1 00:00:01,462 --> 00:00:07,386 - So, welcome to Tribeca Cinemas 2 00:00:07,789 --> 00:00:10,759 And we are here to answer any questions regarding 3 00:00:11,054 --> 00:00:13,664 "Zeitgeist Moving Forward" and we're here with The Venus Project 4 00:00:13,801 --> 00:00:15,780 our New York chapter coordinator 5 00:00:15,917 --> 00:00:18,248 and you are also our New York chapter coordinator. 6 00:00:18,392 --> 00:00:21,579 I'm not sure... We haven't given a categorization yet, have we? 7 00:00:21,723 --> 00:00:23,907 - We're co-coordinators... - Co-coordinators, very beautiful. 8 00:00:24,051 --> 00:00:25,906 I figured as much. 9 00:00:26,037 --> 00:00:29,958 And open to any questions you guys have to ask. 10 00:00:32,971 --> 00:00:36,799 (Interviewer #1) The third film is very ambitious and very radical. 11 00:00:38,997 --> 00:00:42,279 How do you think that it could become a reality 12 00:00:42,429 --> 00:00:46,193 when you step outside into the city and you see the condition. 13 00:00:46,337 --> 00:00:49,183 Take a city like New York, for instance. You look at the skyline 14 00:00:49,321 --> 00:00:52,687 you look at the people, you look at the piles of trash. 15 00:00:53,738 --> 00:00:55,851 How do you think that we can really transition? 16 00:00:55,995 --> 00:00:59,042 How realistically speaking, what do you think is...? 17 00:00:59,812 --> 00:01:01,660 - Well, there's two angles of transition: 18 00:01:01,797 --> 00:01:04,605 There's the physical transition and then there's the cultural transition. 19 00:01:04,756 --> 00:01:07,884 And out of both sides, the latter is much more complex. 20 00:01:08,028 --> 00:01:11,102 The physical transition, rebuilding of buildings: 21 00:01:11,246 --> 00:01:15,162 this is all technically feasible. It's provably and scientifically concrete 22 00:01:15,309 --> 00:01:19,483 that we can do much more advanced things with extreme high efficiency. 23 00:01:19,627 --> 00:01:22,942 So the physical transition isn't a problem to me at all. 24 00:01:23,086 --> 00:01:25,791 It's the cultural transition. It's the people that are locked 25 00:01:25,935 --> 00:01:30,363 into this system. It's the people that identify so dogmatically 26 00:01:30,507 --> 00:01:35,948 that they feel that anything that alters their sense of identity 27 00:01:36,092 --> 00:01:39,096 is an attack on them. And often 28 00:01:39,256 --> 00:01:42,063 people identify with social systems. 29 00:01:42,207 --> 00:01:44,738 They want to believe that their social systems are for them 30 00:01:44,857 --> 00:01:47,063 just like they want to believe that their governments are for them. 31 00:01:47,207 --> 00:01:49,622 Just like they want to believe that marketing and advertising 32 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:52,400 or corporations like Apple Computer 33 00:01:52,907 --> 00:01:56,767 has a huge following of people that identify strongly. 34 00:01:56,999 --> 00:01:59,461 Same thing goes for corporations and social systems. 35 00:01:59,613 --> 00:02:03,041 So we have the "free market". We live in "freedom" and "democracy" 36 00:02:03,185 --> 00:02:05,787 and these words have resonant meanings with people 37 00:02:05,931 --> 00:02:08,583 whatever you want to define them as. It's a whole different subject 38 00:02:08,727 --> 00:02:10,813 because of the ambiguity of what people have been conditioned 39 00:02:10,951 --> 00:02:14,535 to believe those words mean. Point being, the cultural transition 40 00:02:14,702 --> 00:02:17,668 is by far the most difficult. We have to educate people 41 00:02:17,812 --> 00:02:21,903 on what it means to be sustainable, and get them to understand the need 42 00:02:22,052 --> 00:02:25,538 to identify with that for their own purposes 43 00:02:26,670 --> 00:02:29,124 for the reasoning of their own survival 44 00:02:29,268 --> 00:02:32,082 the survival of their kids and their grand-kids. 45 00:02:32,226 --> 00:02:34,502 To give it a more concrete definition 46 00:02:34,652 --> 00:02:36,783 of time span or technical transition 47 00:02:36,926 --> 00:02:39,115 once you have enough people that believe in this 48 00:02:39,252 --> 00:02:41,803 then you begin to slowly change certain environments 49 00:02:41,947 --> 00:02:44,441 and certain regions to more sustainable practices 50 00:02:44,583 --> 00:02:47,932 more sustainable practices not only regarding industry 51 00:02:48,069 --> 00:02:52,062 but also what people actually do or engage in. 52 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:57,065 And then slowly the system will shift and then hopefully that will spread. 53 00:02:57,822 --> 00:03:00,746 One more thing I'll add though is that there will be a social breakdown 54 00:03:00,846 --> 00:03:02,763 which has already been underway for many decades 55 00:03:02,864 --> 00:03:05,664 which people don't seem to reconcile or pay attention to 56 00:03:05,802 --> 00:03:08,034 such as the continual doubling of poverty 57 00:03:08,178 --> 00:03:11,599 the tremendous suffering, the extreme class division 58 00:03:11,737 --> 00:03:14,374 the onslaught of all sorts of mental diseases, neuroses 59 00:03:14,512 --> 00:03:18,585 and many things covered in the film as a result literally of this system. 60 00:03:18,723 --> 00:03:20,773 These things are eventually going to come to a head, when people 61 00:03:20,917 --> 00:03:24,530 will step back and finally say, "We can't do this anymore!" 62 00:03:24,685 --> 00:03:26,579 This is affecting all of our health. 63 00:03:26,717 --> 00:03:29,433 We are suffering tremendously at multiple levels. 64 00:03:29,571 --> 00:03:32,949 We have energy deficiencies. We have health deficiencies. 65 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:35,900 And all of these things will come to a head to an effect where I think 66 00:03:36,032 --> 00:03:40,034 eventually, slowly, they will permeate 67 00:03:40,178 --> 00:03:42,342 most consciousness, and people will wake up 68 00:03:42,495 --> 00:03:44,691 and realize that we have to do something new. 69 00:03:44,835 --> 00:03:47,068 Either that happens or we're going to move into something 70 00:03:47,206 --> 00:03:49,219 much, much worse, frankly. 71 00:03:49,352 --> 00:03:52,882 (Interviewer#1) Right, and that's I think the area 72 00:03:53,025 --> 00:03:56,667 that I'd like to talk about. How then would the movement 73 00:03:56,807 --> 00:04:02,308 encourage people to get in front of that or get behind it? 74 00:04:02,458 --> 00:04:05,759 - I feel my big influence 75 00:04:06,259 --> 00:04:10,543 I say this, people find it cliché, is the American Civil Rights Movement 76 00:04:10,687 --> 00:04:13,063 because it actually did work to a certain effect. 77 00:04:13,206 --> 00:04:15,574 It was allowed to work, if you will 78 00:04:15,712 --> 00:04:18,843 because of the fact that so many people got behind it. 79 00:04:18,987 --> 00:04:21,874 The power is in critical mass. I don't believe that politicians 80 00:04:22,012 --> 00:04:25,556 will do anything. To get into a position of political power 81 00:04:25,708 --> 00:04:27,743 you have to navigate a certain path 82 00:04:27,881 --> 00:04:30,773 that automatically creates a void 83 00:04:30,917 --> 00:04:34,691 for challenging the system, to put it along with its sense. 84 00:04:34,835 --> 00:04:37,697 You have to orient the status quo to even be in a position 85 00:04:37,835 --> 00:04:39,966 to have a relationship with the status quo. 86 00:04:40,109 --> 00:04:44,289 That's just the inevitable motion. You can't possibly have... 87 00:04:44,596 --> 00:04:47,575 and if they do get in power, something will remove them from it 88 00:04:47,719 --> 00:04:49,551 and that has been historically true or they're demeaned. 89 00:04:49,699 --> 00:04:52,778 And the few people that are in power today in the Congress of the US 90 00:04:52,922 --> 00:04:54,735 Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul 91 00:04:54,872 --> 00:04:57,776 that have hints of trying to change things for the better 92 00:04:57,914 --> 00:05:01,012 they get more attacked than any other politician out there. 93 00:05:01,150 --> 00:05:04,274 They are stifled in their communication. 94 00:05:04,412 --> 00:05:06,879 So the change will not come from any political system 95 00:05:07,021 --> 00:05:08,779 and it certainly won't come from a corporate system. 96 00:05:08,910 --> 00:05:10,809 You are not going to see corporations magically trying to be 97 00:05:10,953 --> 00:05:13,233 actually sustainable because as I point out in the film 98 00:05:13,370 --> 00:05:15,774 it is mathematically impossible for them to do so. 99 00:05:15,918 --> 00:05:18,890 The entire financial system is driven by consumption 100 00:05:19,033 --> 00:05:21,261 and the more consumption the better; therefore, sustainability 101 00:05:21,392 --> 00:05:25,357 is intrinsically thrown out the window, and that's just one facet of it. 102 00:05:25,515 --> 00:05:29,481 So the change will come from critical mass and people understanding... 103 00:05:29,625 --> 00:05:33,468 Hopefully grassroots level through the Zeitgeist Movement Chapters globally 104 00:05:33,606 --> 00:05:36,880 it will rise up. It will become dominant 105 00:05:37,018 --> 00:05:39,443 in the sense that everyone knows about it 106 00:05:39,581 --> 00:05:43,117 and eventually those status quo institutions 107 00:05:43,398 --> 00:05:45,469 will have to step back and say "OK 108 00:05:45,607 --> 00:05:49,035 we can no longer ignore this gigantic, global movement." 109 00:05:49,179 --> 00:05:53,554 And that will be a peaceful type of interaction. Compromises will be made. 110 00:05:54,011 --> 00:05:57,662 I'll just add one more thing. If things don't materialize 111 00:05:57,799 --> 00:06:00,080 if things continue to get worse and worse. If things don't operate 112 00:06:00,211 --> 00:06:02,047 in a relatively rational way 113 00:06:02,178 --> 00:06:05,102 where people are paying attention to each other, where the governments 114 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:07,406 the United Nations, for example, says "OK. We are going to bring in 115 00:06:07,543 --> 00:06:09,370 this new organization to see what they have to say 116 00:06:09,514 --> 00:06:12,015 because they have hundreds of millions of people that follow it." 117 00:06:12,153 --> 00:06:14,173 If that doesn't happen, then I think 118 00:06:14,317 --> 00:06:17,092 certain acts of civil disobedience would be necessary. 119 00:06:17,230 --> 00:06:20,204 (Interviewer#1) They are happening now. - There are, but on a global scale 120 00:06:20,348 --> 00:06:24,452 not country specific. Civil disobedience on a global scale that 121 00:06:24,583 --> 00:06:28,848 if any actions are taken, they are presented globally. 122 00:06:29,845 --> 00:06:33,798 I think one action like that to show that there was a power to do so 123 00:06:33,942 --> 00:06:36,696 would rattle the system to such an effect 124 00:06:36,834 --> 00:06:38,863 that I think it could be very, very positive to get people 125 00:06:39,006 --> 00:06:42,071 to finally want to listen to what we have to say, in power. 126 00:06:42,214 --> 00:06:44,819 (Interviewer#1) But you take a look at all the austerity measures 127 00:06:44,962 --> 00:06:47,058 that happened in Europe this past summer 128 00:06:47,202 --> 00:06:50,035 and you see the protests in England and in Greece 129 00:06:50,170 --> 00:06:52,562 and you see all that, and you see it in the media 130 00:06:52,706 --> 00:06:56,783 the images of the firebombing from the police and the students 131 00:06:59,304 --> 00:07:01,673 just the street violence that's occurring 132 00:07:01,848 --> 00:07:04,469 at an alarming rate all through Europe... - Absolutely. 133 00:07:04,613 --> 00:07:07,634 - And nothing is being done. - True. - Nobody cares. 134 00:07:07,871 --> 00:07:11,377 People look at the images, and they don't see that it's a problem. 135 00:07:11,521 --> 00:07:13,513 - They are getting used to it; they are getting numb to this. 136 00:07:13,651 --> 00:07:15,652 What happens in society as the breakdown occurs 137 00:07:15,801 --> 00:07:19,182 is people just start to say "Oh, that's the way it is." 138 00:07:19,326 --> 00:07:21,330 They just say "That's the way it is that we have protests 139 00:07:21,461 --> 00:07:24,477 or crime. That's the way it is that we have poverty." 140 00:07:24,620 --> 00:07:26,992 And then generation after generation more "that's the way it is" 141 00:07:27,130 --> 00:07:28,884 and everyone slowly accepts it and eventually 142 00:07:29,015 --> 00:07:33,340 you have four or five, six billion people, many decades from now, starving 143 00:07:33,507 --> 00:07:35,512 and they'll just say "Oh, it's our natural resources; 144 00:07:35,643 --> 00:07:37,612 we don't have enough resources." 145 00:07:37,731 --> 00:07:40,840 That's their conditioning to believe and that's the way it is. 146 00:07:40,984 --> 00:07:44,588 So I don't advocate protest at all. 147 00:07:44,732 --> 00:07:48,162 I don't believe in war protest in a direct sense. 148 00:07:48,306 --> 00:07:50,587 I think it does something; I don't put it down 149 00:07:50,724 --> 00:07:53,300 but I advocate actual action, so you're not going to see 150 00:07:53,444 --> 00:07:56,549 the Zeitgeist Movement with signs held up in front of Congress 151 00:07:56,689 --> 00:07:59,452 or anywhere in any country. That's not the point. 152 00:07:59,590 --> 00:08:02,058 The point is, to actually, if there is a need 153 00:08:02,190 --> 00:08:05,341 to actually do something that causes an act. 154 00:08:05,485 --> 00:08:09,836 So to give a hypothetical, which I'm not advocating by the way 155 00:08:10,299 --> 00:08:12,303 to show the power of critical mass 156 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:16,175 if 50% of the US population decided not to pay income taxes 157 00:08:16,319 --> 00:08:19,430 there's no way the US government can prosecute all of these people. 158 00:08:19,574 --> 00:08:23,345 (Int#1) I completely agree and I haven't paid income taxes in 10 years. 159 00:08:23,595 --> 00:08:27,631 - So point being once the masses come together 160 00:08:27,775 --> 00:08:30,737 and the strategy of divide and conquer is finally nullified 161 00:08:30,881 --> 00:08:33,191 which has been with us for centuries and centuries 162 00:08:33,330 --> 00:08:36,126 that's how you control people: divide them. 163 00:08:36,264 --> 00:08:39,783 Once the artificial boundaries are overridden 164 00:08:39,927 --> 00:08:41,962 by this core necessity of life 165 00:08:42,100 --> 00:08:44,392 the life ground necessity that is talked about 166 00:08:44,530 --> 00:08:47,259 life value analysis that John McMurtry describes 167 00:08:47,397 --> 00:08:51,652 which is essentially implying exactly what the Venus Project is about 168 00:08:52,003 --> 00:08:54,579 then people will come together and realize that we have to work 169 00:08:54,716 --> 00:08:58,560 to preserve resources. We have to work to create a stable environment 170 00:08:58,699 --> 00:09:01,231 for the benefit of everyone. We have to work to create equality 171 00:09:01,375 --> 00:09:03,723 because of the evidence I've shown by Richard Wilkinson: 172 00:09:03,861 --> 00:09:08,002 a stratified, divided society is one of the most unhealthy societies 173 00:09:08,140 --> 00:09:12,264 you can possibly have and causes a vast spectrum of disease and illness. 174 00:09:12,470 --> 00:09:15,223 It's scientifically proven in that sense 175 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:17,864 social science. I'm not going to say it's a technical science 176 00:09:18,002 --> 00:09:20,763 but right now all stratified societies 177 00:09:20,907 --> 00:09:23,309 the more stratified, the worst their health is overall 178 00:09:23,459 --> 00:09:25,460 and that is something that has to be recognized. 179 00:09:25,622 --> 00:09:28,814 We can't have a society that is so unhealthy when we know it's unhealthy 180 00:09:28,951 --> 00:09:31,755 and hopefully people will begin to understand that and want to work 181 00:09:31,893 --> 00:09:34,884 towards something that actually is in line with nature 182 00:09:35,022 --> 00:09:38,806 and in line with what it takes to actually have a healthy society. 183 00:09:40,188 --> 00:09:43,377 (Interviewer#2) As far as moving steps forward... 184 00:09:47,208 --> 00:09:50,992 The whole design of the city as it's presented seems really... 185 00:09:52,687 --> 00:09:55,383 ...worthwhile but also perhaps expensive 186 00:09:55,527 --> 00:10:00,352 in the first iteration, in transition from what we've got now into... 187 00:10:00,852 --> 00:10:03,659 It'll be one thing once there are 50 of those cities 188 00:10:03,802 --> 00:10:06,432 and people are living in a different mind-set and in a different system 189 00:10:06,576 --> 00:10:10,026 for those to regenerate is one thing. How do you get the first one? 190 00:10:10,176 --> 00:10:15,194 But what can people start doing so it's not purely ideas but practice 191 00:10:15,376 --> 00:10:20,107 because at a local level what people respond to is a better option 192 00:10:20,251 --> 00:10:24,055 an actual better option they experience as a better experience. 193 00:10:24,199 --> 00:10:26,753 You win over that many more people because... 194 00:10:26,902 --> 00:10:29,148 It might not be the full city the first time. 195 00:10:29,289 --> 00:10:34,585 It might be aspects of it... at a community level to build towards... 196 00:10:35,297 --> 00:10:38,959 I'll wait until the camera's in. I'll respond 197 00:10:39,100 --> 00:10:41,767 and I'll tell Jacque the question and he can respond as well. 198 00:10:41,908 --> 00:10:45,337 - We're ready to go. - OK. With respect to what communities 199 00:10:45,487 --> 00:10:47,970 can do to try to inch towards this type of environment 200 00:10:48,110 --> 00:10:50,463 especially with respect to the city systems 201 00:10:50,602 --> 00:10:53,571 which are an intricate part to... I mean you can... 202 00:10:54,901 --> 00:10:57,746 The depiction of the city system is only one depiction 203 00:10:57,888 --> 00:11:00,757 and I think Jacque Fresco would point out, but it's logical. 204 00:11:00,897 --> 00:11:02,988 And it just shows what you would do to make 205 00:11:03,128 --> 00:11:06,679 the most efficient, energy efficient, ease of transport. 206 00:11:06,820 --> 00:11:09,934 You make things localized. These are very common things 207 00:11:10,075 --> 00:11:12,889 and yes, I do believe that people can do this on a local level 208 00:11:13,030 --> 00:11:15,739 on a low-fi way. That's the term I use, "low-fi" 209 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:19,345 as opposed to the hi-fi technical stuff that we point out. 210 00:11:19,583 --> 00:11:22,502 But it doesn't create the real resolution of applying technology 211 00:11:22,646 --> 00:11:25,411 in the highest order. That's all that has to be kept in mind 212 00:11:25,565 --> 00:11:27,235 and when it comes to money... 213 00:11:27,367 --> 00:11:30,225 You know, Jacque, people always ask 214 00:11:30,369 --> 00:11:32,900 how much will it cost to build your city. 215 00:11:33,044 --> 00:11:35,624 What do you say when they ask you that question in the sense of 216 00:11:35,767 --> 00:11:38,140 what's relevance of cost. Is it relevant to cost? 217 00:11:38,284 --> 00:11:41,708 - No, it's not. Do we have the resources to do it? 218 00:11:41,851 --> 00:11:44,903 I mean the physical resources like trucks 219 00:11:45,041 --> 00:11:48,101 to deliver materials: concrete, steel... 220 00:11:48,245 --> 00:11:50,484 We have more than enough resources 221 00:11:50,628 --> 00:11:53,111 but we don't have enough money to do it. 222 00:11:53,254 --> 00:11:55,383 So if a country goes broke 223 00:11:55,527 --> 00:11:58,782 as long as they have arable land and factories 224 00:11:58,932 --> 00:12:02,726 the factories close because people don't have money to buy anything 225 00:12:02,889 --> 00:12:06,878 and then the factories are taken over by local governments 226 00:12:07,397 --> 00:12:11,056 because people don't pay taxes on the physical equipment. 227 00:12:11,356 --> 00:12:15,537 So what happens? You get a lot of confusion, and 228 00:12:17,636 --> 00:12:22,160 if people have information before the breakdown, they know what to do. 229 00:12:22,542 --> 00:12:25,910 During the breakdown, they riot, break windows... 230 00:12:26,054 --> 00:12:28,409 This is normal for people 231 00:12:28,572 --> 00:12:32,794 that can't eat, do not get enough funding 232 00:12:32,944 --> 00:12:36,193 from the government to buy food. They will riot. 233 00:12:36,333 --> 00:12:38,507 The government will use the army, the navy 234 00:12:38,644 --> 00:12:41,812 the National Guard to put down the riots. 235 00:12:41,999 --> 00:12:44,608 And since I feel most riots 236 00:12:44,751 --> 00:12:49,192 will be committed by younger people, so they will make new laws: 237 00:12:49,330 --> 00:12:52,404 Everybody has to be in the house by nine o'clock. 238 00:12:52,906 --> 00:12:55,274 Do you understand me? That's what governments always do. 239 00:12:55,417 --> 00:12:57,872 It has nothing to do with reason or logic. 240 00:12:58,185 --> 00:13:00,569 It has to do with a collapsing system. 241 00:13:00,709 --> 00:13:03,092 Now even the collapsing system... 242 00:13:03,643 --> 00:13:08,103 The Chevy company could not compete with the Japanese companies. 243 00:13:08,247 --> 00:13:11,145 So they... bailed them out. 244 00:13:11,289 --> 00:13:14,292 Bailing them out does not mean sustainability. 245 00:13:14,436 --> 00:13:18,245 If you bail out a company and they can't turn out a better car 246 00:13:18,389 --> 00:13:23,611 an electrical car, better than the Japanese, they won't survive. 247 00:13:24,193 --> 00:13:26,174 And if they don't survive 248 00:13:26,311 --> 00:13:29,625 the company falls into the hands of the government. 249 00:13:29,794 --> 00:13:32,349 The government doesn't know how to use those companies 250 00:13:32,493 --> 00:13:35,142 so you have a lot of riots, confusion. 251 00:13:35,286 --> 00:13:39,908 And during the change, many new systems will not work 252 00:13:40,488 --> 00:13:42,634 and they'll blame the new system. 253 00:13:42,778 --> 00:13:45,320 And the public doesn't know which way to go 254 00:13:45,464 --> 00:13:48,724 so you have what they call "social chaos". 255 00:13:49,443 --> 00:13:53,892 In order to put down social chaos, you have to use the army, the navy 256 00:13:54,030 --> 00:13:58,627 or the National Guard to put down the chaos. That's called fascism. 257 00:13:59,017 --> 00:14:02,996 But if you can't pay people, if you can't pay them a wage 258 00:14:03,140 --> 00:14:05,821 which the government won't have the money to do... 259 00:14:05,965 --> 00:14:08,464 See, if I were a Senator, I would immediately 260 00:14:08,608 --> 00:14:11,873 cut my salary in half to show that I care. 261 00:14:12,017 --> 00:14:15,784 I haven't heard that yet. I haven't heard the President say: 262 00:14:15,928 --> 00:14:18,614 "I've got enough to live on. I don't want any salary. 263 00:14:18,756 --> 00:14:22,349 Let it go to help people." And people would identify with him. 264 00:14:22,492 --> 00:14:27,593 The banks do not think that way. Most businesses think in terms of profit; 265 00:14:27,737 --> 00:14:31,334 otherwise, they wouldn't outsource. Do you understand what I mean? 266 00:14:31,473 --> 00:14:33,704 If they cared for the American people... 267 00:14:33,841 --> 00:14:37,424 So what they do, they ask people to join the armed services 268 00:14:37,568 --> 00:14:42,775 as loyalty, although they'll get a minimum wage and food and clothing. 269 00:14:43,312 --> 00:14:48,273 They will try to get larger armies to maintain control of people. 270 00:14:48,542 --> 00:14:51,999 But in the meantime, in Europe, they will respond faster; 271 00:14:52,299 --> 00:14:55,352 I mean because they're having a harder time than we are. 272 00:14:55,699 --> 00:14:57,985 So nations will be fighting each other. 273 00:14:58,211 --> 00:15:01,355 The majority and minority people 274 00:15:01,493 --> 00:15:05,687 that are exploited most by this system will be the most active. 275 00:15:06,313 --> 00:15:09,670 It's not going to be smooth. I always said the transition 276 00:15:09,814 --> 00:15:12,646 will be the most painful thing up ahead 277 00:15:12,790 --> 00:15:16,627 because just fighting for women's rights took a lot of battles 278 00:15:16,780 --> 00:15:20,556 or giving them the right to vote or getting rid of child labor 279 00:15:20,769 --> 00:15:23,662 in factories. That took a long time. 280 00:15:24,150 --> 00:15:26,405 And when you have children working for you 281 00:15:26,549 --> 00:15:28,762 you can maintain the competitive edge. 282 00:15:28,904 --> 00:15:32,830 If you have to pay a higher salary, you can't maintain the competitive edge. 283 00:15:32,974 --> 00:15:36,399 So if you free children, the factory goes broke 284 00:15:36,548 --> 00:15:38,849 because they can't maintain the competitive edge. 285 00:15:39,106 --> 00:15:42,440 All that industries want to do is contain 286 00:15:42,997 --> 00:15:45,384 and maintain the competitive edge. 287 00:15:45,522 --> 00:15:48,875 And if they can't do that, they will use the army and navy. 288 00:15:49,012 --> 00:15:52,683 They control the army and navy. Not the wealthy people. 289 00:15:52,827 --> 00:15:57,753 - Unfortunately, people aren't wise enough intellectually or emotionally 290 00:15:57,897 --> 00:16:00,850 to sit back and look at society and say: 291 00:16:01,129 --> 00:16:04,291 "What's wrong, where do we need to go in order to 292 00:16:04,610 --> 00:16:07,939 maintain a civilization and a future for us?" 293 00:16:08,327 --> 00:16:12,085 We feel it will take the breakdown as we talked about 294 00:16:12,235 --> 00:16:17,000 and people losing their jobs, losing confidence in their elected leaders 295 00:16:17,288 --> 00:16:20,792 and losing their homes before they'll start to look around 296 00:16:20,938 --> 00:16:23,203 and say "Where do we go? What do we do?" 297 00:16:23,340 --> 00:16:26,927 And even then, they won't know unless we have enough information 298 00:16:27,065 --> 00:16:29,623 out there to point this direction 299 00:16:29,761 --> 00:16:31,833 to point this direction out to them 300 00:16:31,977 --> 00:16:35,354 because there really are no viable alternatives out there. 301 00:16:35,491 --> 00:16:38,233 It's back to God 302 00:16:38,395 --> 00:16:43,244 or back to the good old days or law, civil law... 303 00:16:45,061 --> 00:16:48,711 So the job now, it's really critical 304 00:16:48,855 --> 00:16:51,617 to get this information out there while we still can. 305 00:16:51,754 --> 00:16:54,322 - I'd just add one more thing 306 00:16:54,466 --> 00:16:56,893 someone brought this up last night and it's completely in line 307 00:16:57,037 --> 00:17:00,432 with what you're describing, but it's another variation is that Earthships 308 00:17:00,576 --> 00:17:05,027 transition towns... these community things... 309 00:17:05,324 --> 00:17:09,442 These might be needed in a very short term sense as things start 310 00:17:09,585 --> 00:17:11,651 to break down. (Int#2) They're not called transition towns. 311 00:17:11,792 --> 00:17:15,350 - Exactly, which I have no disrespect for, but they're not a solution. 312 00:17:15,507 --> 00:17:17,953 They might probably recognize that... (Int#2) A short-term solution... 313 00:17:18,097 --> 00:17:20,474 - A short-term solution, but what's going to happen is: 314 00:17:20,611 --> 00:17:23,971 say we all got together and we started a nice community somewhere. 315 00:17:24,131 --> 00:17:26,446 Say... I don't know...the number doesn't even matter 316 00:17:26,611 --> 00:17:29,657 And it's outside the city of New York, say... 317 00:17:29,807 --> 00:17:33,086 -Sure, and things start to break down and we're doing great. 318 00:17:33,273 --> 00:17:36,634 We've got our food grown, we're living decent... 319 00:17:36,778 --> 00:17:39,681 You know what's going to happen? Those people that are starving 320 00:17:39,825 --> 00:17:43,270 and displaced will come straight for whatever is working. 321 00:17:43,414 --> 00:17:46,430 And that's just a natural tendency of any organism that's starving. 322 00:17:46,586 --> 00:17:49,738 They'll do whatever they can, so unless you want to have men 323 00:17:49,900 --> 00:17:52,887 with automatic weapons at your gates... 324 00:17:53,169 --> 00:17:55,299 So it's important that people not try to find intermediate 325 00:17:55,449 --> 00:17:58,040 patchwork solutions. We don't have time for that. 326 00:17:59,090 --> 00:18:02,087 I have friends that are doing it right now. They're going to places 327 00:18:02,229 --> 00:18:04,306 and they're growing their own food because they're so tired 328 00:18:04,444 --> 00:18:07,072 of being poisoned by industry, and they understand what's happening. 329 00:18:07,228 --> 00:18:09,656 But I try to explain to them that it's not the solution. 330 00:18:09,793 --> 00:18:13,627 We have to work together. There's nowhere to hide, in other words. 331 00:18:14,211 --> 00:18:16,673 (Interviewer#1) I think that's sort of how I feel. 332 00:18:16,817 --> 00:18:19,773 I'm kind of caught in the middle, you know. - Sure. 333 00:18:19,917 --> 00:18:22,037 - I could at anytime drop off the grid, you know. 334 00:18:22,177 --> 00:18:25,830 I can grow potatoes in my house plants. I know how to do it. 335 00:18:26,024 --> 00:18:28,122 I know how to remediate any kind of parasites... 336 00:18:28,260 --> 00:18:30,627 - That's good information to have. I certainly don't put any of that down 337 00:18:30,955 --> 00:18:34,728 but if we want to change, we have to change the society. 338 00:18:34,872 --> 00:18:38,546 There's no way around it, especially with the growing population. 339 00:18:38,733 --> 00:18:40,981 I couldn't sit back, say in my own little community village 340 00:18:41,125 --> 00:18:43,906 and just watch the death of billions of people 341 00:18:44,056 --> 00:18:47,379 which I am not saying is going to happen, but it's already slowly happening. 342 00:18:47,536 --> 00:18:51,374 And it can only get worse based on the financial outlook and everything 343 00:18:51,518 --> 00:18:54,831 that's happening with the scarcity that's being generated by this system. 344 00:18:55,031 --> 00:18:58,211 (Interviewer#1) How optimistic are you that we can do this? 345 00:18:58,837 --> 00:19:01,704 - It depends on how you define optimism. I think as Jacque and Roxanne 346 00:19:01,848 --> 00:19:04,897 just pointed out, there's going to be a tremendous amount of suffering 347 00:19:05,038 --> 00:19:09,433 because, unfortunately, people are not really rational in any direct way. 348 00:19:09,577 --> 00:19:13,567 They have to feel the problem. They have to be hit with something. 349 00:19:14,149 --> 00:19:17,233 You can't just tell somebody that this is happening. And believe me 350 00:19:17,368 --> 00:19:20,899 out of all the work I've done for the past few years, and the things I bring up 351 00:19:21,049 --> 00:19:24,447 you can't rationalize with somebody whose emotional identification 352 00:19:24,585 --> 00:19:28,976 is so strong, with whatever idea that is fallacious. 353 00:19:29,597 --> 00:19:33,082 You can't... You have to wait for them to experience the problem. 354 00:19:33,851 --> 00:19:36,924 (Interviewer#1) And what if they don't... because we're so far gone. 355 00:19:37,137 --> 00:19:40,839 - I think eventually they will though. (Int#2) This is the question 356 00:19:42,479 --> 00:19:45,437 I think, and it sounds like from something you said last night 357 00:19:45,575 --> 00:19:49,535 maybe you also think this way. It's going to go one of two ways: 358 00:19:49,672 --> 00:19:53,009 It's either going to completely collapse on its own 359 00:19:53,310 --> 00:19:56,572 the thing, the system. - I can clarify that... 360 00:19:56,722 --> 00:20:00,575 - It's been happening for a long time. (Int#2) I guess what I'm saying is: 361 00:20:00,719 --> 00:20:03,442 Will people do something before that in preparation 362 00:20:03,580 --> 00:20:05,810 or will it just happen, and then they're just all going to be standing... 363 00:20:05,954 --> 00:20:08,034 - Most people are not going to have anything. (Int#2) Most people 364 00:20:08,172 --> 00:20:12,099 are not going to do anything. - I can refer to the last depression 365 00:20:12,230 --> 00:20:16,785 the '29 crash. I remember that wealthy people 366 00:20:16,929 --> 00:20:20,128 that had yachts, had their yachts stacked with food. 367 00:20:20,272 --> 00:20:22,904 They were ready to leave the country. 368 00:20:23,048 --> 00:20:26,349 If they succeeded, pirates would form 369 00:20:26,499 --> 00:20:29,402 of other people and they take their yachts away from them. 370 00:20:29,546 --> 00:20:33,373 You can't live to yourself anymore. Only they don't realize it. 371 00:20:33,510 --> 00:20:36,079 Even though they have guns on the boat 372 00:20:36,211 --> 00:20:40,139 once that happens, piracy, it's very hard to control. 373 00:20:40,597 --> 00:20:44,393 You generate thousands of people forming groups 374 00:20:44,533 --> 00:20:49,517 invading coop communities that don't want anything to do with the system. 375 00:20:49,745 --> 00:20:54,455 And they start coop growth and they're eating, so they will invade them. 376 00:20:54,627 --> 00:20:58,255 If you have your own little farm, and you say "Well, the hell with people! 377 00:20:58,392 --> 00:21:02,079 I'm growing my own chickens. I'm raising food for my family." 378 00:21:02,223 --> 00:21:06,025 They will invade your farms. You can't live to yourself anymore. 379 00:21:06,578 --> 00:21:09,062 But knowing that will not cause people 380 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:11,806 to come around and say "That's logical and reasonable." 381 00:21:11,943 --> 00:21:14,978 People are neither logical nor reasonable. 382 00:21:15,179 --> 00:21:19,471 They'll kill each other, take what they can and form lots of gangs. 383 00:21:19,827 --> 00:21:24,017 I don't know whether we'll ever see the Venus Project. I don't know that. 384 00:21:24,249 --> 00:21:27,569 It depends on how many people can identify with it. 385 00:21:27,719 --> 00:21:30,869 They look to me and say "Jacque, when will you build these new cities? 386 00:21:31,013 --> 00:21:35,233 I'd like to move in." I said "It depends on what you do and other people." 387 00:21:35,384 --> 00:21:38,924 We have no power. We can only point to a direction. 388 00:21:39,362 --> 00:21:43,899 The only direction that'll save society, as I understand it 389 00:21:44,049 --> 00:21:47,067 is to share all the earth's resources 390 00:21:47,210 --> 00:21:51,031 to remove all the artificial boundaries that separate people 391 00:21:51,464 --> 00:21:55,114 and to bring in a Resource-Based Economy 392 00:21:55,252 --> 00:21:59,802 where we share resources. If this comes about... 393 00:21:59,946 --> 00:22:04,388 or I can address the United Nations and point these things out. 394 00:22:04,532 --> 00:22:08,549 They're trying to set up a meeting to do that. If I can point out 395 00:22:08,689 --> 00:22:12,206 if the nations join together now, before the collapse 396 00:22:12,346 --> 00:22:15,580 the severe collapse, join together, share resources 397 00:22:15,721 --> 00:22:19,189 they can maintain a degree of sustainability. 398 00:22:19,436 --> 00:22:23,442 When other people use the word "sustainability", I say "For whom? 399 00:22:23,583 --> 00:22:27,247 The banks? Wall Street? Who do you want to sustain? 400 00:22:27,388 --> 00:22:30,291 If you want to sustain everybody, they're not interested." 401 00:22:30,431 --> 00:22:35,192 So they control the media, they control the press, the newspapers... 402 00:22:35,333 --> 00:22:38,375 (Interviewer#1) That's changing a lot though. 403 00:22:39,042 --> 00:22:43,219 - Sure, it is, we can see that. (Int #1) I mean they're also going to stop it. 404 00:22:43,665 --> 00:22:48,631 And I know this, I know this for a fact. They're going to shut it down. 405 00:22:49,213 --> 00:22:52,211 What we do... They're not psyched. What he does... 406 00:22:52,340 --> 00:22:57,265 They are not psyched that people are aware. You know people who are... 407 00:22:57,406 --> 00:23:01,088 - Oh, believe me, I completely understand... (Int. #1) This shit's got to go! 408 00:23:01,228 --> 00:23:03,243 - Think about the period like when you grew up, Jacque 409 00:23:03,368 --> 00:23:07,471 when all you ever got was a newspaper about how the world worked. 410 00:23:07,631 --> 00:23:11,915 Complete control of the medias. You had no outlet, even no television. 411 00:23:12,526 --> 00:23:15,037 We have a very different world 412 00:23:15,479 --> 00:23:18,681 and they've been doing their best to figure out how to try and continue 413 00:23:18,822 --> 00:23:21,291 their positions of control, just as any government does. 414 00:23:21,442 --> 00:23:23,753 (Interviewer #1) Well, I mean their neutrality will go. 415 00:23:23,894 --> 00:23:26,107 - We'll see what happens.The only problem with that 416 00:23:26,248 --> 00:23:29,221 is that there's so much money being made on the Internet right now. 417 00:23:29,362 --> 00:23:32,104 It interferes with commerce. (Int#1) And this is exactly why 418 00:23:32,245 --> 00:23:34,451 somebody like Murdoch and Jobs 419 00:23:34,714 --> 00:23:38,603 have decided to create their own daily-paper. - Sure. 420 00:23:38,743 --> 00:23:41,046 (Interviewer #1) This is exactly why this is happening. 421 00:23:41,187 --> 00:23:46,036 There's no other reason for the merger of these two assholes, really. 422 00:23:46,185 --> 00:23:48,508 - One thing I want to comment, I'm sorry to interrupt you 423 00:23:48,659 --> 00:23:51,856 on the point of breakdown before I forget, is that a lot of people say: 424 00:23:51,997 --> 00:23:54,427 "Oh, well when is the breakdown going to occur?" I'm like: 425 00:23:54,567 --> 00:23:57,609 "You've been living through the breakdown for at least 40 years 426 00:23:57,748 --> 00:24:02,289 the onslaught of more diseases, of more poverty, of more..." 427 00:24:02,505 --> 00:24:05,784 Well, not necessarily more wars per se 428 00:24:05,916 --> 00:24:08,420 but the anticipation of many more wars 429 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:12,461 the onslaught of resource depletion, the onslaught of... 430 00:24:12,602 --> 00:24:16,403 virtually everything, every life support system going into decline. 431 00:24:16,647 --> 00:24:19,108 This is what it is, and people just keep saying to themselves 432 00:24:19,249 --> 00:24:21,898 as I've said "That's the way it is." 433 00:24:22,025 --> 00:24:24,032 We have more starving people on the planet than ever before 434 00:24:24,138 --> 00:24:26,627 and that's only going to get worse. It can't possibly get better. 435 00:24:26,849 --> 00:24:29,043 With what's happening right now, there's more debt. 436 00:24:29,191 --> 00:24:31,733 The only thing that has magnified this now is the debt collapse. 437 00:24:31,883 --> 00:24:35,118 That's really because it brings it to an optimized focus 438 00:24:35,262 --> 00:24:37,914 that the public still never would have thought of prior. 439 00:24:38,051 --> 00:24:40,849 And most people today still think that we're going to recover. 440 00:24:40,993 --> 00:24:44,004 There isn't going to be an economic recovery from this point on 441 00:24:44,148 --> 00:24:47,081 if the monetary system game is adhered to. 442 00:24:47,238 --> 00:24:50,022 And that's what people need to understand... (Int#1) According to America... 443 00:24:50,172 --> 00:24:54,232 - Well, globally though. If the monetary system of the global market 444 00:24:54,370 --> 00:24:57,074 which is what it is... I mean, the American philosophy 445 00:24:57,212 --> 00:25:00,996 and the virus of the cancer of capitalism have permeated the entire world. 446 00:25:01,133 --> 00:25:03,892 There's no one that can escape. Those that even claim to be socialist 447 00:25:04,030 --> 00:25:07,206 are just capitalist. I mean to provide, say, free education: 448 00:25:07,356 --> 00:25:10,122 someone's paying for it. It's still being paid for. 449 00:25:10,266 --> 00:25:14,560 There's still money in every facet of motivation in the system. 450 00:25:14,928 --> 00:25:17,506 And, one small aside, that I want to just throw out there 451 00:25:17,910 --> 00:25:20,644 and this notion of sustainability: I read a book recently 452 00:25:20,788 --> 00:25:24,016 and they use the term "sustainable business". 453 00:25:24,979 --> 00:25:27,345 And it was the most comedic thing I've ever heard. 454 00:25:27,476 --> 00:25:30,993 It was written by this very prominent wealthy environmentalist 455 00:25:31,143 --> 00:25:35,031 and he was trying to explain how business can be sustainable. 456 00:25:35,231 --> 00:25:39,767 How can you possibly have sustainability in a paradigm, in an approach 457 00:25:39,911 --> 00:25:43,007 where you have organizations in competition with each other 458 00:25:43,144 --> 00:25:45,684 that can't produce anything of high quality because of the need 459 00:25:45,826 --> 00:25:49,882 to have cost efficiency and preserve market share and cut corners at all times? 460 00:25:50,019 --> 00:25:52,617 How can you have sustainability when all industries are all for themselves 461 00:25:52,761 --> 00:25:55,901 and they're only worried about the resources and everything that relates to them 462 00:25:56,043 --> 00:25:58,852 and they have no symbiotic or synergistic relationship to anything else? 463 00:25:59,090 --> 00:26:01,283 How can you have sustainability when they're obviously polluting 464 00:26:01,427 --> 00:26:03,457 and keep polluting on some level or another 465 00:26:03,588 --> 00:26:07,715 because it's framed in the network, excuse me, it's framed in the context 466 00:26:07,863 --> 00:26:11,716 of the establishment, which means they have to cut costs. Excuse me... 467 00:26:11,854 --> 00:26:14,989 framed in the context of the monetary system when they have to cut costs; 468 00:26:15,126 --> 00:26:17,522 so they can't possibly have output of efficiency, meaning: 469 00:26:17,660 --> 00:26:21,032 You have to have landfills. No one can afford proper disposal. 470 00:26:21,284 --> 00:26:24,015 No one can afford to do all the things that are really necessary. 471 00:26:24,156 --> 00:26:27,073 No one can care about having sustainable goods 472 00:26:27,217 --> 00:26:29,791 nor is it possible to have sustainable goods 473 00:26:29,935 --> 00:26:32,605 in order to keep the consumption going. So I laughed comedically 474 00:26:32,749 --> 00:26:36,745 when I was reading this entire book on sustainable business 475 00:26:36,889 --> 00:26:39,947 because it's completely relative. They make it a little bit more sustainable. 476 00:26:40,084 --> 00:26:43,330 They say "Oh, we're going to recycle a few more things." 477 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:46,334 His name is Hawken, Paul Hawken. 478 00:26:46,471 --> 00:26:50,183 He's a very famous economist/ecologist. "Economist" might not be 479 00:26:50,327 --> 00:26:52,499 the right word, and I have a great deal of respect for him 480 00:26:52,643 --> 00:26:55,793 but he's trapped in the system. He's also well-to-do in the system 481 00:26:55,931 --> 00:26:59,424 like many different people that have these types of opinions. 482 00:26:59,593 --> 00:27:01,641 I have a great deal of respect for many different people out there 483 00:27:01,772 --> 00:27:05,413 and I'm not going to actually name any names because it might be misconstrued 484 00:27:05,551 --> 00:27:07,964 but they don't go far enough. A lot of people that are praised 485 00:27:08,108 --> 00:27:10,712 as activists in ecology... 486 00:27:11,288 --> 00:27:14,266 They go just to the edge of the monetary system 487 00:27:14,495 --> 00:27:17,495 but they're so indoctrinated they think the monetary system is a given. 488 00:27:17,632 --> 00:27:20,104 It's presupposed, religiously ordained... 489 00:27:22,888 --> 00:27:25,150 (Int#2) And they're literally invested in it. 490 00:27:25,294 --> 00:27:27,296 - ...but that doesn't mean that they can't acknowledge it. 491 00:27:27,428 --> 00:27:29,274 Anyone has to make money in this system, but... 492 00:27:29,411 --> 00:27:32,456 (Int #1) Take someone like Dickson Despommier who you featured in your film. 493 00:27:32,606 --> 00:27:36,627 "Vertical Farming". He's a hero of mine. I love him. I think he's great. 494 00:27:37,223 --> 00:27:40,538 I've had many exchanges with him 495 00:27:40,682 --> 00:27:44,900 and he's really very inspiring, and the work that he does... 496 00:27:45,468 --> 00:27:47,978 What he's done for a lifetime, dedicating his life 497 00:27:48,117 --> 00:27:52,253 to the concept of vertical farming. - Absolutely, it's very important. 498 00:27:52,465 --> 00:27:55,368 (Interviewer #1) But all he's doing, at every TED conference I see him 499 00:27:55,519 --> 00:27:57,900 and I go to every single TED conference there is 500 00:27:58,038 --> 00:28:00,866 and at every TED conference all he's really looking for is an investor. 501 00:28:01,010 --> 00:28:03,431 And all he really wants is an investor to say "Listen 502 00:28:03,571 --> 00:28:06,605 let's convert Newark, the building in Newark 503 00:28:06,750 --> 00:28:09,644 let's try this." But you know, he's not trying to profit. 504 00:28:09,788 --> 00:28:13,612 He is trying to feed the world. - I attempted to interview him. 505 00:28:13,756 --> 00:28:16,842 You're speaking of the individual of Columbia, right? -Dickson. 506 00:28:16,979 --> 00:28:18,984 I tried to interview him and he said "I'm sorry, I can't do 507 00:28:19,090 --> 00:28:21,833 any video interviews, film interviews, because Sting 508 00:28:21,977 --> 00:28:25,060 has the right for all my video interviews." 509 00:28:25,198 --> 00:28:28,754 - It's true. - I thought to myself... I don't know if that's good or bad. 510 00:28:28,898 --> 00:28:31,800 I have no idea... (Int #1) It's bad. He had to take the money from Sting 511 00:28:31,938 --> 00:28:35,279 because he needed to continue doing his work. Funding was tough... 512 00:28:35,429 --> 00:28:37,435 - I don't put him down for that, but It just goes to show 513 00:28:37,554 --> 00:28:41,441 the nature of this system and how it automatically blocks everything. 514 00:28:41,591 --> 00:28:45,683 (Int#1) He'll meet you face to face. - Sure. He seems like a very nice guy. 515 00:28:45,820 --> 00:28:48,510 (Int#1) The nicest guy and really a great thinker 516 00:28:48,654 --> 00:28:53,730 but at some point, in his research years, he hit a wall. 517 00:28:54,059 --> 00:28:57,694 And he had to keep going and then there were these people who were... 518 00:28:58,322 --> 00:29:00,975 I mean Sting is committed to... - Sure. 519 00:29:01,119 --> 00:29:03,342 I'm not putting down any of the characters. I'm just saying that 520 00:29:03,486 --> 00:29:06,270 it's unfortunate that the word can't continue to be spread. 521 00:29:06,414 --> 00:29:09,276 I could have had his stuff exposed to millions and millions of people. 522 00:29:09,419 --> 00:29:12,700 I sort of do, but if he was in it it would be a little more powerful. 523 00:29:12,844 --> 00:29:15,199 To know that we could produce organic... 524 00:29:15,342 --> 00:29:18,115 (Int#1) Again, it's about joining forces. 525 00:29:18,259 --> 00:29:20,561 It's about inclusivity and not exclusivity. - Exactly. 526 00:29:20,705 --> 00:29:25,424 The monetary system confirms exclusivity... (Int #2) And competitiveness. 527 00:29:25,568 --> 00:29:29,506 - Absolutely. And why Sting would restrict something like that is also problematic. 528 00:29:29,644 --> 00:29:33,627 (Int #1) That's Sting's ego. It's like Sting's battalion of managers... 529 00:29:34,113 --> 00:29:37,119 I don't mind. - I'm just kidding. - I'm saying this... 530 00:29:41,262 --> 00:29:43,906 I don't put down anyone in the sense that I understand the way 531 00:29:44,043 --> 00:29:46,843 people operate in this system. Everyone does what they have to do 532 00:29:46,987 --> 00:29:50,888 and I look at even the most vile company like Monsanto 533 00:29:51,201 --> 00:29:55,115 as, in fact, just another example of the matter of degree 534 00:29:55,252 --> 00:29:58,986 of what this system creates. That's all they are. It's just a matter of degree. 535 00:29:59,136 --> 00:30:02,341 So I try to convince people that I talk to that try to... 536 00:30:02,484 --> 00:30:04,998 They hone in on singular corporations...And by the way I think 537 00:30:05,158 --> 00:30:07,130 that you need to be activist oriented against these... 538 00:30:07,270 --> 00:30:09,249 - I think that all these corporations should be targets... 539 00:30:09,390 --> 00:30:12,559 - Absolutely (Int #1) They should not be spared. 540 00:30:13,649 --> 00:30:15,816 The only problem is that you have to make sure 541 00:30:15,957 --> 00:30:18,253 that the larger order point is always made 542 00:30:18,394 --> 00:30:21,142 that these are products of a system. (Int#2) They are symptoms. 543 00:30:21,283 --> 00:30:23,865 - Symptoms, exactly. So that's what I'd say about that. 544 00:30:24,006 --> 00:30:27,612 - It's an endless battle when you pick out corporations like that 545 00:30:27,753 --> 00:30:31,105 and continuously try and stop that. 546 00:30:31,274 --> 00:30:34,077 You might get some legislation through; 547 00:30:34,218 --> 00:30:37,672 and then, when the next government comes in it'll revert right back. 548 00:30:37,812 --> 00:30:41,251 That's really not the solution to the problems. 549 00:30:41,381 --> 00:30:47,080 We really need to advocate a total world, global Resource-Based Economy. 550 00:30:47,222 --> 00:30:49,508 And to the extent that we don't advocate that 551 00:30:49,644 --> 00:30:52,499 and work toward that, that will determine 552 00:30:52,639 --> 00:30:55,722 the amount of problems that we will have remaining. 553 00:30:55,858 --> 00:30:59,813 - When a few nations control most of the Earth's resources 554 00:30:59,981 --> 00:31:03,422 others will try to invade and get a piece of the cake... 555 00:31:03,553 --> 00:31:06,431 - Which is what's happening right now. - So you have no 556 00:31:06,582 --> 00:31:12,480 intelligent plans out there. The more intelligent, the higher the order of intelligence 557 00:31:12,621 --> 00:31:16,369 meaning better management of the Earth's resources 558 00:31:16,510 --> 00:31:20,317 the more difficult to reach people. People understand things like: 559 00:31:20,468 --> 00:31:23,885 "It's our country, right or wrong? Let's get out there and defend it!" 560 00:31:24,026 --> 00:31:26,748 They'll join with that. But people say to me: 561 00:31:26,889 --> 00:31:31,134 "Jacque, every time I ask you a question, I get a lecture, not an answer." 562 00:31:31,284 --> 00:31:34,263 Because there are no answers. There's no simple answer. 563 00:31:34,404 --> 00:31:39,019 It's very involved. And the average person is not equipped to handle that. 564 00:31:39,179 --> 00:31:42,034 That's why I keep saying there will be a lot of trouble ahead 565 00:31:42,175 --> 00:31:47,008 a lot of assassinations, wild people, groups breaking windows. 566 00:31:47,156 --> 00:31:51,903 They don't know what else to do. They don't know how to handle the problems. 567 00:31:52,063 --> 00:31:56,504 Like in the Arab world a guy might beat his wife three times a week 568 00:31:56,680 --> 00:32:01,040 to a pulp, to get her to obey him. That's normal to that culture. 569 00:32:01,181 --> 00:32:06,092 They don't know anything else. Now, giving women equal rights is unthinkable 570 00:32:06,234 --> 00:32:09,079 in that type of culture. Do you understand? 571 00:32:09,223 --> 00:32:14,245 So you've got the scar tissue of hundreds of years in people. 572 00:32:14,558 --> 00:32:17,392 And you don't come out in one day "Oh! Here's the answer!" 573 00:32:17,536 --> 00:32:20,413 Even if it were the answer. If they don't understand it 574 00:32:20,522 --> 00:32:24,195 it's not the answer. What they do is the answer 575 00:32:24,486 --> 00:32:28,960 and if they kill each other, which is what I think they will do. 576 00:32:29,180 --> 00:32:32,741 And there may be few people that can escape the system. 577 00:32:32,879 --> 00:32:36,758 All I can talk about is what happened during the Depression. 578 00:32:36,902 --> 00:32:40,909 There were many men sleeping in the winter over gratings 579 00:32:41,369 --> 00:32:44,352 hundreds of them. And that bothered Al Capone 580 00:32:44,555 --> 00:32:47,412 and he opened the first soup kitchens. Did you know that? 581 00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:50,645 ...more than the federal government. Was he evil? 582 00:32:50,795 --> 00:32:53,748 ...in some areas,yes, in other areas, no. 583 00:32:53,905 --> 00:32:56,704 So Al Capone started feeding people. 584 00:32:56,973 --> 00:33:00,120 And then the Italian Americans were feeding one another. 585 00:33:00,270 --> 00:33:02,950 And then the Jews pulled in, in their own corner. 586 00:33:03,094 --> 00:33:06,937 And the Irish were beaten up because during the potato famine 587 00:33:07,094 --> 00:33:09,644 a lot of Irish men came to America, and they worked 588 00:33:09,788 --> 00:33:12,684 for one half the amount what Americans would work for. 589 00:33:12,867 --> 00:33:14,992 So the Americans said "Those God damned Irish men! 590 00:33:15,117 --> 00:33:18,199 Let's beat them up, because they're taking our jobs away!" 591 00:33:18,349 --> 00:33:20,894 The whole reason for aberrant behavior 592 00:33:21,038 --> 00:33:23,954 is fear of scarcity or unemployment. 593 00:33:24,098 --> 00:33:27,828 During the Depression there was a factory that had a sign "Help Wanted". 594 00:33:28,072 --> 00:33:31,063 And I saw lines all around the block. 595 00:33:31,476 --> 00:33:34,477 And the guys would say "Hey, let's get rid of that fat Jew! 596 00:33:34,621 --> 00:33:38,062 Let's get rid of that Irish man! Let's get rid of that Arab!" 597 00:33:38,259 --> 00:33:41,438 But during the war, they wanted all the help they could get. 598 00:33:41,607 --> 00:33:45,467 They didn't care who was in line as long as there were jobs for everybody. 599 00:33:45,598 --> 00:33:47,998 So you're dealing with social chaos 600 00:33:48,142 --> 00:33:52,238 and there's no clean line that people will follow. 601 00:33:52,607 --> 00:33:57,638 So whatever happens is real. What you think should happen is unreal. 602 00:33:57,782 --> 00:34:01,162 And that's what people get disappointed in, not the world. 603 00:34:01,300 --> 00:34:05,221 Whatever the world does is real; whatever happens is real. 604 00:34:05,409 --> 00:34:08,224 What you think should have happened disappoints you. 605 00:34:08,387 --> 00:34:12,050 H.G. Wells, in his book "The Shape of Things to Come"... 606 00:34:12,201 --> 00:34:14,308 He died broken-hearted. He said: 607 00:34:14,439 --> 00:34:18,890 "The world should be so far along." He suffered from his own projections. 608 00:34:19,437 --> 00:34:22,728 The world will do what it does, not what Fresco thinks is right 609 00:34:22,875 --> 00:34:24,833 or Peter Joseph thinks is right. 610 00:34:24,977 --> 00:34:28,491 They will do whatever the hell they have to do to survive. 611 00:34:28,798 --> 00:34:33,206 Whether you'll see a saner world is highly improbable 612 00:34:33,457 --> 00:34:36,485 unless you begin to talk. 613 00:34:36,667 --> 00:34:39,006 All the people that come to these meetings, if they talk 614 00:34:39,131 --> 00:34:42,227 to other people and advise them in different directions 615 00:34:42,371 --> 00:34:45,262 bear with them, stay with them until they understand. 616 00:34:45,418 --> 00:34:47,819 If everybody works at it, the transition 617 00:34:47,963 --> 00:34:50,987 will be less painful, not eliminated. 618 00:34:51,439 --> 00:34:54,728 I'm sorry that I have this to say. I'd like to say: 619 00:34:54,904 --> 00:34:57,215 "I see glorious days ahead." 620 00:34:57,352 --> 00:35:00,830 That would please everybody, but it's not true. 621 00:35:01,412 --> 00:35:05,327 - I don't think it's so much we're optimistic or pessimistic. 622 00:35:05,489 --> 00:35:09,660 I think we're really scared shitless as to what's happening 623 00:35:10,098 --> 00:35:13,988 what's happening now and what the immediate future might bring. 624 00:35:14,228 --> 00:35:17,612 And we see a viable alternative 625 00:35:18,094 --> 00:35:21,235 that could eliminate a lot of suffering for a lot of people 626 00:35:21,380 --> 00:35:24,814 so we're advocating it and asking other people to look into it 627 00:35:24,959 --> 00:35:27,735 and learn it, and talk to others about it. 628 00:35:28,023 --> 00:35:30,902 And get the information out there any way we can: movies 629 00:35:31,052 --> 00:35:35,490 books, radios, Internet, while we still have the ability to do that. 630 00:35:36,505 --> 00:35:40,165 (Interviewer #1) Now, have you considered working with other movements? 631 00:35:41,674 --> 00:35:44,131 - Well, people ask that question... 632 00:35:46,055 --> 00:35:48,924 Well, the thing is, I have yet to meet a movement 633 00:35:49,074 --> 00:35:53,371 or an activist group that really identifies 634 00:35:53,515 --> 00:35:55,715 with the complete direction. 635 00:35:55,856 --> 00:35:58,817 And it's not to say that they are... 636 00:35:59,293 --> 00:36:02,538 Frankly, one attribute that any organization that... 637 00:36:02,681 --> 00:36:05,993 Excuse me, any organization I think could possibly come in line with this 638 00:36:06,136 --> 00:36:08,153 the one attribute they have to get definitively 639 00:36:08,279 --> 00:36:10,972 is the fact that the monetary system is the root of most of the problems 640 00:36:11,116 --> 00:36:14,400 if not all the problems that we generally face on a severe level. 641 00:36:14,556 --> 00:36:18,092 That is it. And no, you know, Greenpeace 642 00:36:18,236 --> 00:36:21,644 all the environmental organizations, they think 643 00:36:21,801 --> 00:36:24,725 that if they go after the corporations that they can influence... 644 00:36:24,875 --> 00:36:28,957 Even Wikileaks is an interesting example because they're exposing 645 00:36:29,094 --> 00:36:33,380 always exposing... I hate to say it and I said this last night: 646 00:36:33,843 --> 00:36:37,689 Months from now, no one will remember a damned thing. 647 00:36:37,839 --> 00:36:40,268 (Interviewer #1) That's not true. - Well, I think... 648 00:36:40,894 --> 00:36:43,847 If they remember it, it's not going to change a damn thing. 649 00:36:43,991 --> 00:36:46,867 (Int #1) It won't change anything but he will have left some sort of indelible... 650 00:36:47,018 --> 00:36:50,537 - Oh, I agree with that. Let me rephrase that. I forget to say "remember". 651 00:36:50,687 --> 00:36:53,707 There will be a fall of confidence on many different levels 652 00:36:53,851 --> 00:36:56,702 because of those releases which are viably so... 653 00:36:56,815 --> 00:37:00,403 But the general consciousness of the public, general awareness of the public 654 00:37:00,547 --> 00:37:03,035 it goes through them. 655 00:37:03,836 --> 00:37:07,111 Has there been any prosecutions because of that? Not that I've heard of. 656 00:37:07,252 --> 00:37:09,508 Has there been anything that has really culminated 657 00:37:09,654 --> 00:37:13,189 because of the really severe things that were revealed in these cables? 658 00:37:13,351 --> 00:37:16,139 (Int#1) The only prosecution has been the one of Bradley Manning. That is it. 659 00:37:16,277 --> 00:37:18,799 So if there is a prosecution, there is a young man 660 00:37:18,955 --> 00:37:21,629 in a 12 by 10 jail cell right now. - So, and my point is that 661 00:37:21,754 --> 00:37:25,702 the goal here is to provide a solution, not to talk about problems anymore. 662 00:37:25,852 --> 00:37:28,228 I spent that time in "Zeitgeist" and even "Zeitgeist Addendum". 663 00:37:28,372 --> 00:37:31,819 That's why I barely talk about... I bring it up like Wall Street and stuff 664 00:37:31,969 --> 00:37:35,450 but it's not focused on as though I'm trying like expose, expose, expose... 665 00:37:35,587 --> 00:37:37,637 I don't believe that's the route to... - (Int #1) But don't you think 666 00:37:37,788 --> 00:37:40,832 that in the grand cosmology of things, that we're all connected 667 00:37:40,976 --> 00:37:43,736 and that we all have our own part to play? - Of course... 668 00:37:43,874 --> 00:37:46,492 (Int#1) Set that puzzle, make it work? - By all means 669 00:37:46,629 --> 00:37:49,625 but I think my point is more of a central strategy 670 00:37:49,769 --> 00:37:53,313 an effective strategy and that is actually showing a new direction 671 00:37:53,450 --> 00:37:56,497 not advocating, not constantly exposing. So 672 00:37:56,654 --> 00:37:59,075 back to my point about activist groups and other organizations: 673 00:37:59,212 --> 00:38:02,629 They're constantly harping on what they think is right 674 00:38:02,767 --> 00:38:06,240 and what right or ethical, and what government "should do" 675 00:38:06,428 --> 00:38:09,775 in the sense that it's always contained within the system. 676 00:38:11,033 --> 00:38:14,839 What do they say about ecological organizations? 677 00:38:14,987 --> 00:38:17,430 We need to do this and this. We need the money to do it. 678 00:38:17,580 --> 00:38:19,966 And they look for money. And that's what everyone essentially does. 679 00:38:20,098 --> 00:38:23,609 We need more funding so we can fight these fish loitering ships 680 00:38:23,760 --> 00:38:26,174 for Greenpeace. They frame everything in the system 681 00:38:26,313 --> 00:38:28,900 not knowing that the system itself is the problem. And what they also do 682 00:38:29,044 --> 00:38:31,430 is they create their own establishments. This is something else 683 00:38:31,574 --> 00:38:35,013 I ran into with contacts of many organizations that I won't name. 684 00:38:35,176 --> 00:38:40,150 They see what we advocate. They have thousands of employees 685 00:38:40,513 --> 00:38:42,802 pseudo-volunteer employees. They still get paid. 686 00:38:42,946 --> 00:38:45,405 Many of these organizations are non-profit and actually still get paid: 687 00:38:45,570 --> 00:38:49,581 Non-profit is just a subset of profit. It's just less profit, is all it really means. 688 00:38:49,889 --> 00:38:54,854 So they're in a world where they're surviving off of their activism. 689 00:38:55,092 --> 00:39:00,036 And that's a big problem. They have a career in fighting the problem 690 00:39:00,186 --> 00:39:02,738 and there are some radio talk show hosts that advocate things... 691 00:39:02,888 --> 00:39:05,552 (Interviewer #1) I mean, we're not even pretending. I'm surviving. 692 00:39:05,702 --> 00:39:08,580 - I just want to point that out for the sake of those that are listening 693 00:39:08,723 --> 00:39:11,998 that we create establishments, and the larger the establishment becomes 694 00:39:12,148 --> 00:39:15,111 such as the global warming establishment 695 00:39:15,355 --> 00:39:18,727 such as the cancer establishment. "Hum, let's resolve cancer!" 696 00:39:18,870 --> 00:39:21,994 You know how many trillions of dollars and how many thousands of people 697 00:39:22,137 --> 00:39:26,060 will be out of work if someone...and by the way, these resolutions do exist. 698 00:39:26,201 --> 00:39:28,539 I won't go into that. They've been around for decades 699 00:39:28,689 --> 00:39:30,981 but they're completely ignored and they're prosecuted 700 00:39:31,113 --> 00:39:35,361 and the doctors are... Anyway, it's a long tangent. 701 00:39:36,243 --> 00:39:40,735 Anything they can do to stop... Servicing problems is how things work 702 00:39:40,879 --> 00:39:43,780 and it goes for the activist community as well. So... 703 00:39:43,930 --> 00:39:46,794 these are the types of things that I hope if any group realizes that 704 00:39:46,945 --> 00:39:48,970 they say "We recognize the monetary system is the problem." 705 00:39:49,089 --> 00:39:51,419 By all means, they can come in. And, frankly, I hope 706 00:39:51,563 --> 00:39:53,586 they would just come in under the umbrella of the Zeitgeist Movement 707 00:39:53,723 --> 00:39:56,730 so they don't have to worry about these two different organizations 708 00:39:56,874 --> 00:39:59,246 and people getting confused by different names. 709 00:39:59,484 --> 00:40:02,667 I can easily make a list of organizations that are in harmony with us 710 00:40:02,811 --> 00:40:06,857 but within the movement. So you don't have this abstract partnership 711 00:40:07,007 --> 00:40:09,603 and all these different... It's an ego thing. 712 00:40:10,198 --> 00:40:12,272 There are people that have already broken away from the Venus Project 713 00:40:12,416 --> 00:40:14,831 and the movement because they have their own ego. They're like: 714 00:40:14,975 --> 00:40:17,543 "We're going to do our own thing. We don't like this aspect." 715 00:40:17,687 --> 00:40:22,654 It's so counterproductive; it's self-defeating. 716 00:40:22,804 --> 00:40:25,640 - That's goes back to the cultural aspect that's so hard to change. 717 00:40:25,796 --> 00:40:28,505 We're all conditioned to have that kind of ego mentality 718 00:40:28,649 --> 00:40:31,800 when we're pitted against each other for survival and we have to compete. 719 00:40:31,950 --> 00:40:36,021 It's only natural that everybody wants to glorify themselves 720 00:40:36,161 --> 00:40:39,358 or have their own independence and everything. 721 00:40:39,783 --> 00:40:42,063 - That's what's been reinforced in this system since the moment 722 00:40:42,207 --> 00:40:46,834 they're born. It's reinforced competition. It's a natural response 723 00:40:46,975 --> 00:40:51,017 in this system. It's not necessarily a human response. 724 00:40:51,167 --> 00:40:55,362 (Int#2) Some of our lessons may come from people...There are people on this earth 725 00:40:55,503 --> 00:40:59,692 that are just barely in this system; it does still exist. 726 00:40:59,953 --> 00:41:03,502 And so, it's not maybe that they have the entire program 727 00:41:03,643 --> 00:41:07,355 as far developed as what you're discussing. 728 00:41:07,492 --> 00:41:11,022 Let's say the Zapatistas, which are just people living in the jungle 729 00:41:11,166 --> 00:41:14,784 that don't want to hear about government systems 730 00:41:14,925 --> 00:41:17,475 they don't want to hear about money or about any of that shit. 731 00:41:17,625 --> 00:41:21,570 They just all want to go about their lives. They are remarkably participatory 732 00:41:21,714 --> 00:41:25,277 in their governmental thing or whatever. 733 00:41:28,503 --> 00:41:31,780 Versus in Argentina, when their economy went down... 734 00:41:31,918 --> 00:41:35,224 And there's a question about the degree of collapse, right? 735 00:41:35,361 --> 00:41:38,261 Because if it collapses somewhat, but a government 736 00:41:38,405 --> 00:41:41,752 can still pay its soldiers and its police, that's one thing. 737 00:41:41,896 --> 00:41:46,431 If it collapses more, when they cannot pay their policemen anymore 738 00:41:46,569 --> 00:41:49,800 and they cannot pay their soldiers anymore, this is something else. 739 00:41:49,944 --> 00:41:52,553 And you end up in a situation in Argentina where people 740 00:41:52,691 --> 00:41:57,257 were going back into the factories, and reopening them on their own 741 00:41:58,727 --> 00:42:01,333 just because it's like "There are resources all around me 742 00:42:01,464 --> 00:42:03,904 I'm going to go to work." 743 00:42:04,062 --> 00:42:08,374 And they get into fights with the guy who thinks he owns the place 744 00:42:08,511 --> 00:42:12,038 from before or whatever. But sometimes these... 745 00:42:12,713 --> 00:42:16,964 I think at an individual level in some of these other more far... 746 00:42:17,108 --> 00:42:19,994 I mean I don't know how far-flung Argentina is per say; 747 00:42:20,156 --> 00:42:22,861 but it's not New York City anyway and it's not London. 748 00:42:23,154 --> 00:42:26,927 And they're coming from a different social upbringing 749 00:42:27,077 --> 00:42:29,800 a different culture... - Non materialistic. - Less... 750 00:42:29,944 --> 00:42:32,839 let's says less materialistic. - (Int#1) I wouldn't say that about Argentina. 751 00:42:32,984 --> 00:42:35,412 - I don't know about Argentina, but another example: 752 00:42:35,550 --> 00:42:39,602 There are also interesting examples in the Soviet Union when it collapsed 753 00:42:39,752 --> 00:42:43,506 where factories started these really elaborate barter chains 754 00:42:43,656 --> 00:42:46,135 because they didn't know what else to do. So, one factory 755 00:42:46,275 --> 00:42:50,161 that made tires would call up somebody that made trucks and be like: 756 00:42:50,292 --> 00:42:53,055 "We give you tires?" And then the people who made trucks 757 00:42:53,199 --> 00:42:55,501 would call the company that made sugar and be like: 758 00:42:55,644 --> 00:42:59,439 "Do you need trucks?" And they'd work out these elaborate barters. 759 00:42:59,580 --> 00:43:01,992 - One thing I'd like to point out is that the collapse that's happening now 760 00:43:02,133 --> 00:43:04,911 is extremely different than any collapses that have occurred 761 00:43:05,055 --> 00:43:08,157 because of financial purposes. This is a resource collapse 762 00:43:08,308 --> 00:43:12,826 coupled with a debt collapse, coupled with a pollution acceleration 763 00:43:12,969 --> 00:43:17,123 coupled with a destabilization of the atmosphere and the climate. 764 00:43:17,275 --> 00:43:20,383 This is an amalgam of problems 765 00:43:20,527 --> 00:43:23,711 both man made, in the sense of abstraction, like the monetary system 766 00:43:23,854 --> 00:43:26,519 and what we've created as a result, the consequence of 767 00:43:26,662 --> 00:43:30,735 what we've been doing for so long. So even if the soldiers are paid 768 00:43:30,892 --> 00:43:35,108 they're going to come home to ravages. They're going to come home to lack of energy. 769 00:43:35,264 --> 00:43:38,157 They're going to come home to a depletion of food in many cases. 770 00:43:38,313 --> 00:43:42,123 So it's not going to work, even if they keep printing more and more money. 771 00:43:42,267 --> 00:43:45,871 This is the big difference with what happened in the Great Depression 772 00:43:46,021 --> 00:43:48,809 when there was plenty of resources. The fall of Argentina 773 00:43:48,940 --> 00:43:51,762 which was the credit expansion collapse... 774 00:43:52,607 --> 00:43:56,968 This is an completely new paradigm that we're entering into right now. 775 00:43:57,275 --> 00:44:00,277 So it's important to make that point. (Int#2) In Zimbabwe or something 776 00:44:00,428 --> 00:44:05,235 if your soldier's going home and he's being paid with a trillion dollar bill. 777 00:44:05,716 --> 00:44:08,627 - It's a marvel... (Int#2) It may break morale a little bit. 778 00:44:08,767 --> 00:44:12,577 - It's a marvel that it can even make it to a trillion dollar bill in my mind. 779 00:44:12,742 --> 00:44:15,028 So it's actually rationalized. "Oh, we need a trillion dollar bill? 780 00:44:15,166 --> 00:44:17,747 All right, let's do that one!" What the hell...? 781 00:44:17,900 --> 00:44:19,918 - It goes to show how arbitrary it is! - It is, but the fact 782 00:44:20,044 --> 00:44:22,924 that they even get that far blows my mind. (Int#2) They won't let go. 783 00:44:23,074 --> 00:44:25,219 There's ego for you. 784 00:44:25,825 --> 00:44:28,328 (Int #1) Does the movement have any presence at all in East Asia 785 00:44:28,472 --> 00:44:31,945 and China specifically? - China? No, not that I know of. 786 00:44:34,091 --> 00:44:37,265 You know, China... There are a few people. I've got a few e-mails from China. 787 00:44:37,396 --> 00:44:40,939 They've snuck through their Internet system evidently, and 788 00:44:42,283 --> 00:44:46,475 as far as I know, there was a few people that were trying to do something 789 00:44:47,823 --> 00:44:50,117 but there's no official chapter. 790 00:44:50,255 --> 00:44:52,680 There are other Asian countries that we have a presence in 791 00:44:52,830 --> 00:44:56,748 you can go to... (Int #1) Indonesia? - I think we have an Indonesian chapter 792 00:44:56,894 --> 00:45:00,819 a very small one. We have Singapore, yeah. (Int #1) Singapore's huge... 793 00:45:01,063 --> 00:45:04,863 - We have to start somewhere. - Singapore is an ideal city, actually, to have a... 794 00:45:05,025 --> 00:45:08,190 - The major land masses we don't have any real presence in is Russia. 795 00:45:08,346 --> 00:45:10,867 We have a Russian chapter but it's not very active 796 00:45:11,017 --> 00:45:14,503 as of last I checked. Russia is gigantic. 797 00:45:14,653 --> 00:45:16,621 And then Africa... 798 00:45:17,226 --> 00:45:19,712 We have a South African chapter now, but again 799 00:45:19,858 --> 00:45:22,294 it's a very small group, as you can imagine. 800 00:45:22,442 --> 00:45:25,967 And I guess those are the two dominant land masses. 801 00:45:26,117 --> 00:45:28,850 If you look at the maps of our chapters and the maps of Z-Day 802 00:45:28,990 --> 00:45:31,905 and the maps of this film. - Antarctica... - What's that? 803 00:45:32,062 --> 00:45:34,806 - As a continent, there's nothing on Antarctica. - That's true. 804 00:45:34,963 --> 00:45:36,957 They don't have to worry about that too much. The Eskimos, I don't think 805 00:45:37,105 --> 00:45:40,402 need a Resource-Based Economy. Are Eskimos on Antarctica ? 806 00:45:40,583 --> 00:45:45,838 That's a projection. I don't know anything about Antarctica. 807 00:45:46,054 --> 00:45:48,430 - I have something that I can say about the nature of the collapse 808 00:45:48,574 --> 00:45:50,853 and the transition. I think a lot of people have this notion 809 00:45:50,997 --> 00:45:53,684 that we're waiting to see this massive earthquake when suddenly 810 00:45:53,828 --> 00:45:57,130 everything stops, and overnight everything is a disaster. 811 00:45:57,281 --> 00:45:59,820 I don't think we're ever really going to see that, like you've been saying 812 00:45:59,959 --> 00:46:03,294 and I agree. We've been living in the collapse for the last 40 years. 813 00:46:03,437 --> 00:46:06,448 I mean, people are dying everyday. How many homeless do we have? 814 00:46:06,588 --> 00:46:08,951 The transition is going to be the same thing. I don't think overnight 815 00:46:09,101 --> 00:46:12,087 we're going to suddenly have "Fresco Cities" all over the world. 816 00:46:12,228 --> 00:46:17,066 It's a sliding scale, and in order for that sliding scale 817 00:46:17,206 --> 00:46:20,953 to start sliding back up towards positive transition 818 00:46:21,094 --> 00:46:23,970 we're going to need more and more people to wake up and realize 819 00:46:24,111 --> 00:46:27,081 that they have a choice. They can participate. Voltaire said 820 00:46:27,227 --> 00:46:31,122 that "Man is free the moment he chooses to be." So it's really up to us. 821 00:46:31,291 --> 00:46:34,042 I mean the Venus Project has been around for how long? 822 00:46:34,193 --> 00:46:36,681 And the Zeitgeist Movement has only been around for a few years 823 00:46:36,831 --> 00:46:39,165 and we already have about 500, 000 members or more. 824 00:46:39,325 --> 00:46:41,610 - It's been two years. - Two years... 825 00:46:41,741 --> 00:46:44,496 So that's a really short amount of time. Imagine what we could accomplish 826 00:46:44,643 --> 00:46:47,827 in another two years if that number doubled or tripled. 827 00:46:47,968 --> 00:46:50,895 And that's the point. That's how things are going to work 828 00:46:51,036 --> 00:46:54,289 if we have that critical mass. - Absolutely. 829 00:46:54,430 --> 00:46:57,300 - And the Venus Project was two before that. 830 00:46:57,441 --> 00:47:03,005 - Right. - Was what ? - Was two before that... the Zeitgeist Movement. 831 00:47:05,713 --> 00:47:09,397 (Int #1) Are you not concerned, from the perspective of hard science? 832 00:47:09,538 --> 00:47:13,725 We really are looking at a lot of solar activity. 833 00:47:13,865 --> 00:47:16,431 There is a lot of solar activity happening. The sun is emerging 834 00:47:16,572 --> 00:47:19,345 from an eleven years sleep cycle. - OK. 835 00:47:19,486 --> 00:47:24,751 - It does that every eleven years... (Int#1) ...and we are looking at... 836 00:47:24,901 --> 00:47:27,068 (Int#2) And it fries satellites every eleven years too. 837 00:47:27,218 --> 00:47:31,556 - ... a potentially large solar storm that could wipe out the grid. 838 00:47:31,706 --> 00:47:35,897 - Well, that's a whole new level of concern. - Technology. 839 00:47:39,634 --> 00:47:43,537 - I'm not as familiar with that... Sure...You know what ? 840 00:47:43,706 --> 00:47:46,117 Jacque poetically stated, and that'll always stay with me 841 00:47:46,257 --> 00:47:49,084 the only problems that exist are the problems 842 00:47:49,225 --> 00:47:53,244 that affect the whole of humanity, in the sense of human problems. 843 00:47:56,305 --> 00:47:59,727 We have no approaches holistically as a globe to resolve 844 00:47:59,867 --> 00:48:04,049 any global problems. That's a problem in and on itself 845 00:48:04,199 --> 00:48:06,865 that generates the need for a global system of some kind. 846 00:48:07,006 --> 00:48:11,270 (Int#1) Right. My question was, would that not be, almost 847 00:48:12,239 --> 00:48:15,362 a nice segway into a future Fresco city 848 00:48:16,173 --> 00:48:19,511 for something like that to happen, would that be... ? 849 00:48:19,651 --> 00:48:23,406 (Int #2) Again, necessity creates action sometimes. - Sure. 850 00:48:23,875 --> 00:48:26,829 I'm quite understanding your point though. (Int#2) If the grid went out. 851 00:48:27,242 --> 00:48:30,396 - Oh, right. - This is not a new thing. It's not a hypothetical thing. 852 00:48:30,546 --> 00:48:34,522 It happens every cycle. Satellites get... - Interesting. 853 00:48:34,992 --> 00:48:39,746 - The Carrington Event...was the most famous incident 854 00:48:39,887 --> 00:48:43,810 and it lit telegraph machines on fire. I mean, it happens. 855 00:48:43,979 --> 00:48:49,074 (Int#1) We have a lot more for it to fry. 856 00:48:49,211 --> 00:48:54,840 - It's going to be an interesting future. - There are backups. 857 00:48:54,990 --> 00:48:58,222 - And that might be an excuse to shut down the activity 858 00:48:58,363 --> 00:49:00,581 because then only essential commerce would be allowed. 859 00:49:00,722 --> 00:49:05,202 So I can see it being contrived in a sense... - All problems are used 860 00:49:05,352 --> 00:49:08,024 by the political establishment. (Int#2) We never waste a crisis. 861 00:49:08,165 --> 00:49:11,300 - Absolutely. That's the first thing that all politicians 862 00:49:11,459 --> 00:49:13,643 even news media, when they see any event 863 00:49:13,784 --> 00:49:16,189 whether it's just for their self-interest on a shallow level 864 00:49:16,348 --> 00:49:20,935 or for something that they want to promote on their own extreme. 865 00:49:21,085 --> 00:49:24,462 - Anything that happens, they try to orient it 866 00:49:24,602 --> 00:49:27,677 for their self-interest in whatever way they can. 867 00:49:27,909 --> 00:49:30,749 So that's to be expected. It's an important point for people to remember 868 00:49:30,890 --> 00:49:33,732 especially every time we see any type of catastrophe. 869 00:49:33,873 --> 00:49:38,025 I won't even go into, what's inspired the wars that we've seen 870 00:49:38,165 --> 00:49:42,453 and all the press issues that come out with different individuals... 871 00:49:42,594 --> 00:49:47,373 Anyway, that's for another conversation. - I think about the question 872 00:49:47,514 --> 00:49:50,200 about whether or not the grid collapsing 873 00:49:50,360 --> 00:49:53,417 would help move us towards a Fresco city. It could or it couldn't. 874 00:49:53,549 --> 00:49:55,613 The collapse might speed that up, but it also might make it 875 00:49:55,763 --> 00:49:59,224 far more difficult now because we can't use technology. 876 00:49:59,374 --> 00:50:01,947 If the grid collapsed, how are people going to use the Internet to communicate 877 00:50:02,075 --> 00:50:05,185 which is one of our greatest assets right now, especially as a movement? 878 00:50:05,336 --> 00:50:08,764 (Int#1) It wouldn't even collapse forever. I mean it would be a collapse of 879 00:50:08,905 --> 00:50:13,181 probably 3 or 4 weeks, but what would happen in those 3 or 4 weeks? 880 00:50:14,858 --> 00:50:17,033 - Anything can happen I think... (Int#2) It's hard to predict. 881 00:50:18,232 --> 00:50:20,908 We had an east coast blackout a handful years ago, right? 882 00:50:21,049 --> 00:50:23,802 But it only lasted a day or two, so it was beautiful. 883 00:50:23,952 --> 00:50:26,642 In most parts of New York City it was considered as a holiday. 884 00:50:26,792 --> 00:50:29,291 It was beautiful. Everyone treated each other... I mean it was really 885 00:50:29,432 --> 00:50:31,872 an indication of what humans would like to be with each other 886 00:50:32,013 --> 00:50:35,886 rather than like the system tells them to be. - Right. 887 00:50:36,026 --> 00:50:40,451 - For that night, everybody was gorgeous to each other. 888 00:50:40,611 --> 00:50:43,313 - Ask anybody that was here in 2003 about their blackout experience 889 00:50:43,463 --> 00:50:48,347 and some people had bad moments, but there was a lot of love going on. 890 00:50:48,488 --> 00:50:51,266 That was the overall instinct for most people. 891 00:50:51,886 --> 00:50:55,385 And so now, if the blackout had lasted two weeks 892 00:50:55,921 --> 00:51:00,026 when everybody's blood sugar starts to kick in, like on the fifth day. 893 00:51:00,570 --> 00:51:03,000 And they run out of food and then suddenly people start to remember 894 00:51:03,139 --> 00:51:07,810 they are armed, actually; and these aren't predictable things. 895 00:51:10,993 --> 00:51:14,984 (Int#1) But they know something is not right. They do. 896 00:51:15,754 --> 00:51:18,487 - I hope so. (Int#2) Obviously, they do... 897 00:51:18,900 --> 00:51:22,416 (Int#1)...Which is why they spend all this money like 898 00:51:22,566 --> 00:51:25,852 calling 311 and saying "Pack your go bag! Get ready!" 899 00:51:25,993 --> 00:51:28,868 This has nothing to do with 9/11. They don't give a shit. 900 00:51:29,011 --> 00:51:33,105 They really don't. They know that something else may happen. 901 00:51:33,255 --> 00:51:35,701 What that something else is? I don't know. I'm not clear on that. 902 00:51:35,841 --> 00:51:37,870 - You know what Mark Twain said? 903 00:51:38,011 --> 00:51:42,010 ...that "the Earth is the insane asylum of the universe." 904 00:51:42,319 --> 00:51:45,688 - That's great. - And so, whether people do the right thing... 905 00:51:45,829 --> 00:51:49,303 They want change in you, not themselves. 906 00:51:49,444 --> 00:51:53,073 They want to change other people to see things their way. 907 00:51:53,477 --> 00:51:57,627 - As long as US thinks that way, Britain and France and Germany 908 00:51:58,031 --> 00:52:00,190 you're going to have problems. 909 00:52:00,331 --> 00:52:03,442 If we get to more people in less time 910 00:52:03,592 --> 00:52:06,148 and that people act, talk to other people 911 00:52:06,289 --> 00:52:10,530 and we build a large enough following, we can influence the future. 912 00:52:10,671 --> 00:52:14,693 If we fail to do that, whatever happens will happen. 913 00:52:14,852 --> 00:52:17,786 That's the way I see it. (Int#2) Can you draw a distinction between... 914 00:52:17,936 --> 00:52:21,556 When we're talking about global solutions, right? 915 00:52:22,842 --> 00:52:26,382 There's one set of people 916 00:52:26,861 --> 00:52:30,270 I think, at a more citizen level, who agree and who'd think 917 00:52:30,411 --> 00:52:33,661 that we're all in this together. We have to think about this way. 918 00:52:33,806 --> 00:52:37,179 We have to find mutual solutions; it's a very mutual aid 919 00:52:37,336 --> 00:52:39,608 kind of mind-set. - Sure 920 00:52:39,803 --> 00:52:43,452 - So, how do you talk to the people who talk about black helicopters 921 00:52:43,591 --> 00:52:48,384 and one world government and all that set of fears about... 922 00:52:49,450 --> 00:52:54,095 You can't let there be a global system according to this fear set. 923 00:52:54,290 --> 00:52:56,562 - The level of... 924 00:52:57,912 --> 00:53:00,742 I can't think of a word to describe 925 00:53:00,887 --> 00:53:04,423 the ignorance and mind-lock 926 00:53:04,568 --> 00:53:07,632 and religious faith and fear 927 00:53:07,771 --> 00:53:12,004 that people have of the world trying to work together. 928 00:53:12,143 --> 00:53:14,982 And that somehow you're going to end up with 929 00:53:15,127 --> 00:53:20,553 a grand world dictator that has everyone on leather leashes... 930 00:53:20,692 --> 00:53:22,669 (Int#1) That's the Pope. 931 00:53:23,685 --> 00:53:27,719 - And it blows my mind. I get e-mails about this all the time 932 00:53:27,858 --> 00:53:31,490 and if anyone is familiar with the feedback of "Zeitgeist: Addendum" 933 00:53:31,629 --> 00:53:34,394 there have been medias critics that have brought this up 934 00:53:34,533 --> 00:53:37,236 as though we're advocating some kind of new 935 00:53:37,375 --> 00:53:40,142 tyrannical one world government. You might remember 936 00:53:40,281 --> 00:53:42,641 in the early editions of "Zeitgeist The Movie" 937 00:53:42,780 --> 00:53:44,982 I talk about how the banking system had been planning on 938 00:53:45,121 --> 00:53:47,362 making a unified banking orientation 939 00:53:47,500 --> 00:53:49,613 which is essentially one world government, because government really is 940 00:53:49,752 --> 00:53:52,282 the movement of money; and they already have this. 941 00:53:52,420 --> 00:53:55,302 It's been around and it's called the "New World Order". 942 00:53:55,447 --> 00:53:57,968 But that label is contrived. The New World Order's definition 943 00:53:58,107 --> 00:54:02,604 has changed throughout time. It was first introduced by H.G. Wells 944 00:54:02,743 --> 00:54:05,712 in his book the "New World Order", which was actually a positive book 945 00:54:05,855 --> 00:54:08,065 that was completely misinterpreted by people 946 00:54:08,222 --> 00:54:10,580 that thought he was talking about eugenics 947 00:54:10,724 --> 00:54:13,813 and controlling people and micro-chipping them, and all these things 948 00:54:13,976 --> 00:54:16,321 that were basically invented out of thin air with regards to 949 00:54:16,465 --> 00:54:19,539 what his intentions were. And then he got morphed 950 00:54:19,683 --> 00:54:23,867 and then he got used by different famous personalities throughout time; 951 00:54:23,998 --> 00:54:27,633 and then now we have this psychotic weird group 952 00:54:27,770 --> 00:54:31,105 of religious fanatics, not necessarily of a Christian or anything. 953 00:54:31,249 --> 00:54:34,381 Yet they're religious in their blind view of this fear. 954 00:54:34,528 --> 00:54:37,524 And it's a big problem. I don't know what to say... 955 00:54:37,661 --> 00:54:40,360 because you can't rationalize... (Int#2) ...because it's not rational. 956 00:54:40,503 --> 00:54:42,624 - If anyone can't realize 957 00:54:42,756 --> 00:54:47,461 that the world is a singular system, that people share all the resources 958 00:54:47,611 --> 00:54:50,853 and it's completely interrelated synergistically 959 00:54:50,991 --> 00:54:53,969 and that there are global problems as it is a singular system 960 00:54:54,113 --> 00:54:58,007 if they can't realize that humanity has to work together. 961 00:54:58,151 --> 00:55:01,484 If one group has this; another group doesn't, then they're going to fight. 962 00:55:01,628 --> 00:55:04,154 That's just the way it's always been historically, and that's just the way 963 00:55:04,291 --> 00:55:06,603 we respond to scarcity and deprivation. 964 00:55:06,753 --> 00:55:09,345 If people can't get that under their belts, I don't know what to say. 965 00:55:09,489 --> 00:55:13,041 You just have to walk away when people bring that stuff up. 966 00:55:13,185 --> 00:55:16,678 I've actually been called a "one-worlder". (Int#1) They're the greatest detractors 967 00:55:16,828 --> 00:55:19,660 to what the work people are trying to do. It's actually really frustrating. 968 00:55:19,810 --> 00:55:22,416 - It is. I understand the fear of power 969 00:55:22,560 --> 00:55:25,368 because we have been abused by power for years 970 00:55:25,690 --> 00:55:28,818 and I can understand that, but it doesn't reconcile 971 00:55:28,968 --> 00:55:31,980 the necessity to be organized. We have to get through 972 00:55:32,124 --> 00:55:36,633 this power neurosis, which is generated by the tradition of this system 973 00:55:36,771 --> 00:55:41,466 and the monetary self-interest. (Int#2) It's the hierarchy pyramid type structure 974 00:55:41,611 --> 00:55:45,245 versus a collaborative non-hierarchical. - Precisely. 975 00:55:45,389 --> 00:55:47,970 You abuse everyone at the bottom for the sake of the people at the top. 976 00:55:48,108 --> 00:55:50,475 Such as now, today... - You mean the Illuminati Triangle? 977 00:55:50,613 --> 00:55:53,145 - Well, if you want to call it that, but the triangle's been around 978 00:55:53,283 --> 00:55:56,755 for a long time in that sense. We have 1% of the population owning 40% 979 00:55:56,893 --> 00:55:59,629 of the planet's wealth, making all their money of essentially... 980 00:55:59,759 --> 00:56:03,061 the slavery of the entire... (Int#2) Pick a pharaoh, pick a king or whatever. 981 00:56:03,199 --> 00:56:06,874 - It's exactly the same. - It's just a variation a little bit better 982 00:56:07,030 --> 00:56:10,696 and it's hidden in America. People actually think they're free 983 00:56:10,834 --> 00:56:13,314 because they've been told they're free. 984 00:56:13,469 --> 00:56:16,677 They think they have democracy because they've been told. 985 00:56:16,821 --> 00:56:20,691 (Int#2) People can choose to tell themselves whatever they want. 986 00:56:20,828 --> 00:56:22,883 - They can condition themselves... I'm sure there's people... 987 00:56:23,046 --> 00:56:26,176 (Int#2) This is what I was saying to you... - It's Stockholm Syndrome. 988 00:56:26,320 --> 00:56:29,000 When somebody's been in a bad relationship for a long time 989 00:56:29,143 --> 00:56:31,793 and they've been putting up with awfulness from the other person 990 00:56:31,934 --> 00:56:35,090 for a long time, I bet they have a justification for it. 991 00:56:35,240 --> 00:56:37,585 They've come up with a way to rationalize it to themselves 992 00:56:37,729 --> 00:56:41,583 and to their friends and whoever hears them talk about it 993 00:56:41,802 --> 00:56:45,154 because otherwise, why did you put up with all that, right? 994 00:56:45,298 --> 00:56:47,325 And people do that with everything. - They do... 995 00:56:47,469 --> 00:56:49,903 They justify, they constantly justify...