1 00:00:02,190 --> 00:00:07,810 Rhyolite Entertainment Presents 2 00:00:09,941 --> 00:00:11,941 Zeitgeist Vancouver Lecture Series 3 00:00:12,110 --> 00:00:14,610 Part II - Resource-Based Economic Model Explained 4 00:00:15,555 --> 00:00:17,162 Thank you all for coming. 5 00:00:17,402 --> 00:00:21,124 This lecture is entitled a 'Resource-Based Economic Model Explained', 6 00:00:21,264 --> 00:00:24,267 and it's designed to clearly explain the structure of the economic model 7 00:00:24,407 --> 00:00:26,353 proposed by The Zeitgeist Movement. 8 00:00:26,564 --> 00:00:28,564 So let's jump right into it. 9 00:00:31,441 --> 00:00:34,207 Assuming our goal of survival, the governing structure 10 00:00:34,347 --> 00:00:36,979 of our present socioeconomic system 11 00:00:37,119 --> 00:00:40,135 ignores what could be termed the 'life-ground'. 12 00:00:40,275 --> 00:00:43,600 That is, the factors necessary to support human survival 13 00:00:43,740 --> 00:00:46,867 are not insured, and in fact are not even considered 14 00:00:47,007 --> 00:00:50,551 within the social system we live under. They can't be. 15 00:00:50,691 --> 00:00:53,914 When the extraction and consumption of the Earth's resources 16 00:00:54,054 --> 00:00:57,214 at an ever-accelerating rate is the foundation of society, 17 00:00:57,354 --> 00:01:00,602 it doesn't take a genius to realize the mathematical clash 18 00:01:00,742 --> 00:01:03,527 between living on a planet of finite resources 19 00:01:03,667 --> 00:01:06,460 and in a system that depends on infinite growth. 20 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:08,775 It is unsustainable inherently, 21 00:01:08,915 --> 00:01:11,025 with the only question being if we will realize 22 00:01:11,165 --> 00:01:15,237 this eco-genocidal uncertainty before we destroy ourselves. 23 00:01:15,377 --> 00:01:17,247 Now, the point of this lecture 24 00:01:17,387 --> 00:01:19,900 is to address the Resource-Based Economic Model, 25 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:23,170 so I will not spend too much time discussing the inherent flaws 26 00:01:23,310 --> 00:01:25,938 and invalidity of our present system. 27 00:01:26,178 --> 00:01:27,778 But briefly... 28 00:01:29,798 --> 00:01:33,179 the infinite-growth model, aside from being mathematically unsustainable 29 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:37,605 and leading only to problems, produces outrageous waste 30 00:01:37,745 --> 00:01:41,315 both through intrinsic obsolescence and planned obsolescence. 31 00:01:41,455 --> 00:01:45,164 Intrinsic obsolescence simply refers to the immediate inferiority 32 00:01:45,304 --> 00:01:49,350 of all goods produced in a market system, which is predicated on competition. 33 00:01:49,976 --> 00:01:52,904 And planned obsolescence refers to the tendency for companies 34 00:01:53,044 --> 00:01:56,999 to deliberately withhold technical efficiency within all products 35 00:01:57,139 --> 00:02:00,559 so that they break down, causing more consumption. 36 00:02:01,385 --> 00:02:04,736 In a Resource-Based Economy we would create products that last 37 00:02:04,876 --> 00:02:08,854 with no need to create inferior products, nor design them to break down. 38 00:02:12,016 --> 00:02:14,732 Next, the monetary-market system 39 00:02:14,872 --> 00:02:17,838 has set up a corruption-generating incentive system 40 00:02:17,978 --> 00:02:21,345 where fellow human beings are seen as barriers to our success, 41 00:02:21,485 --> 00:02:23,857 from the need to compete with each other for labor, 42 00:02:23,997 --> 00:02:26,855 to corporations competing against each other for market share, 43 00:02:26,995 --> 00:02:29,773 to governments competing for economic dominance. 44 00:02:29,913 --> 00:02:32,338 The monetary system can safely be considered the basis 45 00:02:32,478 --> 00:02:35,331 for the vast majority of crime, from large-scale corporate 46 00:02:35,471 --> 00:02:38,078 and financial crime, to drug-related crimes, 47 00:02:38,218 --> 00:02:41,517 to the poverty-induced backgrounds that lead to violence, theft, 48 00:02:41,657 --> 00:02:44,306 and many other complex social disorders. 49 00:02:44,446 --> 00:02:47,991 In a Resource-Based Economy, the incentive system changes drastically. 50 00:02:48,131 --> 00:02:52,429 I will go into this more as I explain the Resource-Based Economic Model. 51 00:02:56,189 --> 00:02:58,539 The monetary-market system creates scarcity, 52 00:02:58,679 --> 00:03:01,114 which at this point is mostly artificial. 53 00:03:01,254 --> 00:03:05,296 We have enough food to feed the world's population many times over, 54 00:03:05,436 --> 00:03:08,362 we have renewable energies that can last us thousands of years, 55 00:03:08,502 --> 00:03:11,522 and we have incredible technologies that can raise the standards of living 56 00:03:11,662 --> 00:03:14,981 of all people to well above what the richest man today enjoys. 57 00:03:15,900 --> 00:03:19,658 But the economic system that we currently live under paralyzes this potential 58 00:03:19,798 --> 00:03:23,008 due to its scarcity-driven, self-preserving mechanisms 59 00:03:23,148 --> 00:03:26,846 where human well-being is always secondary to monetary gain. 60 00:03:26,986 --> 00:03:29,097 So, in a Resource-Based Economy 61 00:03:29,237 --> 00:03:32,538 the goal is to provide access abundance to all the world's people, 62 00:03:32,678 --> 00:03:34,997 removing a great majority of the social problems 63 00:03:35,137 --> 00:03:37,546 that a scarcity environment generates. 64 00:03:41,178 --> 00:03:43,984 We have the resources, but not the money. 65 00:03:44,124 --> 00:03:46,778 In the monetary system, we always have to succumb 66 00:03:46,918 --> 00:03:51,103 to what our purchasing power will allow us individually, or society as a whole. 67 00:03:51,243 --> 00:03:53,947 This prevents us from asking the real questions: 68 00:03:54,087 --> 00:03:57,692 "Do we have the resources?" and "Do we have the technological capability?" 69 00:03:57,832 --> 00:04:00,845 to solve our broadest social problems of war, poverty, 70 00:04:00,985 --> 00:04:03,580 corruption, and environmental degradation? 71 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:06,120 The answer is a big resounding "Yes!" 72 00:04:06,220 --> 00:04:10,432 but not from within the monetary system, where the bottom line is profit. 73 00:04:13,682 --> 00:04:16,261 New technological advents are immensely paralyzed 74 00:04:16,401 --> 00:04:18,463 within the monetary-market system, 75 00:04:18,603 --> 00:04:20,965 from potentials with renewable energies, 76 00:04:21,105 --> 00:04:23,515 to rapid-speed transportation systems, 77 00:04:23,655 --> 00:04:26,071 to methods for food cultivation, 78 00:04:26,211 --> 00:04:30,702 to the ability to create superior products that never break down or wear out, 79 00:04:30,842 --> 00:04:33,583 our true technological capabilities remain unexpressed 80 00:04:33,723 --> 00:04:36,852 and tragically paralyzed by the present system. 81 00:04:36,992 --> 00:04:40,108 A Resource-Based Economy is concerned simply with the most efficient 82 00:04:40,248 --> 00:04:43,969 and sustainable ways to manage, produce and distribute resources 83 00:04:44,109 --> 00:04:46,903 without the interference of an artificial accounting system 84 00:04:47,043 --> 00:04:49,200 that the monetary system assumes. 85 00:04:49,340 --> 00:04:51,435 The market system would be dissolved, 86 00:04:51,575 --> 00:04:55,360 with the religious notion of the 'invisible hand' to be outgrown, 87 00:04:55,500 --> 00:04:58,998 replaced with a system based on an underlying foundation 88 00:04:59,138 --> 00:05:02,514 of what are the most sustainable and efficient ways to manage Earth's resources, 89 00:05:02,654 --> 00:05:05,439 as determined by the scientific method. 90 00:05:05,579 --> 00:05:08,768 Our scientific and technological advancements over the last century 91 00:05:08,908 --> 00:05:11,996 have not been met with equal progress in our social system. 92 00:05:12,136 --> 00:05:14,804 It is time we implement a new social system 93 00:05:14,944 --> 00:05:17,526 that reflects present-day knowledge in terms of science 94 00:05:17,666 --> 00:05:19,803 and technological know-how. 95 00:05:20,225 --> 00:05:24,189 Part II - The Mechanics and Methodology of a Resource-Based Economy. 96 00:05:24,890 --> 00:05:27,071 So, how should we orient this new system 97 00:05:27,211 --> 00:05:29,771 if our goal is survival for the species? 98 00:05:29,911 --> 00:05:32,070 Logically, the management of Earth's resources 99 00:05:32,210 --> 00:05:34,601 would be a fundamental priority of society, 100 00:05:34,741 --> 00:05:38,127 with all Earthly activity centered around these resources, 101 00:05:38,267 --> 00:05:42,551 and the methodology that we would utilize to achieve peak sustainability 102 00:05:42,691 --> 00:05:45,170 and peak efficiency becomes objective. 103 00:05:45,310 --> 00:05:49,709 It is not at the whims of political opinions, or any other subjective biases. 104 00:05:49,849 --> 00:05:52,064 The scientific method is the best-known method 105 00:05:52,204 --> 00:05:55,542 for the discovery and application of the laws of nature. 106 00:05:56,112 --> 00:05:58,199 It's what's behind virtually every advancement 107 00:05:58,339 --> 00:06:01,543 that has improved the lives of the human species. 108 00:06:01,683 --> 00:06:03,895 Yet, up until this day we have not applied its methods 109 00:06:04,035 --> 00:06:08,139 to our society as a whole, only to isolated areas of study. 110 00:06:10,598 --> 00:06:13,139 As will be touched upon throughout this presentation, 111 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:16,574 as well as in my subsequent lecture called 'Updating Human Values', 112 00:06:16,714 --> 00:06:19,080 the scientific method is also an attitude, 113 00:06:19,220 --> 00:06:23,014 an approach to a new value system that is more relevant to our lives. 114 00:06:23,154 --> 00:06:25,106 To quote Stuart Chase: 115 00:06:25,246 --> 00:06:28,387 "The scientific method is concerned with how things do happen, 116 00:06:28,527 --> 00:06:30,699 not how they ought to happen. 117 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:34,312 Most of us are amateur scientists today, though we are seldom aware of it. 118 00:06:34,452 --> 00:06:37,172 The scientific method is not primarily a matter of laboratories 119 00:06:37,312 --> 00:06:39,678 and atom smashers, or even meter sticks; 120 00:06:39,818 --> 00:06:42,755 it is a way of looking at things, a way of gathering from the world 121 00:06:42,895 --> 00:06:45,779 outside knowledge which will stay put." 122 00:06:46,968 --> 00:06:49,299 So, with this in mind, I am going to demonstrate 123 00:06:49,439 --> 00:06:52,281 how the scientific method can be applied to society. 124 00:06:52,421 --> 00:06:56,175 To do this, we are going to ignore the artificial barriers that exist today; 125 00:06:56,315 --> 00:07:00,558 by these I mean national borders, religious divisions, the monetary system, 126 00:07:00,698 --> 00:07:03,616 supply and demand as practiced within the market system, 127 00:07:03,756 --> 00:07:06,416 and any other traditionalized notion of social affairs 128 00:07:06,556 --> 00:07:09,646 that is off the radar of most people today. 129 00:07:09,786 --> 00:07:12,409 In other words, how would we go about designing our world 130 00:07:12,549 --> 00:07:16,053 with the goal of nothing less than maximizing our quality of life 131 00:07:16,193 --> 00:07:19,172 through the most peak efficient and sustainable practices known, 132 00:07:19,312 --> 00:07:21,631 while ensuring the protection of the environment? 133 00:07:24,617 --> 00:07:28,372 Management. Since we all need resources to survive, 134 00:07:28,512 --> 00:07:32,066 logically the first step would be to do a survey of all earthly resources. 135 00:07:32,206 --> 00:07:34,278 It would seem illogical to begin any other way, 136 00:07:34,418 --> 00:07:38,553 as we cannot arrive at intelligent decisions with regard to resource management 137 00:07:38,693 --> 00:07:42,678 if we are unsure as to our inventory of these resources. 138 00:07:43,298 --> 00:07:47,836 So, we simply locate and identify every physical resource on the planet, 139 00:07:47,976 --> 00:07:50,667 along with the amounts available in each location, 140 00:07:50,807 --> 00:07:53,918 from mineral deposits to clean renewable energy potentials, 141 00:07:54,058 --> 00:07:57,621 to fresh water springs, to the most arable land for food cultivation, 142 00:07:57,738 --> 00:07:59,138 and so forth. 143 00:07:59,254 --> 00:08:02,333 And then we classify our findings into different components, 144 00:08:02,473 --> 00:08:05,893 from biotic, meaning those derived from the biosphere such as forest, 145 00:08:06,034 --> 00:08:08,210 maritime organisms and mineral fuels, 146 00:08:08,350 --> 00:08:11,733 to abiotic such as arable lands, water and raw materials 147 00:08:11,873 --> 00:08:14,302 such as gold, iron and ore. 148 00:08:15,394 --> 00:08:18,670 And we also need to track the consumption and regeneration of these resources 149 00:08:18,810 --> 00:08:21,413 so that we can manage all of these life-supporting goods 150 00:08:21,553 --> 00:08:23,788 to ensure maximum sustainability. 151 00:08:23,928 --> 00:08:26,444 If for any reason we find that there is a scarcity 152 00:08:26,584 --> 00:08:30,175 of any particular resource, research is accordingly conducted 153 00:08:30,315 --> 00:08:32,809 to find substitutes and technological solutions 154 00:08:32,949 --> 00:08:36,040 that compensate for any possible shortage. 155 00:08:37,774 --> 00:08:41,260 Now, because the Earth is one synergistically connected system, 156 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:44,826 we need to treat it as such, as our lives of course depend upon 157 00:08:44,966 --> 00:08:47,543 the integrity or health of the planet. 158 00:08:47,683 --> 00:08:52,948 Resources are not uniformly distributed across the globe. Therefore, 159 00:08:53,088 --> 00:08:57,379 as the planet demands, we must implement a Global Resource Management System 160 00:08:57,519 --> 00:09:01,961 in order to optimize the strategic use and preservation of these resources. 161 00:09:02,846 --> 00:09:05,040 This Global Resource Management System 162 00:09:05,180 --> 00:09:08,959 could be compared to a central nervous system, but for the entire Earth. 163 00:09:09,099 --> 00:09:12,523 And before you think this is some fanciful idea, the IT Services company 164 00:09:12,663 --> 00:09:16,824 HP Labs, is currently developing a program to build exactly this, 165 00:09:16,964 --> 00:09:20,281 a planet-wide sensing network using billions of tiny, 166 00:09:20,421 --> 00:09:22,489 exquisitely sensitive detectors, 167 00:09:22,629 --> 00:09:25,226 with the purpose of monitoring and tracking the location, 168 00:09:25,366 --> 00:09:28,992 consumption rates, and availability of all earthly resources. 169 00:09:31,354 --> 00:09:32,854 Production. 170 00:09:34,175 --> 00:09:37,314 Once we have our Global Resource Management System implemented, 171 00:09:37,454 --> 00:09:40,014 we need to take care of the issue of production. 172 00:09:40,298 --> 00:09:43,615 Applying the scientific method to this stage of resource management, 173 00:09:43,755 --> 00:09:46,062 we would arrive at the obvious necessity 174 00:09:46,202 --> 00:09:49,501 of preserving Earth's resources as much as technically possible. 175 00:09:49,641 --> 00:09:53,596 We need to strategically preserve the planet's finite resources 176 00:09:53,736 --> 00:09:56,145 to the optimum sustainability point possible 177 00:09:56,285 --> 00:09:59,223 at a given time, given the current state of technology. 178 00:10:02,191 --> 00:10:05,151 Next, as I will cover more specifically in the subsequent section, 179 00:10:05,291 --> 00:10:09,162 we must recognize that certain resources are much more viable than others, 180 00:10:09,302 --> 00:10:13,332 such as the innumerable supply of clean renewable energies we have at our luxury, 181 00:10:13,472 --> 00:10:17,742 compared to the ecologically detrimental effects that fossil fuels have. 182 00:10:17,882 --> 00:10:21,012 In other words, we need to exercise strategic safety 183 00:10:21,152 --> 00:10:23,956 in order to balance the negative retroactions 184 00:10:24,096 --> 00:10:28,733 or environmentally damaging effects that certain resources invariably have. 185 00:10:30,659 --> 00:10:33,313 Lastly and perhaps most importantly, 186 00:10:33,453 --> 00:10:36,823 for the sake of resource preservation and peak sustainability, 187 00:10:36,963 --> 00:10:41,583 we must design all products to be as strategically efficient as possible. 188 00:10:41,723 --> 00:10:44,283 Now to do this, we need to do three things. 189 00:10:44,423 --> 00:10:48,647 The first is to design goods to last as long as possible. 190 00:10:48,787 --> 00:10:52,407 This would be in contrast to the planned obsolescence that runs rampant 191 00:10:52,547 --> 00:10:55,982 in the monetary system, which exhausts our resources needlessly 192 00:10:56,122 --> 00:10:59,300 and disallows any real form of technical efficiency. 193 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:04,133 For example, light bulbs used to be designed to last over 100 years. 194 00:11:04,364 --> 00:11:06,341 But with the rise of consumerism, 195 00:11:06,481 --> 00:11:10,134 companies deliberately elected to withhold technical efficiency in light bulbs 196 00:11:10,274 --> 00:11:14,327 and drastically reduce the amount of life in each one. 197 00:11:14,467 --> 00:11:17,494 There is simply no reason for this in a Resource-Based Economy. 198 00:11:19,034 --> 00:11:23,016 The second thing we must consider for strategic efficiency, 199 00:11:23,156 --> 00:11:26,532 is that all products must be made to be as recyclable as possible. 200 00:11:26,672 --> 00:11:29,190 Therefore, design and production of all products 201 00:11:29,330 --> 00:11:32,780 must take this into account from the initial stages of production. 202 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:35,878 And the third thing, critical to consider, 203 00:11:36,019 --> 00:11:38,980 is that products must be designed to be updateable. 204 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:42,481 Due to the exponentially accelerating advancement of technology, 205 00:11:42,621 --> 00:11:46,595 products that are especially subject to technological obsolescence 206 00:11:46,735 --> 00:11:49,753 must be designed to foreshadow such advancements. 207 00:11:49,893 --> 00:11:53,196 It is senseless to throw away an entire computer system 208 00:11:53,336 --> 00:11:56,176 just because one small component is outdated. 209 00:11:56,316 --> 00:11:59,721 So we design the product to be updateable, to be globally standardized 210 00:11:59,861 --> 00:12:01,361 and interchangeable. 211 00:12:02,584 --> 00:12:06,504 So, for the production process, we have strategic preservation, 212 00:12:06,644 --> 00:12:09,687 strategic safety, and strategic efficiency. 213 00:12:10,127 --> 00:12:13,884 We must recognize that these processes are entirely technical, 214 00:12:14,024 --> 00:12:16,868 devoid of human opinion and personal biases. 215 00:12:17,308 --> 00:12:19,795 Due to this, we simply input the variables 216 00:12:19,935 --> 00:12:23,666 into a production management system, allowing us always to arrive at 217 00:12:23,806 --> 00:12:27,683 the optimal decision with the current state of scientific knowledge. 218 00:12:27,823 --> 00:12:29,451 No reason to vote for it; 219 00:12:29,591 --> 00:12:33,399 it is a scientifically derived process that unfolds objectively. 220 00:12:33,539 --> 00:12:35,704 And while this might seem complex, 221 00:12:35,844 --> 00:12:38,607 this is done in detached ways all over the world. 222 00:12:38,747 --> 00:12:42,458 The relevant issue here is unifying this process on a global scale 223 00:12:42,598 --> 00:12:46,514 for the purpose of peak efficiency and hence peak sustainability. 224 00:12:48,557 --> 00:12:51,995 Let's look at distribution, let's tackle this issue. 225 00:12:52,533 --> 00:12:55,787 If we apply the scientific method to this stage of resource management, 226 00:12:55,927 --> 00:12:57,427 how would it unfold? 227 00:12:58,123 --> 00:13:00,411 For the sake of resource preservation, 228 00:13:00,551 --> 00:13:03,586 especially when it comes to minimizing the exhaustion of energy, 229 00:13:03,726 --> 00:13:07,731 we realize that distribution must be made as localized as possible. 230 00:13:07,871 --> 00:13:11,682 It makes little sense to produce goods on one continent and ship it to another, 231 00:13:11,822 --> 00:13:14,472 unless the practicality for such production 232 00:13:14,612 --> 00:13:17,594 is exclusively possible in that region. 233 00:13:17,734 --> 00:13:19,856 Otherwise it is just simply wasteful. 234 00:13:19,996 --> 00:13:22,474 So distribution must be made as localized as possible 235 00:13:22,614 --> 00:13:27,057 to minimize energy expenditure and hence optimize sustainability measures. 236 00:13:27,197 --> 00:13:29,625 We can call this 'Strategic Proximity'. 237 00:13:33,163 --> 00:13:34,696 Then we must figure out specifically, 238 00:13:34,798 --> 00:13:37,287 what goods to transport, and how much of it. 239 00:13:37,427 --> 00:13:42,426 Therefore this must be evaluated through some sort of demand requirements, 240 00:13:42,566 --> 00:13:46,347 though this will not be the same as the market's theory of supply and demand. 241 00:13:46,487 --> 00:13:49,282 Demand in a Resource-Based Economy would simply be evaluated 242 00:13:49,422 --> 00:13:52,388 through consumption statistics in a particular region, 243 00:13:52,528 --> 00:13:56,089 ranging from life-supporting necessities such as food, 244 00:13:56,229 --> 00:13:59,241 water, shelter, social and recreational goods, 245 00:13:59,381 --> 00:14:01,149 and to do this on a global scale, 246 00:14:01,289 --> 00:14:03,742 we must implement a 'Distribution Tracking System' 247 00:14:03,882 --> 00:14:07,537 that accounts for the different resource demands across the globe. 248 00:14:07,677 --> 00:14:10,075 This is already done in all major store chains today 249 00:14:10,215 --> 00:14:13,044 to maintain inventory levels. What we're talking about here 250 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:16,505 is simply treating the planet as one inventory system. 251 00:14:18,577 --> 00:14:20,867 So, what is demand exactly- 252 00:14:21,007 --> 00:14:25,619 aside from being divided up into necessities and more recreational items? 253 00:14:25,759 --> 00:14:29,464 What is to keep demand from rising above sustainable consumption levels? 254 00:14:29,604 --> 00:14:33,289 This is where the idea of 'Strategic Access' comes into play. 255 00:14:34,537 --> 00:14:37,825 The monetary system's requirement of cyclical consumption 256 00:14:37,965 --> 00:14:40,442 means that human beings own one of everything, 257 00:14:40,582 --> 00:14:43,144 made regardless of usage amounts, 258 00:14:43,284 --> 00:14:45,938 creating outrageous waste and inefficiency. 259 00:14:46,623 --> 00:14:49,974 Most people's cars go unused for upwards of 90% of their lifetime, 260 00:14:50,114 --> 00:14:52,298 just sitting in a parking lot or garage. 261 00:14:52,438 --> 00:14:54,779 This is unnecessary and completely out of the question 262 00:14:54,919 --> 00:14:58,030 in a Resource-Based Economy, in relation to our base goal 263 00:14:58,170 --> 00:15:01,915 of peak sustainability, and hence human survival. 264 00:15:02,055 --> 00:15:04,412 Many people forget that it is not the good they need, 265 00:15:04,552 --> 00:15:06,295 but the purpose of it. 266 00:15:06,635 --> 00:15:09,173 The idea of property is a monetary one, 267 00:15:09,613 --> 00:15:12,185 which is a form of controlled restriction. 268 00:15:13,882 --> 00:15:16,703 It would be much more efficient if goods were simply made available 269 00:15:16,804 --> 00:15:18,888 to people, when needed. For example, 270 00:15:19,028 --> 00:15:23,616 extrapolating the idea of how a library works today to all products 271 00:15:23,756 --> 00:15:25,590 is akin to what I'm describing. 272 00:15:25,730 --> 00:15:29,690 Someone could, say, request a particular video camera 273 00:15:29,830 --> 00:15:32,809 by inputting their desires into a computer. 274 00:15:33,364 --> 00:15:36,657 The product would be automatically processed by the central computer database, 275 00:15:36,797 --> 00:15:38,871 and be made available for pickup shortly thereafter 276 00:15:39,011 --> 00:15:41,168 at the nearest distribution center. 277 00:15:41,308 --> 00:15:44,484 No reason to charge for it, it is simply made available. 278 00:15:44,924 --> 00:15:48,304 This would be the basis for our demand model within a Resource-Based Economy, 279 00:15:48,444 --> 00:15:51,604 differing completely from the monetary-market paradigm, 280 00:15:51,744 --> 00:15:53,972 where resource management and sustainability 281 00:15:54,112 --> 00:15:56,670 are not even variables in the equation. 282 00:15:56,810 --> 00:15:58,883 Of course, the abolition of property 283 00:15:59,023 --> 00:16:02,105 is sure to spark knee-jerk reactions to thoughtless labels 284 00:16:02,245 --> 00:16:05,080 relating to other tried and tested social systems. 285 00:16:05,220 --> 00:16:08,011 The major difference here, is that this assumption is derived 286 00:16:08,151 --> 00:16:11,636 from the objective goal of resource management, 287 00:16:11,776 --> 00:16:15,295 not some ideological subjectivity or emotional biases. 288 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:19,195 I will cover this issue of prima facie- 289 00:16:19,335 --> 00:16:23,511 or face-value associations- more, in the final section of this talk. 290 00:16:25,261 --> 00:16:28,259 So, this distribution tracking system 291 00:16:28,399 --> 00:16:31,240 would be fed into the global Resource Management System, 292 00:16:31,380 --> 00:16:33,533 along with the Production Management System, 293 00:16:33,673 --> 00:16:36,623 which would combine to provide a global access abundance 294 00:16:36,763 --> 00:16:38,610 for everyone on planet Earth. 295 00:16:38,750 --> 00:16:42,381 No more artificial scarcity, as created by the monetary system, 296 00:16:42,521 --> 00:16:47,254 gone with the aberrant behaviour and environmentally genocidal effects it has. 297 00:16:48,737 --> 00:16:52,495 What I've described here is a systems approach to resource management 298 00:16:52,635 --> 00:16:57,415 on the planet, on a global scale, based not on any group's opinion, 299 00:16:57,555 --> 00:17:00,565 or what a corporation or government thinks must be done, 300 00:17:02,223 --> 00:17:06,374 but on statistical analysis as deduced through the scientific method. 301 00:17:10,177 --> 00:17:13,271 This entire methodology is what describes the economic model 302 00:17:13,411 --> 00:17:16,899 known as a Resource-Based Economy, first coined by industrial designer 303 00:17:17,039 --> 00:17:21,056 and social engineer Jacque Fresco, the founder of The Venus Project. 304 00:17:21,596 --> 00:17:24,653 A Resource-Based Economy is a social system 305 00:17:24,793 --> 00:17:27,787 unlike anything ever tried in history before. 306 00:17:28,581 --> 00:17:31,554 It is a global system that provides access to goods and services 307 00:17:31,694 --> 00:17:33,832 without the use of money, debt, barter, 308 00:17:33,972 --> 00:17:37,305 or any other medium of exchange or form of servitude. 309 00:17:37,445 --> 00:17:39,779 Money was created in times of great scarcity 310 00:17:39,919 --> 00:17:43,974 as a way to distribute goods through the division of labor. 311 00:17:44,114 --> 00:17:46,151 And as I have just shown, 312 00:17:46,291 --> 00:17:49,326 we now easily have the ability to create a global abundance 313 00:17:49,466 --> 00:17:51,788 for all necessities of life and more, 314 00:17:51,928 --> 00:17:56,120 if we apply technology and the scientific method to social operations. 315 00:17:58,068 --> 00:18:00,566 Again, a Resource-Based Economy can be summarized 316 00:18:00,706 --> 00:18:04,329 as the application of the scientific method for social concern. 317 00:18:04,469 --> 00:18:08,702 And Nature is the physical referent for which we use to scientifically evaluate 318 00:18:08,842 --> 00:18:12,099 the viability of all our decisions and values. 319 00:18:12,239 --> 00:18:15,437 Nature has a strict set of laws and does not have the capacity 320 00:18:15,577 --> 00:18:17,717 to care about what we believe to be true. 321 00:18:17,857 --> 00:18:21,393 So it is up to us whether we wish to adhere to these guiding principles 322 00:18:21,533 --> 00:18:24,199 or ignore them, and suffer the consequences. 323 00:18:24,339 --> 00:18:26,348 This isn't a matter of personal opinion, 324 00:18:26,488 --> 00:18:29,374 cultural relativism, or a debate of ideologies, 325 00:18:29,514 --> 00:18:31,691 it is simply an empirical foundational model 326 00:18:31,831 --> 00:18:35,587 that supports life in the most optimized, sustainable manner possible 327 00:18:35,727 --> 00:18:38,281 based on proven scientific protocols. 328 00:18:38,421 --> 00:18:41,455 Now that I've explained the general methodology that comprises 329 00:18:41,595 --> 00:18:44,380 a Resource-Based Economic Model, I'm going to walk through 330 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:48,896 how this methodology would play out specifically with regard to several issues. 331 00:18:49,036 --> 00:18:52,205 The first I'm going to cover is the area of energy. 332 00:18:52,778 --> 00:18:56,348 It is safe to say that energy is the lowest common denominator for society, 333 00:18:56,488 --> 00:19:00,987 as it is a prerequisite for all other social operations that can be carried out. 334 00:19:01,902 --> 00:19:06,486 So first step: we scan the Earth, listing all energy locations and potentials. 335 00:19:06,626 --> 00:19:10,028 These potentials would always be changing as our technological methods 336 00:19:10,168 --> 00:19:11,668 improve over time. 337 00:19:13,786 --> 00:19:17,353 Now, this is just a hypothetical graph to illustrate the process 338 00:19:17,493 --> 00:19:21,661 by which we would deduce the most efficient energy mediums to utilize, 339 00:19:21,801 --> 00:19:24,369 based on each energy medium's output potential, 340 00:19:24,509 --> 00:19:27,582 their pollution factors, rate of renewability and of course, 341 00:19:27,722 --> 00:19:29,883 coupled with the rate of technological advancement 342 00:19:30,023 --> 00:19:32,441 within that area of energy research. 343 00:19:33,133 --> 00:19:36,201 Each of these variables, from output potential 344 00:19:36,341 --> 00:19:40,684 to rate of technological advancement, can be isolated and strategically evaluated 345 00:19:40,824 --> 00:19:44,026 to determine the resource's overall viability for usage. 346 00:19:45,270 --> 00:19:48,518 When it comes to what we already know today, the following is a brief rundown 347 00:19:48,658 --> 00:19:51,032 of some viable energy potentials. 348 00:19:54,788 --> 00:19:59,050 Solar: The solar radiation striking the Earth's surface each year 349 00:19:59,190 --> 00:20:02,119 is more than 10,000 times the world's energy use. 350 00:20:02,459 --> 00:20:04,250 So the problem is not availability, 351 00:20:04,374 --> 00:20:07,240 but the technology to harness it most efficiently. 352 00:20:07,380 --> 00:20:10,345 From simple photovoltaic panels that can capture energy 353 00:20:10,485 --> 00:20:12,757 into storage batteries for private use, 354 00:20:12,897 --> 00:20:16,858 to full scale solar power plants, new technology is constantly emerging, 355 00:20:16,998 --> 00:20:18,798 which is improving this potential. 356 00:20:21,384 --> 00:20:24,563 Wind power holds a lot more potential than is generally thought. 357 00:20:24,703 --> 00:20:28,083 The US Department of Energy studies have concluded that wind harvested 358 00:20:28,223 --> 00:20:32,878 in just four US states could provide enough energy to power the entire nation, 359 00:20:33,018 --> 00:20:35,765 while a 2005 Stanford University study 360 00:20:35,905 --> 00:20:39,461 found that if only 20% of the wind potential on the planet was harnessed, 361 00:20:39,601 --> 00:20:42,026 it would cover the entire world's energy needs. 362 00:20:43,653 --> 00:20:47,701 Then we have tidal. Tidal power is derived from tidal shifts in the ocean 363 00:20:47,841 --> 00:20:51,408 and is generated by installing turbines to capture this movement. 364 00:20:51,548 --> 00:20:54,815 In the United Kingdom, 34% of all the UK's energy 365 00:20:54,955 --> 00:20:57,630 can come from this medium alone, with 42 sites 366 00:20:57,770 --> 00:20:59,435 currently cited as available. 367 00:21:00,903 --> 00:21:04,265 Wave power, which extracts energy from the surface motions of the ocean, 368 00:21:04,405 --> 00:21:08,999 is estimated to have a global potential of up to 80,000 terawatt-hours per year. 369 00:21:09,139 --> 00:21:13,463 This means 50% of the entire planet's energy usage 370 00:21:13,603 --> 00:21:15,699 could be produced from this single medium. 371 00:21:16,953 --> 00:21:20,276 And then there is geothermal, which trumps all of these mediums. 372 00:21:20,416 --> 00:21:22,550 An MIT Report in 2006 373 00:21:22,690 --> 00:21:25,447 found that we currently have the technological capability 374 00:21:25,587 --> 00:21:29,424 to have access to roughly 4000 years of geothermal energy alone, 375 00:21:29,564 --> 00:21:33,565 with many technological improvements foreseen ... for the near future. 376 00:21:34,290 --> 00:21:37,589 It also has a fraction of the environmental footprint that fossil fuels have, 377 00:21:37,729 --> 00:21:39,844 due to the energy capture and extraction 378 00:21:39,984 --> 00:21:42,153 being contained entirely underground. 379 00:21:42,593 --> 00:21:45,744 Geothermal is currently used to power a quarter of the nation of Iceland, 380 00:21:45,884 --> 00:21:48,037 while meeting heating requirements for nearly 381 00:21:48,177 --> 00:21:50,714 90% of all Icelandic buildings. 382 00:21:53,307 --> 00:21:55,900 All of these findings would have to be strategically evaluated, 383 00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:59,362 based on optimized energy management in this new global system, 384 00:21:59,502 --> 00:22:01,708 though it is obvious from what we already know today 385 00:22:01,902 --> 00:22:05,278 that we have nothing but total energy abundance on this planet. 386 00:22:08,242 --> 00:22:11,011 The only reason these mediums are not used is very simply due to 387 00:22:11,151 --> 00:22:15,353 the paralyzing profit structure that leads the establishment 388 00:22:15,493 --> 00:22:19,138 to preserve market share by continued reliance on fossil fuels. 389 00:22:19,278 --> 00:22:21,500 This is unsustainable and the problems of peak oil, 390 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:24,363 as I will discuss in the final section of this presentation, 391 00:22:24,503 --> 00:22:27,094 will be causing some immensely severe consequences 392 00:22:27,234 --> 00:22:30,920 for our society in the near future, if we do not make an immediate move 393 00:22:31,060 --> 00:22:34,677 to converting the global energy infrastructure into renewable mediums, 394 00:22:34,817 --> 00:22:36,685 such as the ones I've covered. 395 00:22:38,952 --> 00:22:41,412 And how about our food production capabilities? 396 00:22:42,252 --> 00:22:46,726 A study from the 1980's by the World Health Organization (of all organizations) 397 00:22:46,866 --> 00:22:49,364 found that our technology back then could have enabled us 398 00:22:49,504 --> 00:22:53,026 to provide food for the world's population 12 times over. 399 00:22:53,730 --> 00:22:58,045 With the currently absurdly wasteful practices utilized by the monetary system, 400 00:22:58,185 --> 00:23:00,863 the amount of food wasted by the USA and Europe alone 401 00:23:01,003 --> 00:23:04,548 is estimated to be able to feed the world 3 times over. 402 00:23:07,315 --> 00:23:10,326 The reason that over a billion people are now starving on this planet 403 00:23:10,466 --> 00:23:13,326 has absolutely nothing to do with the availability of food 404 00:23:13,466 --> 00:23:15,507 or lack of food production technologies, 405 00:23:15,647 --> 00:23:19,802 and everything to do with an inefficient, wasteful industrial complex 406 00:23:19,942 --> 00:23:22,054 and a parasitic economic system 407 00:23:22,194 --> 00:23:25,402 where such issues are not relevant to social operations. 408 00:23:26,142 --> 00:23:28,574 As the statistics cited indicate, 409 00:23:28,714 --> 00:23:31,111 we easily have the ability to provide enough food 410 00:23:31,251 --> 00:23:33,854 for the world's population many times over, 411 00:23:33,994 --> 00:23:37,424 if only that became central to our socioeconomic practices. 412 00:23:37,564 --> 00:23:40,770 Obviously, in a Resource-Based Economy, it would be. 413 00:23:43,857 --> 00:23:47,506 While our current food production methods have destroyed much of the environment, 414 00:23:47,646 --> 00:23:51,507 such as depleting our top soil at completely unsustainable rates, 415 00:23:51,647 --> 00:23:54,998 there are still an abundance of food production techniques 416 00:23:55,138 --> 00:23:57,735 that are under-utilized or not fully realized, 417 00:23:57,875 --> 00:24:01,194 such as the mediums of hydroponics and aquaponics. 418 00:24:01,783 --> 00:24:04,086 Hydroponics is a form of soil-less agriculture 419 00:24:04,226 --> 00:24:07,211 that uses mineral nutrient solutions in water, 420 00:24:07,351 --> 00:24:10,305 which poses benefits such as the conservation of water 421 00:24:10,445 --> 00:24:13,292 of 70 to 90% less than conventional gardening, 422 00:24:13,432 --> 00:24:17,099 eliminating the need for soil, eliminating nutrition pollution, 423 00:24:17,239 --> 00:24:19,254 and producing higher and more stable yields. 424 00:24:19,694 --> 00:24:21,842 The technological potential for automation 425 00:24:21,982 --> 00:24:25,031 and total environmental control is virtually limitless. 426 00:24:25,771 --> 00:24:27,729 Within a Resource-Based Economy, 427 00:24:27,869 --> 00:24:30,656 methods like hydroponics would be weighed and evaluated, 428 00:24:30,796 --> 00:24:33,505 within a database of all food production capabilities, 429 00:24:33,645 --> 00:24:35,667 to determine what would be the optimal balance 430 00:24:35,807 --> 00:24:38,545 of these different food production strategies, meaning 431 00:24:38,685 --> 00:24:42,394 in order to minimize the environmental footprint and meet food demand output, 432 00:24:42,534 --> 00:24:45,766 what technologies make most sense to harness and where? 433 00:24:48,215 --> 00:24:52,256 And what about the city, the setting where all of this would take place? 434 00:24:53,023 --> 00:24:56,411 Cities today used within the monetary system are a product of commerce, 435 00:24:56,551 --> 00:25:01,038 with little to no planning in terms of technical efficiency and resource management. 436 00:25:01,178 --> 00:25:05,196 They are extremely wasteful, inefficient and produce insane amounts of pollution. 437 00:25:06,036 --> 00:25:08,599 To operate a Resource-Based Economy within our current cities 438 00:25:08,739 --> 00:25:10,995 simply makes no sense because of this. 439 00:25:11,135 --> 00:25:13,798 It would be more efficient to build new cities from the ground up, 440 00:25:13,938 --> 00:25:17,362 than to continually patch up the failings of our current cities. 441 00:25:17,946 --> 00:25:21,488 For people who feel a romantic connection to our present-day cities, 442 00:25:21,628 --> 00:25:24,800 we must realize that maintaining such cities is depriving people 443 00:25:24,940 --> 00:25:28,282 of what our technology can do for us, and is wholly detrimental 444 00:25:28,422 --> 00:25:32,430 to our health and social well-being. Some of our existing cities 445 00:25:32,571 --> 00:25:35,436 would be bulldozed and mined for the available resources, 446 00:25:35,576 --> 00:25:38,505 while others may be preserved as city museums. 447 00:25:38,645 --> 00:25:42,544 This depends on what scenario is most beneficial to society in terms of health, 448 00:25:42,684 --> 00:25:45,038 education, and resource management. 449 00:25:45,778 --> 00:25:48,358 So, how would the scientific method be applied to arrive at the... 450 00:25:49,653 --> 00:25:51,700 optimally efficient design of a city, 451 00:25:51,990 --> 00:25:56,925 taking into account designs that would minimize energy expenditure, 452 00:25:57,025 --> 00:25:58,525 and maximize convenience? 453 00:25:59,305 --> 00:26:01,345 The first thing to consider is the shape. 454 00:26:01,785 --> 00:26:04,029 Given that we wish to navigate around the city, 455 00:26:04,169 --> 00:26:06,942 we should make it as equidistant as possible, so that transport 456 00:26:07,082 --> 00:26:11,331 from one segment to another is as quick and as efficient as possible. 457 00:26:11,471 --> 00:26:15,934 That would mean a circular shape best fits our requirements. 458 00:26:16,570 --> 00:26:19,061 Then how would we divide up the city into components? 459 00:26:19,201 --> 00:26:21,548 It makes little sense to develop the city's different components 460 00:26:21,688 --> 00:26:25,160 scattered sporadically throughout it. Rather, it makes more sense 461 00:26:25,300 --> 00:26:27,816 logically from the efficiency point of view, 462 00:26:27,918 --> 00:26:30,037 to divide up the city's components up: 463 00:26:30,177 --> 00:26:33,553 ranging from necessity and life-support sectors, comprised of belts 464 00:26:33,693 --> 00:26:37,370 for energy harnessing, agricultural practices, 465 00:26:37,510 --> 00:26:41,024 production and residential areas, to secondary sectors, 466 00:26:41,164 --> 00:26:45,016 comprised of belts for educational and research facilities, 467 00:26:45,156 --> 00:26:48,535 such as universities, libraries, art and science centres, 468 00:26:48,675 --> 00:26:52,836 to recreational facilities, such as parks, sport centres, 469 00:26:52,976 --> 00:26:56,985 and social facilities, for cultural events, socializing and so forth. 470 00:26:57,525 --> 00:27:00,138 These belts would be arranged based on the amount of land area 471 00:27:00,278 --> 00:27:01,834 required for each sector. 472 00:27:04,761 --> 00:27:07,543 After designing the layout of these different sectors, 473 00:27:07,683 --> 00:27:10,524 we must consider the distribution mechanisms of the city, 474 00:27:10,664 --> 00:27:15,170 such as water, energy, good, and waste or recycling channels, 475 00:27:15,310 --> 00:27:18,827 which can easily all be automated with technology that exists today, 476 00:27:18,967 --> 00:27:22,358 such as pneumatic tube systems in which cylindrical containers 477 00:27:22,498 --> 00:27:25,366 are propelled through a network of tubes by compressed air, 478 00:27:25,506 --> 00:27:27,068 or by partial vacuum. 479 00:27:27,808 --> 00:27:31,022 On a similar note, we must consider transportation systems 480 00:27:31,162 --> 00:27:33,453 to be integrated directly into the city, 481 00:27:33,593 --> 00:27:36,538 removing the need for wasteful independent automobiles. 482 00:27:37,178 --> 00:27:40,563 It would be much more efficient, in both time and energy expenditure, 483 00:27:40,703 --> 00:27:43,107 to construct holistic transportation systems 484 00:27:43,247 --> 00:27:45,669 that would allow rapid movement within the city, 485 00:27:46,009 --> 00:27:48,518 in all possible directions: radially, 486 00:27:48,658 --> 00:27:50,615 vertically, and circumferentially. 487 00:27:51,055 --> 00:27:54,623 Monorails, transveyors and maglev trains are all possibilities, 488 00:27:54,763 --> 00:27:57,807 while maglevs would be used for transport between cities. 489 00:28:00,738 --> 00:28:05,381 The organization ET3, standing for Evacuated Tube Transport Technologies, 490 00:28:05,521 --> 00:28:08,744 has developed a prototype for a tube-based maglev. 491 00:28:08,884 --> 00:28:12,607 Electrostatically suspended by magnetic propulsion, 492 00:28:12,747 --> 00:28:17,678 it can reach speeds of up to 4000 mph or about 6500 km/h. 493 00:28:18,251 --> 00:28:20,845 It is environmentally benign, using roughly 2% 494 00:28:20,985 --> 00:28:24,160 of the energy expenditure that airplanes require today. 495 00:28:25,010 --> 00:28:27,233 This technology is ready to go, right now, 496 00:28:27,373 --> 00:28:30,114 but you will not see it any time soon, if ever fully realized, 497 00:28:30,254 --> 00:28:34,230 within a monetary system, due to the need to adhere to cost efficiency. 498 00:28:35,450 --> 00:28:38,323 In areas where such transport systems are unavailable, 499 00:28:38,463 --> 00:28:41,434 which would be rare, if at all needed, cars would be provided, 500 00:28:41,574 --> 00:28:44,707 though they would be completely automated by satellite technology 501 00:28:44,817 --> 00:28:46,318 that already exists today. 502 00:28:49,899 --> 00:28:53,231 All of these technological possibilities are only a scratch on the surface 503 00:28:53,371 --> 00:28:55,668 when one considers the advent of mechanization, 504 00:28:55,808 --> 00:28:58,193 or the automation of labor. 505 00:28:58,333 --> 00:29:01,883 The statistics show that the more we have designated tasks to machines, 506 00:29:02,023 --> 00:29:04,968 the higher our productivity, and the higher the potential 507 00:29:05,108 --> 00:29:06,705 our standard of living becomes. 508 00:29:08,262 --> 00:29:11,095 But as discussed, truly harnessing technology to its full potential 509 00:29:11,235 --> 00:29:13,313 is not possible within a monetary system, 510 00:29:13,453 --> 00:29:15,697 due to the need for people to remain employed, 511 00:29:15,837 --> 00:29:18,496 which leads me to the notion of technological unemployment, 512 00:29:18,636 --> 00:29:22,322 or the displacing of human labor as a result of machine automation. 513 00:29:24,907 --> 00:29:26,992 Everything I've outlined from a structural 514 00:29:27,132 --> 00:29:30,368 and technological standpoint is possible to implement today. 515 00:29:30,508 --> 00:29:33,313 We easily have the technology to create this kind of society, 516 00:29:33,453 --> 00:29:37,311 that does nothing less than feeds and houses the entire world's population, 517 00:29:37,451 --> 00:29:39,780 provides access abundance to everyone, 518 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:43,117 emancipates humans from arduous, mundane jobs, 519 00:29:43,257 --> 00:29:46,699 most of which hold zero relevance to society and contribute nothing, 520 00:29:46,839 --> 00:29:50,882 and we have the technology to raise the standards of living for everyone 521 00:29:51,022 --> 00:29:54,773 to levels that would make society today look like a horror setting. 522 00:29:56,152 --> 00:29:58,656 So, what's stopping us? The value system 523 00:29:58,796 --> 00:30:01,675 that the majority of the world's people still currently uphold, 524 00:30:01,815 --> 00:30:05,269 which supports an obsolete established system that is no longer relevant, 525 00:30:05,409 --> 00:30:07,971 and extremely detrimental to our survival. 526 00:30:08,111 --> 00:30:10,370 And, as will be the main topic of my next lecture, 527 00:30:10,510 --> 00:30:14,033 the most relevant issue then to consider is the value system disorder 528 00:30:14,173 --> 00:30:16,395 that prevents society at large from moving into... 529 00:30:17,035 --> 00:30:19,328 a new paradigm of global sustainability. 530 00:30:21,352 --> 00:30:23,814 This leads me into the final section I'm going to cover, 531 00:30:23,954 --> 00:30:27,027 regarding common misconceptions about a Resource-Based Economy, 532 00:30:27,167 --> 00:30:30,873 which are almost always rooted in a projection of modern day values 533 00:30:31,013 --> 00:30:33,622 based on a monetary system, into the future. 534 00:30:35,570 --> 00:30:39,061 First: Arriving at decisions rather than making them. 535 00:30:39,201 --> 00:30:41,863 One of the most fundamental differences between our present system 536 00:30:42,003 --> 00:30:46,542 and a Resource-Based Economy is the method by which decisions are formulated. 537 00:30:46,782 --> 00:30:50,574 Today we use a political system, which was designed hundreds of years ago. 538 00:30:50,714 --> 00:30:54,713 Really the political system exists only because of the monetary system, 539 00:30:54,853 --> 00:30:57,491 with most of what politicians [are] dealing with 540 00:30:57,631 --> 00:31:00,100 being related to monetary matters in some way: 541 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:03,757 making budgets, drafting legislation, or military matters. 542 00:31:03,897 --> 00:31:07,454 This system is not in any way related to the management of Earth's resources. 543 00:31:08,261 --> 00:31:11,142 In a Resource-Based Economy, we arrive at decisions, 544 00:31:11,282 --> 00:31:13,111 rather than making them. 545 00:31:13,251 --> 00:31:16,397 In other words, we would not use the arbitrary, opinion-based method 546 00:31:16,537 --> 00:31:19,448 that politicians use today to make social decisions, 547 00:31:20,388 --> 00:31:24,055 which is subject to emotional whims and subjective biases. 548 00:31:24,195 --> 00:31:27,749 Instead, since the scientific method is applied to all social operations, 549 00:31:27,889 --> 00:31:30,020 the decisions are objectively formulated 550 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:32,906 based on the best available information of the time. 551 00:31:33,646 --> 00:31:37,492 For example, a problem would be identified, such as the propensity 552 00:31:37,632 --> 00:31:41,304 for a certain geographical region to generate tidal power, 553 00:31:41,444 --> 00:31:44,414 and the extent to which our technology should be applied to harness it. 554 00:31:44,954 --> 00:31:47,295 The parameters would be isolated and evaluated, 555 00:31:47,435 --> 00:31:50,549 and based on all the statistical data gathered- which is itself based on 556 00:31:50,689 --> 00:31:54,509 the most optimized methods of scientific inquiry, and most advanced forms 557 00:31:54,649 --> 00:31:57,399 of technology available at that particular time- 558 00:31:57,539 --> 00:32:00,139 the action pattern, or decision, is formulated. 559 00:32:00,279 --> 00:32:02,336 No reason to vote for it, it is automatically done 560 00:32:03,376 --> 00:32:06,529 due to the parameters being objectively evaluated. 561 00:32:08,378 --> 00:32:11,973 Now, it is important to point out that the erroneous concept of democracy 562 00:32:12,113 --> 00:32:15,013 would become surpassed, since utilizing human opinion 563 00:32:15,153 --> 00:32:19,797 to make broad social decisions is simply impractical, and without logic. 564 00:32:19,937 --> 00:32:23,020 In our system today, the word 'democracy' is used erroneously 565 00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:25,666 by political leaders to distract the public 566 00:32:25,806 --> 00:32:28,528 from who and what actually govern societal operations. 567 00:32:29,888 --> 00:32:32,407 For traditionally-minded people who cling to such notions, 568 00:32:32,547 --> 00:32:36,686 a Resource-Based Economy would allow actual participation in society. 569 00:32:37,381 --> 00:32:40,234 Democracy is based on the failure to recognize problems 570 00:32:40,374 --> 00:32:42,546 by means of technical resolution. 571 00:32:42,886 --> 00:32:45,402 Most problems in society are technical in nature. 572 00:32:45,542 --> 00:32:48,959 There is no left-wing or right-wing way to manufacture an airplane, 573 00:32:49,099 --> 00:32:51,715 nor one to construct a geothermal power plant, 574 00:32:51,855 --> 00:32:56,084 or to implement a food distribution system in the most energy efficient manner. 575 00:32:57,024 --> 00:33:00,728 Since the problems in a Resource-Based Economy are recognized as technical, 576 00:33:00,868 --> 00:33:03,534 participation in society would entail understanding 577 00:33:03,674 --> 00:33:06,308 how society technically operates. 578 00:33:09,717 --> 00:33:13,072 Another related misunderstanding is in the personnel required 579 00:33:13,212 --> 00:33:15,818 to maintain this global resource management system, 580 00:33:15,958 --> 00:33:19,896 for a variety of reasons. I'll try to cover the main ones here. 581 00:33:20,672 --> 00:33:23,594 First it is often assumed, erroneously, that we are proposing 582 00:33:23,734 --> 00:33:27,692 that a technical elite controls this resource management system. 583 00:33:28,524 --> 00:33:32,131 This is not true. As mentioned, what governs social operations 584 00:33:32,271 --> 00:33:35,546 is the scientific method directed towards resource management 585 00:33:35,686 --> 00:33:39,512 and peak sustainability, not on the detached self-interest 586 00:33:39,652 --> 00:33:41,404 of a controlling group. 587 00:33:43,012 --> 00:33:46,632 And this leads into the second point, relating to the issue of values. 588 00:33:46,772 --> 00:33:50,483 People often project the values of a monetary system into the future, 589 00:33:50,623 --> 00:33:54,221 assuming that they can be applied in a completely new social arrangement. 590 00:33:55,867 --> 00:33:58,198 The value distortions of blind self-interest, 591 00:33:58,338 --> 00:34:00,616 greed, competition, and jealousy, 592 00:34:00,756 --> 00:34:03,855 again as I will cover much more in a subsequent lecture, 593 00:34:03,995 --> 00:34:07,778 are byproducts of our system today and cannot be projected into the future 594 00:34:07,918 --> 00:34:11,673 where the set of environmental variables that conditions these values 595 00:34:11,813 --> 00:34:13,343 would be drastically different. 596 00:34:15,479 --> 00:34:17,922 In a Resource-Based Economy, there is no reason to steal, 597 00:34:18,062 --> 00:34:20,328 since access abundance is given to everyone. 598 00:34:20,468 --> 00:34:23,256 There is no reason to compete, as there are no more jobs, 599 00:34:23,396 --> 00:34:26,129 no more market system, and no more separate economies 600 00:34:26,269 --> 00:34:29,154 vying for resource control or dominance. 601 00:34:29,294 --> 00:34:32,798 There is no reason for a person supervising the resource management system 602 00:34:32,938 --> 00:34:36,949 to become somehow corrupt and program it in any subversive way, 603 00:34:37,089 --> 00:34:39,599 since this system actually exists to take care of everyone 604 00:34:39,739 --> 00:34:44,949 without taking away from or abusing everyone else ... anyone else. 605 00:34:46,124 --> 00:34:49,797 Thirdly, it is sometimes assumed that such a large number of people 606 00:34:49,937 --> 00:34:53,864 would be required to operate social affairs within a Resource-Based Economy, 607 00:34:54,004 --> 00:34:56,825 due to its technically complex foundation. 608 00:34:57,395 --> 00:34:59,967 It is estimated by The Venus Project's analysis 609 00:35:00,107 --> 00:35:02,319 that about 7000 technicians worldwide 610 00:35:02,459 --> 00:35:05,454 would be required to oversee all social operations. 611 00:35:05,994 --> 00:35:09,286 With our current abilities in mechanization, as previously discussed, 612 00:35:09,426 --> 00:35:12,524 a great majority of the jobs that exist today would be phased out 613 00:35:12,664 --> 00:35:15,636 due to irrelevancy outside a monetary system, 614 00:35:15,776 --> 00:35:18,732 or they'd be automated, from production plants, 615 00:35:19,296 --> 00:35:23,400 to the construction of homes, to transportation systems, and so forth. 616 00:35:23,540 --> 00:35:26,528 However, interdisciplinary teams would be required 617 00:35:26,668 --> 00:35:29,238 to serve the role of supervisors and fill the holes 618 00:35:29,378 --> 00:35:31,747 where machines can not yet be applied. 619 00:35:32,487 --> 00:35:36,029 These groups would simply be comprised of who is most technically proficient 620 00:35:36,169 --> 00:35:38,290 in a given area, combined with interest 621 00:35:38,430 --> 00:35:41,302 and desire to contribute in this way. 622 00:35:41,442 --> 00:35:44,347 But this says nothing about the extent to which people could 623 00:35:44,487 --> 00:35:48,244 and would likely contribute to society. So... 624 00:35:49,620 --> 00:35:52,567 Lastly, and related to the previous point, it is similarly assumed 625 00:35:52,707 --> 00:35:56,745 that without monetary compensating people, 626 00:35:56,885 --> 00:36:01,128 people will be unmotivated to contribute to society. This is unfounded. 627 00:36:01,268 --> 00:36:04,640 Exhaustive research conducted to understand the science of motivation 628 00:36:04,780 --> 00:36:08,321 yields consistent results, showing that the more people are rewarded 629 00:36:08,438 --> 00:36:10,607 by extrinsic motivators such as money, 630 00:36:10,747 --> 00:36:13,031 bonuses, letter grades and even praise, 631 00:36:13,171 --> 00:36:17,878 this cripples creativity and detracts from the interest in a particular task, 632 00:36:18,018 --> 00:36:21,956 because the goal shifts to simply being focused on the reward itself. 633 00:36:22,631 --> 00:36:25,719 In a Resource-Based Economy, social interest and self-interest 634 00:36:25,859 --> 00:36:27,859 combine to become one. 635 00:36:27,999 --> 00:36:31,452 Contributing to society leads to a direct improvement in everyone's lives, 636 00:36:31,592 --> 00:36:34,268 rather than at a monetary opportunity cost. 637 00:36:34,408 --> 00:36:36,725 Human motivation would flourish in an environment 638 00:36:36,865 --> 00:36:39,265 where people were not bogged down by arbitrary, 639 00:36:39,405 --> 00:36:42,893 socially meaningless occupations, that in a great majority of cases, 640 00:36:43,033 --> 00:36:45,518 do not reflect the genuine interests of people, 641 00:36:45,658 --> 00:36:48,683 nor intellectually stimulate them in any meaningful way. 642 00:36:52,940 --> 00:36:55,895 Another common misconception of the Resource-Based Economic model, 643 00:36:56,035 --> 00:36:59,124 is that we haven't cited any sort of specific algorithmic function, 644 00:36:59,264 --> 00:37:03,706 or set of equations that would be utilized within the resource management system. 645 00:37:03,846 --> 00:37:05,639 This makes no sense. 646 00:37:05,779 --> 00:37:08,091 The central point of the Resource-Based Economic model 647 00:37:08,231 --> 00:37:11,029 is the methodology underlying social operations, 648 00:37:11,169 --> 00:37:15,426 meaning the scientific method, using the best available technology of the time. 649 00:37:15,566 --> 00:37:18,920 A Resource-Based Economy does not rely on any specific technologies 650 00:37:19,060 --> 00:37:23,229 to prove its validity, since the scientific method 651 00:37:23,369 --> 00:37:26,812 holds that every claim or test be falsifiable. 652 00:37:26,952 --> 00:37:29,265 So the so-called 'calculation problem', 653 00:37:29,405 --> 00:37:32,106 as monetary economists often discuss, 654 00:37:32,246 --> 00:37:35,862 is a non-sequitur, which misses the point of a Resource-Based Economy, 655 00:37:36,002 --> 00:37:39,779 which again, is reliant on no specific technology or algorithm, 656 00:37:39,919 --> 00:37:44,668 but reliance upon the methodology utilized to ensure optimized decisions 657 00:37:44,808 --> 00:37:47,778 for the sake of peak sustainability and peak efficiency. 658 00:37:52,007 --> 00:37:54,954 Another issue worth covering is more to do with people's projections, 659 00:37:55,094 --> 00:38:00,031 by way of prima facie, or at-face-value associations. 660 00:38:00,171 --> 00:38:03,121 For example, those who have done nothing but a superficial analysis 661 00:38:03,261 --> 00:38:07,691 of a Resource-Based Economy may erroneously equate it to communism. 662 00:38:08,441 --> 00:38:11,539 Surface level similarities, or illusion of similarities, 663 00:38:11,679 --> 00:38:14,514 are judged based on the ground that anything supposedly in common 664 00:38:14,654 --> 00:38:18,275 with another ideology is that ideology itself. 665 00:38:18,415 --> 00:38:20,762 The flaw in logic should be obvious. 666 00:38:20,902 --> 00:38:22,544 Some examples: 667 00:38:24,036 --> 00:38:27,087 Since a Resource-Based Economy calls for centralized planning, 668 00:38:27,227 --> 00:38:31,485 it must be the same as the central planning called for by the communist doctrine. 669 00:38:31,625 --> 00:38:35,142 First, any form of Communism that can be said to have existed through history 670 00:38:35,282 --> 00:38:37,851 still used the monetary system, 671 00:38:37,991 --> 00:38:40,833 a political system, and did not eradicate scarcity, 672 00:38:40,973 --> 00:38:44,790 and did not base its operations on strategic resource management. 673 00:38:44,930 --> 00:38:49,067 Nor were they global systems, which is what a Resource-Based Economy is. 674 00:38:49,207 --> 00:38:51,538 Second, the reasoning behind why central planning 675 00:38:51,678 --> 00:38:53,909 is inherent to a Resource-Based Economy 676 00:38:54,049 --> 00:38:58,077 is simply because taking into account the Earth as one interconnected system 677 00:38:58,217 --> 00:39:01,371 allows for the most number of variables to be evaluated, 678 00:39:01,511 --> 00:39:05,216 thus allowing the highest form of sustainability to materialize. 679 00:39:05,356 --> 00:39:09,105 Managing resources in detached manners leaves each region vulnerable 680 00:39:09,245 --> 00:39:11,897 to possible shortages, and simply makes no sense 681 00:39:12,037 --> 00:39:14,277 from a technical efficiency standpoint. 682 00:39:17,754 --> 00:39:20,453 Next and similarly, the need to do away with property 683 00:39:20,593 --> 00:39:23,953 is another the prima facie association to Communism. 684 00:39:24,093 --> 00:39:27,241 Again, this is one surface level similarity extended to assume 685 00:39:27,381 --> 00:39:29,859 that because of this one supposed similarity, 686 00:39:29,999 --> 00:39:32,812 the entire framework is the same, including the reasoning 687 00:39:32,952 --> 00:39:35,112 for why that stance is taken. 688 00:39:35,252 --> 00:39:38,460 In a Resource-Based Economy, the removal of property or ownership 689 00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:42,098 is not just an ideological stance, it is an efficiency issue. 690 00:39:42,238 --> 00:39:45,955 And as discussed, the real issue is access, not ownership. 691 00:39:46,095 --> 00:39:50,863 Ownership is a primitive mental construct based on generations of scarcity. 692 00:39:51,391 --> 00:39:53,406 In the end, we need to ignore the labels 693 00:39:53,546 --> 00:39:56,475 that people have a tendency to slap upon ideas, 694 00:39:56,615 --> 00:40:00,708 and instead, strictly focus on the reasoning itself. This is key. 695 00:40:00,908 --> 00:40:02,908 ... 696 00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:07,312 Assigning a label to an idea or set of ideas does nothing 697 00:40:07,452 --> 00:40:10,081 to better explain the underlying framework; instead, 698 00:40:10,221 --> 00:40:13,758 it often detracts from it, blurring attention away from the real issues 699 00:40:13,898 --> 00:40:15,949 and diverting it to a propaganda technique 700 00:40:16,089 --> 00:40:19,092 designed to inflict an emotional response. 701 00:40:21,945 --> 00:40:24,258 And this brings me to another blanket projection 702 00:40:24,398 --> 00:40:27,625 that is often encountered by any organization or individual 703 00:40:27,765 --> 00:40:30,563 seeking to bring about broad social change: 704 00:40:30,703 --> 00:40:33,021 saying that it will never work. 705 00:40:33,161 --> 00:40:36,041 This is usually projected by apathetic, dormant, mind-locked, 706 00:40:36,181 --> 00:40:40,343 self-appointed guardians of the status quo who feel an emotional connection, 707 00:40:40,483 --> 00:40:44,400 and an identification with the current system's way of life. 708 00:40:44,540 --> 00:40:47,488 It is a lazy excuse to avoid examining the information 709 00:40:47,628 --> 00:40:50,137 and ignores the history of social change. 710 00:40:50,277 --> 00:40:54,035 History is replete with examples of so-called 'experts' in their fields 711 00:40:54,137 --> 00:40:57,550 claiming that certain technological innovations and social evolution 712 00:40:57,890 --> 00:40:59,747 would never occur. 713 00:41:00,094 --> 00:41:02,269 Here are a few humorous examples. 714 00:41:03,972 --> 00:41:06,621 "Television won't be able to hold on to any market 715 00:41:06,730 --> 00:41:08,730 it captures after the first six months. 716 00:41:08,830 --> 00:41:13,261 People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night." 717 00:41:14,236 --> 00:41:18,310 "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home." 718 00:41:19,469 --> 00:41:23,692 "Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction." 719 00:41:24,018 --> 00:41:29,169 "We are probably nearing the limit of all we can know about astronomy." 720 00:41:29,918 --> 00:41:32,928 When we reflect on the necessity of the proposed changes 721 00:41:33,168 --> 00:41:36,021 by The Venus Project, and hence The Zeitgeist Movement, 722 00:41:36,161 --> 00:41:38,934 that is, the necessity for a new socioeconomic model, 723 00:41:39,074 --> 00:41:41,928 based foundationally on peak sustainability, 724 00:41:42,068 --> 00:41:45,635 it becomes moot to debate whether or not the changes will occur. 725 00:41:45,775 --> 00:41:48,908 They must occur, if the human race is to survive. 726 00:41:49,048 --> 00:41:52,369 So let's give it our all to advocate this new social system. 727 00:41:55,334 --> 00:41:58,104 The last issue I want to cover is likely the most asked about: 728 00:41:58,244 --> 00:42:01,144 the transition, how to get from here to there. 729 00:42:01,926 --> 00:42:05,349 People often ask this as though a definitive step-by-step plan 730 00:42:05,489 --> 00:42:07,595 were even possible to formulate. 731 00:42:07,735 --> 00:42:10,388 There are far too many variables to be able to do this. 732 00:42:10,528 --> 00:42:13,076 The best we can do is evaluate some major trends, 733 00:42:13,216 --> 00:42:16,013 pertaining to the breakdown of our present economic system, 734 00:42:16,153 --> 00:42:19,651 many of which are all relevant to the current economic situation 735 00:42:19,791 --> 00:42:24,465 we find ourselves in today... starting with peak oil. 736 00:42:25,219 --> 00:42:27,519 Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate 737 00:42:27,659 --> 00:42:30,381 of global petroleum extraction is reached, 738 00:42:30,521 --> 00:42:33,876 after which the rate of production is in decline. 739 00:42:34,644 --> 00:42:36,788 According to the best estimates available, 740 00:42:36,928 --> 00:42:39,491 the world reached this point around 2004. 741 00:42:39,631 --> 00:42:43,795 Geologist M. King Hubbert first created models back in 1956 742 00:42:43,935 --> 00:42:46,426 to correctly predict that United States oil production 743 00:42:46,566 --> 00:42:49,247 would peak between 1965 and 1970. 744 00:42:50,336 --> 00:42:53,887 Our entire economic system is based upon the use of hydrocarbons. 745 00:42:54,028 --> 00:42:56,490 Oil is used to such an all-encompassing degree, 746 00:42:56,630 --> 00:42:58,764 from automobile fuel, to heating our houses, 747 00:42:58,904 --> 00:43:01,235 to use in agriculture, and so forth. 748 00:43:01,375 --> 00:43:04,454 And while there are attempts in what really just amount to isolated pockets 749 00:43:04,594 --> 00:43:07,489 to switch to renewable energies, there is nothing 750 00:43:07,629 --> 00:43:09,874 that appears to be the revolution necessary 751 00:43:10,014 --> 00:43:13,615 in switching the entire energy global infrastructure. 752 00:43:15,489 --> 00:43:18,868 Why not? The monetary-market system of course. 753 00:43:19,353 --> 00:43:21,706 The International Energy Agency has estimated 754 00:43:21,846 --> 00:43:25,144 that it would take $20 trillion and 30 years to convert 755 00:43:25,284 --> 00:43:28,744 the global energy infrastructure into something sustainable. 756 00:43:28,884 --> 00:43:31,920 Do you really think this is going to happen within the monetary system? 757 00:43:32,060 --> 00:43:35,164 Again we have the resources, but the motivations simply are not there 758 00:43:35,304 --> 00:43:37,467 from within our paralyzed system. 759 00:43:39,121 --> 00:43:41,237 And next, as mentioned previously, 760 00:43:41,377 --> 00:43:43,489 our potential to harness machine automation 761 00:43:43,629 --> 00:43:45,976 to overtake human labor, is truly profound. 762 00:43:46,116 --> 00:43:48,957 And it's making the labor system completely obsolete. 763 00:43:49,097 --> 00:43:51,736 It is only a matter of time before the displacement of human labor 764 00:43:51,876 --> 00:43:55,554 by machine automation reaches a point where consumer purchasing power 765 00:43:55,694 --> 00:43:57,749 cannot support the economic system. 766 00:43:57,889 --> 00:44:01,412 This theoretically means the end of the monetary system as a whole. 767 00:44:01,552 --> 00:44:04,343 At what point will people rise up and demand change? 768 00:44:04,483 --> 00:44:07,940 30% unemployment? 40%? 60%? 769 00:44:08,565 --> 00:44:11,269 This is simply another mathematical ticking time bomb, 770 00:44:11,409 --> 00:44:15,099 that threatens the integrity of our wholly unsustainable social system. 771 00:44:17,859 --> 00:44:20,734 As of now, the national debts of all countries in the world 772 00:44:20,836 --> 00:44:25,490 is about $60 trillion. The world is in debt to itself in other words, 773 00:44:25,630 --> 00:44:28,791 due to the nonsensical rules of the game we still play by. 774 00:44:28,931 --> 00:44:32,079 And even more absurdly, there are roughly $700 trillion 775 00:44:32,219 --> 00:44:34,728 of outstanding claims in the derivatives market, 776 00:44:34,868 --> 00:44:38,900 a figure more than ten times the GDP of the entire planet. Meanwhile, 777 00:44:39,001 --> 00:44:42,662 inflation being created by the central banks of the world is unprecedented, 778 00:44:42,802 --> 00:44:46,724 causing the prices of gold and silver to skyrocket to record levels. 779 00:44:47,344 --> 00:44:49,678 Artificially low interest rates, 780 00:44:49,818 --> 00:44:53,232 likewise pursued by central banks across the world seem relentless 781 00:44:53,372 --> 00:44:56,685 and only act to further this inflationary pressure. 782 00:44:57,989 --> 00:45:00,981 And with a national debt of now over $15 trillion, 783 00:45:01,121 --> 00:45:05,219 it is estimated that the United States will have to raise income tax to 65% 784 00:45:05,359 --> 00:45:09,095 in the near future, just to pay the interest on this national debt. 785 00:45:09,690 --> 00:45:13,738 Of course, this economic nonsense is all just a game and can stop at any time. 786 00:45:13,878 --> 00:45:16,638 The real crisis is the environmental implications: 787 00:45:16,778 --> 00:45:19,238 the decline of fresh water access, 788 00:45:19,378 --> 00:45:23,183 the shortage in food production, especially once oil prices soar even higher, 789 00:45:23,323 --> 00:45:27,039 the destruction of arable crop land, and so forth. 790 00:45:29,058 --> 00:45:30,988 With all of this in mind, 791 00:45:31,128 --> 00:45:35,039 do you really think this system can maintain itself for that much longer? 792 00:45:35,179 --> 00:45:39,406 And if so, should we let the wars, poverty, environmental destruction, 793 00:45:39,546 --> 00:45:43,263 political corruption, and general social injustice continue? 794 00:45:43,403 --> 00:45:47,034 And this brings me back to the central point: Values. 795 00:45:47,167 --> 00:45:49,782 Updating human values is the relevant issue, 796 00:45:49,922 --> 00:45:52,678 bringing ourselves in line with nature, with the understanding 797 00:45:52,818 --> 00:45:56,053 that we must adhere to its laws, or die. 798 00:45:56,193 --> 00:45:58,286 And that brings this presentation to a close. 799 00:45:58,426 --> 00:46:00,429 My next lecture called 'Updating Human Values' 800 00:46:00,569 --> 00:46:03,193 will complement the material I've discussed today, 801 00:46:03,333 --> 00:46:06,404 focusing on the value system shift that is required of humanity 802 00:46:06,544 --> 00:46:09,523 in order to realize this Resource-Based Economy. 803 00:46:09,663 --> 00:46:13,368 Check out our local website, zeitgeistvancouver.com, 804 00:46:13,508 --> 00:46:17,985 or for more details go to the main movement website thezeitgeistmovement.com 805 00:46:18,125 --> 00:46:21,820 for the main, international movement website. Thank you very much. 806 00:46:22,020 --> 00:46:23,720 www.thezeitgeistmovement.com 807 00:46:23,920 --> 00:46:25,620 http://zeitgeist-canada.com 808 00:46:25,820 --> 00:46:27,520 http://zeitgeistvancouver.com 809 00:46:28,220 --> 00:46:31,620 Zeitgeist Vancouver 810 00:46:33,648 --> 00:46:36,766 The Zeitgeist Movement 811 00:46:38,505 --> 00:46:40,705 Rhyolite Entertainment