When I was first introduced to the Zeitgeist Movement and the Venus Project a couple of years ago, I dismissed their videos as the ravings of a bunch of idealistic, liberal nutcases—the kind of talk that is best left ignored. Since then, I have grown a little older and a little wiser—it seems as time goes on, my bullshit detector becomes more finely tuned … and it certainly helps when you’re willing to set aside your pre-conceived notions and look at things logically and objectively. The people behind Zeitgeist and Venus may not have all the answers or even the correct ones, necessarily—they admit this—but they are certainly onto something; they have the right idea and at least a blueprint to work off of.
What am I talking about, here? For those of you not familiar with all of this, I invite you to visit my YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/JohnSchmitz2009 and take a look at the three Zeitgeist movies and a short video on the Venus Project. The feature-length films run 2 – 3 hours each, but if you have the time to waste gawking stupidly at slapstick comedies and pieces of recycled shit like Avatar, then you can certainly watch these.
And here’s a book that ties in nicely with all of this: Griftopia by Matt Taibbi. So far, I have only been able to skim this political tome because my wife is reading it first, but I will post a full review as soon as I can. From what little I’ve read, I feel no hesitation in recommending it wholeheartedly. Mr. Taibbi is an accomplished journalist and correspondent for Rolling Stone; his writing style is similar to the late Hunter S. Thompson’s before that particular reporter destroyed his senses with alcohol and drugs and finally blew his brains out.
In a nutshell, the Venus Project teaches us that our current economic and social systems have outlived their usefulness—this is something that was obvious to me before I ever even heard of the Venus Project. Haven’t you ever asked yourself why you spend the majority of your life doing things that you don’t want to do? Our time on Earth is so fleeting, and yet most of it is a fucking grind and a colossal bummer. We have it better than our ancestors, but that’s not good enough. The technology exists today to make work and money and mundane tasks completely obsolete.
Don’t believe me? Did you know that we could get all the energy that we need and more from wind, solar, and water power? In fact, we could get what we need from any one of those. The people in charge of the oil companies would like you to believe that those systems are inefficient and expensive—they’re not; in fact, they are more efficient.
Guess what? It’s possible to power cars and other vehicles using electricity, solar energy, and even water. Google it. Check YouTube. This is fact, not fantasy. The technology exists.
Money equals debt—that is how money is created. If all existing debt in the United States were to be paid off, there would not be one dollar left in circulation, never mind the interest. Our economic system is destined to collapse—this is a mathematical certainty.
With our knowledge of robotics and mass production, there is no need for people to work—instead, we should be concentrating on entertainment, the arts, philosophy, science, and family. There are already fully-automated convenience stores and machines that are capable of building an entire home in a single day.
I could go on and on, but what would be the point? I’m sure that all of this sounds fantastic and out of reach—it is not. We are being cheated; more importantly, we are cheating ourselves by remaining ignorant. Why should we be content to work at crappy jobs that we hate, only to come home and watch fucking sitcoms on TV? We use a meaningless barter system to buy shit that we don’t need. Tyler Durden was onto something in Fight Club.
I know all of this sounds rather heavy, but if you take the time to watch these videos and do a little research, I think that you’ll come around. I feel the same way about hippies that Eric Cartman does; but once in a while, they have a valid point. In the end, all I want is a better life for myself, my family, and for the rest of the world—I don’t think that’s too much to ask—and frankly, it pisses me off to know that I’ll probably never see it in my lifetime.
I have a blog that I believe you would enjoy seeing. If I may ask your indulgence, I think you will not be disapointed.
Thank you. I will take a look.
Well said, John. Humanity is facing enormous challenges we’re only beginning to understand (peak oil, technological unemployment, constant financial crises, global environmental devastation, etc). Instead of working together to overcome these crises and build a better future for everyone, we bicker and waste time arguing over irrelevant issues like politics, religion, and entertainment.
Our grandchildren will study in text books the pivotal time we live in right now. It’s up to use to decide if we future generations to look back at us and see intelligent and caring people, or petty, willfully ignorant, and incompetent slobs.
Cheers!
Thank you for your comment and kind words, Kyle. If people would only spend half as much time implementing new technologies and building a resource-based economy, instead of wallowing in unrepentant greed and finding new ways to rob their brothers and sisters, the world would be a much happier place. I’m not an idealist, but it’s hard to argue with the fact that in 2011, there is no shortage of food and medicine and the like–the only thing keeping that stuff out of the hands of those who need it is money, which quite naturally gives way to greed. It’s pretty sad that only 1.5% of the American population makes more than $250,000 a year; only 35% make more than $65,000.