How did they do this?
They began the practice of spending more money than they took in in taxes
which is called deficit spending.
During the Roosevelt Administration, they tried to bolster the economy
by giving purchasing power to unemployed people by means of welfare
and failing businesses were also put on welfare
which is called subsidies.
One could say that the monetary system went into hock in 1933
and the federal government has been on a deficit spending binge ever since.
This infusion of government funds falsely stimulated business
and debt started upwards again.
Now at this point (1941) something else happened.
There was another reprieve for the failing system called WW II.
That provided a reason to put all the unemployed people back on the job
or into the armed forces.
We ran the factories wide open
turned out a tremendous amount of goods
shipped them overseas, and blew them up
and although it was necessary to protect the world from the likes of Hitler
the war did not solve any of our domestic problems.
As you can see, debt has skyrocketed ever since.
In spite of the hardships of the depression and the heartbreaks of the war
the monetary system did not come to a complete stop.
We have stumbled and bumbled along in one way or another, and why is that?
We have kept the failing system
from complete collapse by various and devious ways.
We have maintained scarcity artificially.
Back during the Depression, when there were so many people without jobs
and their families were hungry
we had tremendous surpluses of food stored around the country.
Was it given to the people? No!
It's not profitable to give away food
even to the starving population.
Back in the early 30s we began the practice of destroying crops
or killing off livestock in order to validate the monetary system.
We're still doing this today, but more covertly.
Since 1933, the government has spent billions of dollars
paying farmers not to grow.
They have also tried to curtail the production of corn
and wheat for human consumption
most notably on the recent alternative fuel ethanol project
which is a waste of food and not a good alternative fuel to begin with.
In the monetary system, when food becomes too plentiful, we limit it.
This is to sustain price, or value, to keep the system going.
If people happen to be hungry
then it seems to be of little importance
to the people making the decisions on how the monetary system works.
Industry uses different tactics.
They operate on a low-load factor
meaning they only run one or two shifts
or shut down completely, even though they have the capability
to run 24/7/365 to produce necessary products.
Then there's the more wasteful practice of turning out shoddy merchandise.
These inferior products that break down
or wear out in short periods of time
are created to ensure high turnover.
If a company could make something that lasted 100 years
(and we do have the materials and technology to do that)
they wouldn't do it, because how would they sell the next version
to make more profit?
Just look at all the recalls of late on various products
like toys, cribs, food, cars
appliances and more.
Destroying all those faulty products ensures scarcity.
There are hundreds of thousands of junky products turned out every week
in order to assure a high turnover for a fast profit.
This is the way the system works.
This also leads to waste, loads and loads of waste.
Look at a simple product like the cell phone.
There are far too many worthless, cheap cell phones on the market.
Hundreds of millions of cell phones are produced every year
with various models showcasing different features to make them unique.
Why? Why not make one amazing cell phone
that does absolutely everything you need
that lasts 25 or more years, and that's easily upgradeable?
Because the monetary system prohibits that kind of logic.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency in 2005
it was estimated that 130 million cell phones went out of use annually
creating an estimated 65,000 tons of electronic garbage.
And that's just cell phones!
So what about every other product you can think of
that wastes valuable materials and resources?
Of course, the most destructive and most heinous
of all human activities is the perpetration of war
and we've had several wars since the turn of the century.
Even now we're immersed in a war against a foe with no flag
no solid distinction, and no uniform.
A war on terror is something that could be justified until the end of time
because the enemy isn't someone you can pin down.
And furthermore, wars have not solved one single underlying problem.
Their greatest success is propping up a failing economic system
for just a little while longer.
World War I, II, Korea, Vietnam
the Gulf Wars and our current war on terror
has cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people
and the destruction of millions of tons of irreplaceable resources
but have yet to solve any of our social problems.
The so called Truman Doctrine
that was created about 63 years ago in the name of national security
has cost the US trillions of dollars.
We spend billions of dollars overseas in what's called foreign aid
and since 1960 the US has financed both sides of 14 wars
and still the world is in greater turmoil than ever.
Insanity is said to be the act of doing the same thing over and over
but expecting a different result. Likewise, spending money
or creating debt does not solve our social problems
locally or globally.
The issues addressed in this video up to this point
should make that perfectly clear by now: that the monetary system
born of agrarian culture, with hand tools
human perspiration and all of its scarcity values
is incapable of managing affairs in a high energy
technologically-advanced civilization.
Politics doesn't matter. Forms of government don't matter.
Culture doesn't matter.
The shared economic system of the world is what matters
and that's what needs to change.
Before you move to the answer, let's make something perfectly clear:
The monetary system is not bad, it is simply outdated.
It used to be good. It used to work.
It was the best option for thousands of years
and specifically over the past 200 years
it has helped influence amazing growth in the capabilities of humanity.
But times change, most significantly the advent of technology
the likes of which could never have been imagined 200 years ago.
Technology that would have made us all witches or gods
in the eyes of the world.
And so the methods by which our world should work must also change.
It is in the best interest of the whole human race
not separated by color, gender, faith or lack of faith
to move on to a better system.
Now to find that answer, we must make a new approach
seek a new idea, and employ a new technique.
The solution is a social system that is based on the Scientific Method
that eradicates the monetary system in favor of a system
that allows for the global resource management of the entire Earth.
We must declare that the Earth and all its resources
are the common heritage of the entire human race
and technology gives us the capability to properly
and absolutely provide a high quality of life
for every man, woman and child on this planet.
The solution is undeniably designed to benefit everyone on the planet
giving everyone the utmost freedoms of expression
thought, speech and most importantly
life.
If you are a person of faith, consider this:
The Lord's Prayer states that we should make Earth as it is in Heaven.
I do not think Heaven uses money, or that God has a bank, do you?
We must eliminate the gap between the haves and the have nots.
We must ensure that a child born anywhere in the world
has the freedom to pursue all positive paths.
We must reconnect mankind to nature by eliminating our harmful ways
without reverting to primitive standards
using technology to live like kings
but behave like proper stewards of this fertile planet.
This video is but a first step in your understanding.
Now is the time to move on to the next step.
The Venus Project and the Zeitgeist Movement offer the solution.
The link shown before you will give you details
as to how the solution works.
You will also find the website easy to navigate
and should answer all of your questions
but if it doesn't, that is why the Zeitgeist Movement exists.
The Zeitgeist Movement advocates the vision of the Venus Project
and is focused on spreading the message
of how to fix many of the problems we have today.
The Zeitgeist Movement is a place to find answers
and converse with others who also want to see
a better world.
Changing over 7,000 years of human economic structure
is by no means easy, but it is necessary.
Every day thousands of people die that should not.
Every day we step closer and closer to the edge of our own demise.
It is time to let the world know that there is a solution
that will solve our root problems.
It is time to evolve to Level 5, the Technology Human
and make the world a better place
for generations to come.
It is time for a social evolution.
Please visit The Venus Project and The Zeitgeist Movement
and become the change you want to see in the world.