1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,900 - As we talk about uprisings and rebellion 2 00:00:05,050 --> 00:00:07,577 and wars that have been going on in the world 3 00:00:07,777 --> 00:00:11,470 as we see peace deals fail, diplomacy falls short 4 00:00:11,610 --> 00:00:14,408 some are calling not to work within this framework 5 00:00:14,548 --> 00:00:18,145 but for a total overhaul of society and of culture. 6 00:00:18,285 --> 00:00:20,247 The Venus Project is one of those. 7 00:00:20,387 --> 00:00:23,357 They're pushing for a sustainable new world civilization 8 00:00:23,490 --> 00:00:26,126 unlike any other before (that's their claim). 9 00:00:26,260 --> 00:00:29,310 Roxanne Meadows from the Venus Project is here to talk about it. 10 00:00:29,567 --> 00:00:32,658 Hi Roxanne, thanks for being here. The Venus Project wants a world 11 00:00:32,798 --> 00:00:37,831 where war, poverty, hunger, debt, human suffering are not only avoidable 12 00:00:37,971 --> 00:00:43,523 but completely unacceptable. Sounds great. How could that possibly work? 13 00:00:44,438 --> 00:00:47,508 - Yes, we are calling for that, but it can't be done 14 00:00:47,648 --> 00:00:51,345 within the confines of the free enterprise system, under socialism, 15 00:00:51,485 --> 00:00:55,850 communism, or any social stratification or social system 16 00:00:55,990 --> 00:01:00,093 that has gone before. What we are introducing is a new method 17 00:01:00,227 --> 00:01:05,260 of organizing and running society based on the methods of 18 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:09,096 science and technology applied to the social system. 19 00:01:09,236 --> 00:01:12,369 I'm not talking about scientists because they've been conditioned 20 00:01:12,509 --> 00:01:14,568 in this system just like anybody else. 21 00:01:14,708 --> 00:01:20,374 They can be used to make weapons and bombs and abused in this way. 22 00:01:20,514 --> 00:01:24,611 So we are talking about what we call a Resource-Based Economy. 23 00:01:24,751 --> 00:01:30,584 Jacque Fresco has worked on this for over 75 years to arrive at this direction 24 00:01:30,724 --> 00:01:33,987 and if you look at our website: www.TheVenusProject.com 25 00:01:34,127 --> 00:01:38,200 you will see technology, you will see a new social design 26 00:01:38,340 --> 00:01:42,367 you will see the explanation of a Resource-Based Economy. 27 00:01:42,507 --> 00:01:45,400 We don't use money... - Sorry, I don't want to interrupt you 28 00:01:45,540 --> 00:01:49,403 I just wanted to say that our viewers are seeing images from your website. 29 00:01:49,543 --> 00:01:52,153 You argue that this is feasible. 30 00:01:52,293 --> 00:01:55,434 What exactly though are you offering? 31 00:01:56,089 --> 00:02:00,127 - Well, we're talking about a new way of organizing society. 32 00:02:00,267 --> 00:02:03,917 Today our technology is racing forward 33 00:02:04,057 --> 00:02:07,928 but our social designs are thousands of years old 34 00:02:08,068 --> 00:02:13,330 and they are not keeping up with our ability to produce abundance 35 00:02:13,470 --> 00:02:18,603 with the intelligent management of our resources and our technology. 36 00:02:18,743 --> 00:02:21,304 You can't do that within the monetary system. 37 00:02:21,444 --> 00:02:23,515 There is just too much corruption. 38 00:02:23,655 --> 00:02:26,950 The system breeds by promoting scarcity. 39 00:02:27,090 --> 00:02:30,394 We're talking about promoting abundance and we can still do that. 40 00:02:30,534 --> 00:02:32,913 We still have the resources to do that. 41 00:02:33,053 --> 00:02:36,097 We're talking about a system where you don't need money. 42 00:02:36,237 --> 00:02:40,911 You don't need barter, credit or servitude of any kind. 43 00:02:41,051 --> 00:02:45,487 We can organize society, organize our resources on a global scale. 44 00:02:45,627 --> 00:02:50,137 It has to be global. As long as a few nations control most of the Earth's resources 45 00:02:50,277 --> 00:02:52,656 you are going to have insurmountable problems. 46 00:02:52,796 --> 00:02:56,103 It really has to take care of the needs of everyone 47 00:02:56,243 --> 00:02:59,302 and as I'm saying, we can do that. We have the technology. 48 00:02:59,442 --> 00:03:02,000 We maybe couldn't have done it a hundred years ago 49 00:03:02,140 --> 00:03:04,177 but today we can do something like that. 50 00:03:04,317 --> 00:03:08,637 We can update our social system to fit in with our technological ability. 51 00:03:08,777 --> 00:03:12,354 - OK, I want to get a little bit more into that if we have time, but I do want to ask 52 00:03:12,494 --> 00:03:17,032 aside from money and capital, which you argue you would not use, 53 00:03:17,172 --> 00:03:20,561 we are in the US under a 2-party political system 54 00:03:20,701 --> 00:03:23,537 and we're of course gearing up for presidential campaigns now. 55 00:03:23,670 --> 00:03:26,740 So aside from the money portion, which is a total overhaul, 56 00:03:26,874 --> 00:03:30,531 what are you offering that isn't already part of a liberal agenda 57 00:03:30,671 --> 00:03:33,406 or conservative agenda? 58 00:03:33,546 --> 00:03:38,301 - It has nothing to do with that. We look at this as one agenda. 59 00:03:38,441 --> 00:03:43,548 Based on those who have the ability to persuade, to bribe 60 00:03:43,991 --> 00:03:48,722 through monetary means, to lobby for their own interests. 61 00:03:48,862 --> 00:03:52,629 This system is really not run by the bottom, by the people up. 62 00:03:52,769 --> 00:03:56,115 It's really run by the top-down, and those people who have money 63 00:03:56,255 --> 00:03:58,605 can influence people for their own ends. 64 00:03:58,739 --> 00:04:01,035 That's how laws are made. 65 00:04:01,175 --> 00:04:05,523 So we're talking about a system NOT based on politics, 66 00:04:05,663 --> 00:04:08,985 but based on scientific methods to take care of our problems. 67 00:04:09,125 --> 00:04:12,648 We have lots of problems; we're not addressing them. 68 00:04:12,788 --> 00:04:15,949 Politicians, when you think of it, what do they bring you? 69 00:04:16,089 --> 00:04:19,125 What can they do? Do they clean the air? Just go and ask them. 70 00:04:19,265 --> 00:04:21,762 Can they make you cleaner, safer transportation? 71 00:04:21,902 --> 00:04:24,498 Can they make clean energy systems? 72 00:04:24,638 --> 00:04:29,029 I don't know anything that a politician has brought us. 73 00:04:29,169 --> 00:04:33,356 It's really science that has elevated society 74 00:04:33,496 --> 00:04:37,195 but not the way we are using science today... 75 00:04:40,595 --> 00:04:43,285 - Sorry, you're breaking it up a bit, I didn't mean to interrupt you. 76 00:04:43,425 --> 00:04:46,312 Who runs things then in your world? 77 00:04:47,205 --> 00:04:50,267 - It's not a matter of 'who' runs things. 78 00:04:50,407 --> 00:04:54,241 It's how we organize society and how we meet the needs of people. 79 00:04:54,381 --> 00:04:58,066 What we do first is take a survey of the Earth's resources: 80 00:04:58,206 --> 00:05:02,810 find out what we have. That's what we based our societies on. 81 00:05:02,950 --> 00:05:06,923 Find out where the resources are, find out where the technical personnel are. 82 00:05:07,063 --> 00:05:09,569 Find out for instance where the diseases are, 83 00:05:09,709 --> 00:05:12,169 that determines how many hospitals you build. 84 00:05:12,309 --> 00:05:14,414 Find out what the needs of the people are. 85 00:05:14,554 --> 00:05:17,877 Today our society is not based on the needs of the people. 86 00:05:18,017 --> 00:05:20,152 That's quite obvious 87 00:05:20,292 --> 00:05:23,620 when there's so many people that are starving and don't have food 88 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:26,525 while other people have too much. 89 00:05:26,665 --> 00:05:32,507 So it's not based on opinion. It's not based on differential advantage. 90 00:05:32,647 --> 00:05:35,621 It's based on the needs of the people, and that's very different 91 00:05:35,761 --> 00:05:38,391 as I mentioned then today, because today, 92 00:05:38,531 --> 00:05:41,830 the society is based on wealth, property and power. 93 00:05:41,970 --> 00:05:46,914 - It sounds like science but it also sounds like kind of a utopic vision of things 94 00:05:47,014 --> 00:05:50,077 without any kind of leadership at the top-down. 95 00:05:50,217 --> 00:05:53,514 Why are you at odds (from what I understand) with other people 96 00:05:53,654 --> 00:05:56,511 who are calling for sustainable societies like the Zeitgeist Movement? 97 00:05:56,651 --> 00:05:59,855 That doesn't seem very utopian. 98 00:05:59,995 --> 00:06:03,156 - First of all, there's no such thing as utopian. 99 00:06:03,296 --> 00:06:09,136 That notion is . . . like a fixed thing that we're trying to strive for. 100 00:06:09,236 --> 00:06:12,017 There are no final frontiers. There are no utopians. -OK 101 00:06:12,157 --> 00:06:15,869 - We are not at odds with the Zeitgeist Movement 102 00:06:16,009 --> 00:06:18,338 but I would say, that all of the solutions 103 00:06:18,478 --> 00:06:21,592 that the Zeitgeist Movement speaks about concerning the future 104 00:06:21,732 --> 00:06:24,890 originated from the works of the Venus Project. 105 00:06:25,030 --> 00:06:28,652 We had no say in the runnings and the direction of the Zeitgeist Movement 106 00:06:28,792 --> 00:06:31,529 while they were using our name and our materials 107 00:06:31,669 --> 00:06:34,072 which we agreed to in the beginning. 108 00:06:34,212 --> 00:06:37,578 - Roxanne, I'm so sorry. Unfortunately we are out of time. 109 00:06:37,718 --> 00:06:39,956 I do appreciate you explaining that and coming on to tell us 110 00:06:40,096 --> 00:06:43,679 about the Venus Project. That was Roxanne Meadows.