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The Zeitgeist Movement (TZM)

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Hi, my name is Peter Joseph. I'm the founder of a

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social sustainability organization called The Zeitgeist Movement,

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which, in form, has about a thousand chapters across 70 countries.

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Basically, we're all working together to try to bridge some differences

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about economic problems that are working [their] way across the world-

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social destabilization, unemployment, debt crisis,

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environmental destabilization-

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and this community is attempting to bring new sustainable ideas

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to the forefront to revolutionize economy as we know it,

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hence revolutionize human values as we know it,

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so we can try to create a new way of life.

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It's a grass-roots movement with that basic premise.

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(Ben McLeish) This movement is essentially a social movement.

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It's not-... It's easier to describe what it isn't, really.

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It's not a political movement; we don't really recognize politics

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as a viable option in addressing the issues we talk about.

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It's a voluntary social movement really, a grass-roots social movement,

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that centers on actual sustainability.

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We need a society that functions on a physical level,

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that actually has advanced, intelligent, automated

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(to the most degree that you can) systems,

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to enable efficient transport, efficient energy usage, efficient land usage.

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Part of our understandings are that we need sustainable city systems,

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very much like those spoken about in The Venus Project,

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or by Buckminster Fuller, or many other futuristic city planners.

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So that's sort of the first level, is, we understand that

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Earth is a finite resource. Earth is actually entirely a resource.

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We think about wave and wind and tide; it's in fact one thing.

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This is the resource we're on;

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this is the rock that we're on, that's hurtling through space,

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and we need to live on it.

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We need to continue to live on it, and as well as possible.

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(Doug Malette) Why do I like The Zeitgeist Movement?

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Why do I ass-kick for The Zeitgeist Movement?

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It's very simple:

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I love this.

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(TZM advocate) What we currently refer to as capitalism under various guises around the world,

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suggested in various doses and concoctions in the prescriptive manuals

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of political philosophy and economic texts,

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the monetary-based price system as a means of coordinating and organizing

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so-called economic activity of consumers,

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producers, and owners of resources, is ultimately unsustainable.

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The reason for this, is that it's essentially predicated upon linear consumption,

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and you cannot run a linear system on a finite planet.

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Join The Zeitgeist Movement! It is exciting,

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the people that you meet are fantastic; they think like you,

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and we're out to make a difference on something that really matters.

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Because whatever you needed to do to get money-...

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and what's happened now with the value-system disorder,

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is that since that's the pursuit, that's the divine drive of the system,

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that's what status is defined by, that's what your success is defined by,

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that everyone can blindly look the other way

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with how much destruction is occurring in the world.

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(TZM Advocate #2) And when I look at our species, I just see one that's divided.

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We're so in our infancy.

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We're having to learn the most basic lessons

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in the 21st Century, and The Zeitgeist Movement

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and a Resource-Based Economy (RBE) doesn't go like that.

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They take the stance that, the Earth

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is the common heritage of everyone to share.

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It's not for us all just to dive in and take what we want,

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but for us to intelligently manage the planet.

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The monetary system has come to an end. It was very useful for a while.

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I've not been anti-money in all of history;

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it's changed its usage in history. You can't be blanket anti-money

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and still understand the history of money.

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But we've obviously come to the end of that paradigm now,

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because now it isn't serving 'us' anymore, and that was the goal to begin with:

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It was to ensure that there was enough labor

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so that there were enough resources,

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so that we have the system, so that people are OK.

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The Zeitgeist Movement, from my perspective,

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is all about quality. It's all about preserving our planet;

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it's all about thriving on human creativity and innovation.

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In fact the truth is, this entire system of cyclical consumption

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that we have in this country, is the cause of all of our problems.

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"Zeitgeist Addendum" was mind-boggling! Dots began to connect.

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Now, is that time, to move to that next level.

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I advocate The Zeitgeist Movement, The Venus Project, and a Resource-Based Economy,

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because they represent the only viable alternatives

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to the corrupt and unsustainable system that we have today.

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People aren't following this because Jacque Fresco is their version of Jesus,

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or because Peter Joseph is a good public speaker.

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They have looked at it, and decided that it makes sense to them.

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...basically trying to get people from around the world

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to discuss why, in a very concise manner,

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they advocate The Zeitgeist Movement, The Venus Project (TVP),

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and of course a Resource-Based Economy...

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[Medley of various voices advocating TZM, TVP, and a Resource-Based Economy]

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Today around the world,

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many people often say "I wish we could live like Americans!"

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I know you've heard this before.

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Well... No.

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Conspicuous consumption patterns of the American culture

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should be despised, by all other countries on this planet!

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We have 5% of the population, and we consume 30% of the world's resources.

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It's insane!

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In a Resource-Based Economy, where we base our production and distribution

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on physical references, starting with the carrying capacity of the Earth,

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where we streamline our labor expression towards things

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that have a long-term social return, when we get rid of the cancer

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known as the financial system and start to share our resources

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in a diligent way, working together, avoiding the false values

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of materialism and consumption pushed upon our culture,

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we find that we can provide a high quality of life

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for everyone on this planet, while eliminating all of the central reasons

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for war, poverty, destitution, violence, criminal behavior, neuroses.

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It would be the dawn of a world we could actually label a civilization,

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and if that isn't a goal worth working towards, I don't know what is.

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The future rests in our hands, yours and mine.

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It rests in the capacity which we totally have as a species,

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to make radical shifts when our survival is necessary.

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And maybe we are the people who will emerge

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to create an alternative that enables our species to survive

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in peace on the planet; otherwise, we will not survive!