1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:05,500 "Utopia lies at the horizon. I move two steps closer; it moves 2 00:00:05,700 --> 00:00:09,200 two steps further away. I walk another ten steps and the 3 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:12,900 horizon runs ten steps further away. No matter how far I go, 4 00:00:13,100 --> 00:00:16,600 I can never reach it. What, then, is the purpose of Utopia? 5 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,300 It is to cause us to advance." - Eduardo Galeano 6 00:00:22,004 --> 00:00:26,405 - We live in a world of perpetual warfare, and crime and corruption. 7 00:00:26,585 --> 00:00:29,616 Protest after protest, that continue to go perpetually. 8 00:00:30,075 --> 00:00:32,246 It seems that we need a different approach. 9 00:00:32,386 --> 00:00:34,636 How does The Venus Project approach this? 10 00:00:34,968 --> 00:00:40,968 - If you really wish to bring an end to war, poverty, hunger, 11 00:00:41,709 --> 00:00:48,470 and most crimes, what we have to do, eventually through education, 12 00:00:48,683 --> 00:00:52,952 is declare all of the Earth's resources 13 00:00:53,153 --> 00:00:57,416 as the common heritage of all the world's people. 14 00:00:57,717 --> 00:01:00,705 I see that as the only means. 15 00:01:00,925 --> 00:01:03,312 So this is what we have to strive toward. 16 00:01:03,474 --> 00:01:07,888 I don't say this can be accomplished in one swoop. 17 00:01:08,155 --> 00:01:10,867 It's a slow process of education. 18 00:01:11,219 --> 00:01:13,974 - Why do you propose such a radical change? 19 00:01:15,395 --> 00:01:18,584 - Well, I would like to see an end to war, poverty, 20 00:01:18,737 --> 00:01:20,924 unnecessary human suffering, 21 00:01:21,141 --> 00:01:25,334 and I can't see it within a monetary-based system. 22 00:01:25,528 --> 00:01:31,340 I see constant repeat of the same series of events: 23 00:01:31,509 --> 00:01:34,219 war, poverty, recession. 24 00:01:34,639 --> 00:01:37,880 - Is monetary economics at the root of the problem, 25 00:01:38,163 --> 00:01:41,567 and can it be fixed? If it can't be fixed, why not? 26 00:01:41,714 --> 00:01:45,333 - Frankly, within this system, in order to survive, 27 00:01:45,477 --> 00:01:48,895 you have to submit to the methods of this system. 28 00:01:49,162 --> 00:01:52,432 A lawyer is not out there to help you always. 29 00:01:52,540 --> 00:01:55,472 There's money in it for the law firm. In other words, 30 00:01:55,585 --> 00:02:00,590 the motivation is not what you would call based on human concern. 31 00:02:00,810 --> 00:02:03,092 It's based on the bottom line. 32 00:02:03,338 --> 00:02:07,103 The motivation in most industries, the bottom line is profit, 33 00:02:07,285 --> 00:02:10,125 not the betterment of humanity, 34 00:02:10,275 --> 00:02:13,350 and they would feel that that is a by-product of this system. 35 00:02:13,464 --> 00:02:14,964 I don't believe that. 36 00:02:15,126 --> 00:02:18,791 It's that the rules of the game were invented so many years ago, 37 00:02:19,007 --> 00:02:23,559 they no longer fit the economic circumstances of the times. 38 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:26,930 What we would like to do, is update our system, 39 00:02:27,145 --> 00:02:30,473 so that it fits the new technology. 40 00:02:30,619 --> 00:02:35,795 - Would the election of people with higher moral content solve the problem? 41 00:02:36,043 --> 00:02:40,701 No, because even if we succeeded in electing people 42 00:02:40,811 --> 00:02:44,018 of unquestionable moral character, 43 00:02:44,156 --> 00:02:48,162 if we ran out of resources, there'd be lying, cheating, stealing, 44 00:02:48,308 --> 00:02:52,455 and artificialities. It isn't moral character that we need. 45 00:02:52,574 --> 00:02:55,947 It's the intelligent management of the earth's resources. 46 00:02:56,273 --> 00:03:02,078 The real future depends on our ability to solve scarcity problems, 47 00:03:02,288 --> 00:03:06,584 overcome those problems through our own creative ingenuity. 48 00:03:06,724 --> 00:03:09,200 - What is a resource-based economy? 49 00:03:09,901 --> 00:03:13,876 and how does that compare with a monetary-based economy? 50 00:03:14,123 --> 00:03:18,100 - In a monetary-based economy, we use money as a medium of exchange. 51 00:03:19,144 --> 00:03:22,495 Now, money doesn't represent our capacity to produce. 52 00:03:22,738 --> 00:03:27,169 It just represents a method designed hundreds of years ago, 53 00:03:27,305 --> 00:03:29,729 and established within the system. 54 00:03:29,866 --> 00:03:34,572 In the monetary-based system, it's wealth, property and power, 55 00:03:34,726 --> 00:03:37,299 and that's the main directive. 56 00:03:37,414 --> 00:03:39,860 Now, today we say "How much will it cost?" 57 00:03:40,115 --> 00:03:42,193 That isn't really the question. 58 00:03:42,372 --> 00:03:47,204 The real question is "Do we have the resources to build that kind of project?" 59 00:03:47,391 --> 00:03:50,607 Yes, we do. "Do we have the money? " No, we don't. 60 00:03:50,734 --> 00:03:53,680 But we have more than enough resources available 61 00:03:53,781 --> 00:03:55,726 to build anything we want to build. 62 00:03:55,850 --> 00:03:58,659 If you have difficulty with that, consider this: 63 00:03:58,805 --> 00:04:01,980 Suppose all the money in the world disappeared tomorrow morning. 64 00:04:02,414 --> 00:04:06,106 As long as there are farms, water, building mater[ials], 65 00:04:06,283 --> 00:04:07,820 we can build anything we want to build. 66 00:04:08,052 --> 00:04:12,688 It isn't money that people need, it's access to resources. 67 00:04:13,008 --> 00:04:15,980 In other words, it was necessary, a hundred years ago, 68 00:04:16,081 --> 00:04:19,358 to use a monetary system for the distribution of products. 69 00:04:19,840 --> 00:04:23,811 Today, we have the technology to make those things available. 70 00:04:23,942 --> 00:04:25,942 What are we chiseling off each other for? 71 00:04:26,638 --> 00:04:31,280 A resource-based economic system does not use money, barter, trade, 72 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:34,573 or any of the older systems that were prevalent. 73 00:04:34,728 --> 00:04:37,305 It's based on designing a culture 74 00:04:37,706 --> 00:04:41,682 that fits in with the carrying capacity of the world's resources. 75 00:04:41,795 --> 00:04:45,441 Anything else other than that will not work. 76 00:04:45,738 --> 00:04:49,760 It's like sending people to the moon without water, without food, 77 00:04:49,901 --> 00:04:52,885 operating on the assumption that the moon will provide. 78 00:04:53,423 --> 00:04:59,753 It has to be based- all science and technology must be based- upon resources. 79 00:05:00,069 --> 00:05:04,095 And without resources, whatever planning you do, 80 00:05:04,219 --> 00:05:07,332 if you don't have the resources, it's invalidated. 81 00:05:08,012 --> 00:05:12,582 So, the resources must coincide with the industrial potential. 82 00:05:12,860 --> 00:05:18,157 - How does that offer a different approach to our society? 83 00:05:18,362 --> 00:05:21,510 - It would change the basic outlook of people. 84 00:05:21,738 --> 00:05:25,973 There will be no such thing as unemployment, no such thing as war, 85 00:05:26,074 --> 00:05:30,208 no police, no prisons, no banks, no money, 86 00:05:30,416 --> 00:05:35,479 but people would have access to new housing, education, health care, 87 00:05:35,651 --> 00:05:38,848 and all of the things we don't have access [to] today, 88 00:05:38,949 --> 00:05:41,445 without putting out a great deal of money. 89 00:05:43,026 --> 00:05:46,698 - If I read you correctly, you're talking about no money, no credit, 90 00:05:46,855 --> 00:05:52,155 no borrowing, no debt, no bartering? Where's the incentive? 91 00:05:52,332 --> 00:05:56,044 - No war, no territorial disputes, 92 00:05:56,896 --> 00:05:59,919 crime reduction by about 90%, 93 00:06:00,904 --> 00:06:06,025 the end of fear, of economic deprivation, 94 00:06:06,252 --> 00:06:08,051 or losing your home, 95 00:06:08,307 --> 00:06:13,648 or illnesses which you cannot afford economically to take care of. 96 00:06:13,930 --> 00:06:17,852 All that comes to an end. If that isn't a good enough incentive, 97 00:06:18,053 --> 00:06:19,553 I don't know what is. 98 00:06:20,552 --> 00:06:23,019 A lot of people are brought up to believe that money 99 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:26,285 is the driving force that generates incentive. 100 00:06:26,452 --> 00:06:30,529 It also generates incentive for corruption, embezzlement, 101 00:06:30,694 --> 00:06:35,554 taking care of your brother-in-law, unfair practices, racial discrimination. 102 00:06:36,386 --> 00:06:39,349 So I'm saying that, yes, money does produce incentive, 103 00:06:39,450 --> 00:06:42,812 but it also produces all the other factors, which are generally left out. 104 00:06:43,587 --> 00:06:46,557 I would say the people we remember in history 105 00:06:47,084 --> 00:06:50,737 are not the people who made a buck, or made lots of money. 106 00:06:50,879 --> 00:06:53,683 They are people that have given their lives 107 00:06:54,156 --> 00:06:58,155 to benefit the lives of other people, without financial gain. 108 00:06:58,357 --> 00:07:00,939 So I'm saying, the real people that we admire 109 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:05,317 are the people who did public works, not because of monetary incentive. 110 00:07:05,457 --> 00:07:09,740 I'm afraid of people that do things for money. I don't feel secure about it. 111 00:07:09,990 --> 00:07:12,012 - What about human nature? 112 00:07:13,051 --> 00:07:16,670 - I think that environment shapes values and behavior. 113 00:07:16,881 --> 00:07:20,219 Genetics, to a certain extent, set the propensity, 114 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:23,593 but they do not give us a value system. 115 00:07:23,773 --> 00:07:29,736 Genetics is not responsible for greed, bigotry, racism, prejudice. 116 00:07:29,838 --> 00:07:31,338 All that is learned. 117 00:07:31,637 --> 00:07:35,649 So if you don't alter the condition that generates that, 118 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:37,260 I don't see a solution. 119 00:07:37,510 --> 00:07:41,980 What The Venus Project advocates is the redesign of our culture, 120 00:07:42,123 --> 00:07:45,649 so that those conditions no longer exist. 121 00:07:45,844 --> 00:07:49,728 - And what about scarcity? Can that be eliminated? 122 00:07:50,447 --> 00:07:55,857 - Do we have enough resources to satisfy the growing population in the world? 123 00:07:55,997 --> 00:07:59,200 Yes, today we have more than enough, 124 00:07:59,648 --> 00:08:03,858 and it's incontestably proven that we have more than enough. 125 00:08:04,076 --> 00:08:08,106 It's just that the ways we manage our resources are wasteful. 126 00:08:08,395 --> 00:08:11,771 We change the design of automobiles every year, 127 00:08:11,972 --> 00:08:14,147 so that people will buy new cars. 128 00:08:14,685 --> 00:08:18,916 We change the spring fashion, the fall fashion, the winter fashion, 129 00:08:19,117 --> 00:08:23,546 so you will buy things, and constantly be involved in purchasing things. 130 00:08:23,794 --> 00:08:27,898 So, we will engineer, innovate, and make newer things, 131 00:08:28,046 --> 00:08:31,516 designed not to wear out and break down. 132 00:08:33,252 --> 00:08:35,533 - What does The Venus Project represent? 133 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:38,578 - One world working in one direction, 134 00:08:38,857 --> 00:08:41,988 the intelligent management of resources, and upgrading 135 00:08:42,089 --> 00:08:45,318 the standard of living for all the world's people, 136 00:08:45,558 --> 00:08:49,153 with profits to none, and service to everyone. 137 00:08:49,572 --> 00:08:53,727 - So how do you envision a transition into this type of system? 138 00:08:54,578 --> 00:08:58,829 - If you keep bringing in machines, and replacing human beings, 139 00:08:58,985 --> 00:09:01,527 the majority of people throughout the world 140 00:09:01,728 --> 00:09:05,969 will not have the purchasing power, to buy goods or services. 141 00:09:06,252 --> 00:09:09,853 This will bring an end to the old monetary system. 142 00:09:10,170 --> 00:09:14,448 I would see economic collapse as the only system 143 00:09:14,597 --> 00:09:16,926 that willl bring people around to say that 144 00:09:17,247 --> 00:09:23,441 "Gee, I see that the people I've elected into political office 145 00:09:23,558 --> 00:09:27,208 are not competent enough to get us out of this problem," 146 00:09:27,396 --> 00:09:30,854 and they'll be looking for other possible alternatives. 147 00:09:31,041 --> 00:09:35,894 The more people know about it, the more likely that it may be installed. 148 00:09:36,441 --> 00:09:40,162 The Venus Project does not say "This is what the future will be." 149 00:09:40,513 --> 00:09:43,833 All it says is "This is what the future can be." 150 00:09:44,028 --> 00:09:46,771 And that is what The Venus Project has to offer: 151 00:09:46,993 --> 00:09:49,945 the methodology of how to achieve 152 00:09:50,046 --> 00:09:53,397 a higher standard of living, for all the world's people, 153 00:09:53,864 --> 00:09:57,912 without the creation of the uniformity, or standardization, 154 00:09:58,577 --> 00:10:04,277 or subservience to an elite form that manages government. 155 00:10:04,380 --> 00:10:08,812 - What problems stand in the way of us implementing this type of transition? 156 00:10:09,318 --> 00:10:13,868 - Traditions, habits, indoctrination, propaganda. 157 00:10:13,973 --> 00:10:18,501 We are all propagandized to accept our system as the best system. 158 00:10:18,673 --> 00:10:23,908 We are all given stories about the culture, our cultural history, 159 00:10:24,072 --> 00:10:27,648 and which has left out the detrimental aspects. 160 00:10:27,828 --> 00:10:34,128 All societies tend to support the dominant values of that society. 161 00:10:34,697 --> 00:10:37,469 There's no such thing as an 'objective society.' 162 00:10:37,599 --> 00:10:41,888 If there were, you couldn't have German scientists, American scientists, 163 00:10:41,988 --> 00:10:45,653 British scientists, Dutch scientists, French scientists, 164 00:10:45,754 --> 00:10:48,427 working in serving their government. 165 00:10:49,052 --> 00:10:52,210 Real science has no allegiance to government. 166 00:10:52,411 --> 00:10:55,368 It only has allegiance to methodology. 167 00:10:55,608 --> 00:10:59,368 So this is not a loyalty to the Fresco system, 168 00:10:59,548 --> 00:11:02,452 or loyalty to The Venus Project. I'd be against that. 169 00:11:02,699 --> 00:11:06,091 You have loyalty to the Earth, and all the people that live on it. 170 00:11:10,505 --> 00:11:13,468 - Who decides what the future will be? 171 00:11:13,788 --> 00:11:16,949 - I don't think anyone ought to decide what the future will be, 172 00:11:17,410 --> 00:11:21,073 but we ought to decide where it is that we wish to go, 173 00:11:21,252 --> 00:11:24,204 and what kind of world we wish to live in, 174 00:11:24,430 --> 00:11:29,770 and do we have the facilities and the resources to build such a world? 175 00:11:29,874 --> 00:11:32,274 The answer to that is "Yes, we do have 176 00:11:32,429 --> 00:11:35,843 the ability and the resources to build such a world." 177 00:11:35,983 --> 00:11:39,121 There is no way for you to make it on your own. 178 00:11:39,322 --> 00:11:43,471 Either we think globally, or we perish individually. 179 00:11:48,672 --> 00:11:52,025 We welcome your criticism of The Venus Project. 180 00:11:52,165 --> 00:11:56,503 We welcome the participation of everybody, and the contributions. 181 00:11:56,737 --> 00:12:00,502 We have no idea of what the ideal society would be, 182 00:12:00,728 --> 00:12:03,710 nor do we entertain such views as Utopia. 183 00:12:03,921 --> 00:12:09,075 We feel that all systems will constantly change to whatever conditions 184 00:12:09,245 --> 00:12:12,428 are necessary, to fit the needs of the times. 185 00:12:12,592 --> 00:12:17,942 We have no fixed blueprints, so we invite participation, 186 00:12:18,098 --> 00:12:20,317 and we invite recommended changes, 187 00:12:20,517 --> 00:12:25,518 because the history of civilization is the story of change. 188 00:12:29,518 --> 00:12:35,518 Thank you... Jacque Fresco ...for the inspiration 189 00:12:54,000 --> 00:13:00,000 Learn about The Venus Project. 190 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:14,000 Follow the journey: facebook/inspirationjourney 191 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:21,000 Made by Maximilian