Welcome login | signup
Language en es fr
OccupyForum

Forum Post: TVP Response to Occupy Wall Street

Posted 13 years ago on Nov. 18, 2011, 2:03 a.m. EST by genanmer (822)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

The Venus Project realizes the significance of the Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Together movements and offers a positive solution for their grievances.

We at The Venus Project fear that any acquiescence to the protestor’s demands will do very little if the processes that cause the problems are left in place. In this case whatever laws or regulations are made will be eventually bypassed or overturned and conditions will revert back. This has almost always been the situation historically.

We are concerned that meeting the demands of the protestors while keeping the current economic system in place will not have the desired outcome. It will merely serve to temporarily pacify those who are abused and rightly angry. This will not solve the problems but will prolong them. When force does not work and superficial fixes (laws) are put into place without addressing the underlying problems, then no effective remedy will occur. It is the monetary economic system itself that is the root cause of these problems. Greed, corruption, and war are inevitable byproducts of the monetary system.

We maintain an obsolete economic system that has been handed down to us from centuries ago. It has never been just or equitable, nor can it be. The main aim of the monetary system is wealth, property, and power. This results in everyone being out for themselves. Our current circumstances are merely the evolution of a monetary-based system. It generates scarcity, poverty, aberrant behavior and the accumulation of wealth at the expense of others and the environment. The main aim is not the well being of the environment or people. Is it any wonder that most of the money is usurped by 1% of the population?

The wealthy buy and control the politicians, courts, judges, media, police, entertainment, and even the universities. They set the agenda and the laws for their own advantage. It is the taxpayers who pay the salaries of the police while they work for the wealthy (who pay very little taxes) to violently put down peaceful protestors who threaten the status quo.

Those in positions of advantage will not yield their control willingly.

Calls for stopping wars seems to be a fruitless plea when there is so much money to be made from them. Peace is the brief interval between wars. We have many real problems as a human species, but wars should not be one of them. Wars are the supreme failure of inadequate social structures. Conflicts must be expected when people have unequal access to goods and services.

Some say we should elect more “ethical” people to government. It is not ethical people we need but the intelligent management of Earth’s resources for the benefit of all. Anything less will revert back to the same problems we face today.

If we wish to put an end to wars, greed, and corruption, we must come to understand that the real culprit is the monetary system itself and the values it generates in order to perpetuate itself. It values competition rather than cooperation. People are pacified with the notion of “freedom”. As Jacque Fresco says, “one is only as free as their purchasing power”. Concepts of “individuality” keep people divided. It puts the blame on individuals rather than the system that has failed them, whether it is going abroad for cheap labor or automating to maintain a competitive edge. However, you are brought up with the propaganda that you are to blame, not the environment. This is not the case.

There is an alternative.

The Venus Project calls for a total redesign of society where human rights are not merely paper proclamations but a way of life. A society can be designed where war and want are distant memories. All people need clean air, water, food, a relevant education, and the necessities of life. This is now possible if we update our social systems as we have updated our technologies. We are not separate from nature and must live within the carrying capacity of our planet’s resources. This can be accomplished by applying the methods of science to the way we live with the main aim being the wellbeing of all the world’s people and the protection of the environment.

Jacque Fresco, the originator of the Venus Project, arrived at this new holistic socioeconomic system through more than 7 decades of scientific inquiry, research and development, which he calls a resource-based economy. We invite you to learn more about it at www.thevenusproject.com

Once we join together and proclaim all earth’s resources as the common heritage of all people, we will begin to know what it means to be civilized. Until that time we will be continuously fighting for a piece of the pie.

The Venus Project at Occupy Miami Sunday, November 20, 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frjtojzYTDA&feature=player_embedded

4 Comments

4 Comments


Read the Rules
[-] 2 points by Persephonie (50) 13 years ago

We certainly have the ability to feed everyone on the planet, and I am sure there could be housing available to everyone. If people were organized there could be a way to live in a better harmony with other people and with nature.

It is possible, but it isn't probable, at least not right now.

People don't trust each other enough to do away with the monetary system and trust that a new system would be run correctly. People who have power wouldn't want to relinquish it. Many people have a lot of prejudices and opinions that I don't think that they would be willing to set aside. Some people don't want to be equals, they think that they deserve more than others, or that their religion, nationality, customs etc are better than everyone else's. If you look at past elections, sometimes people just voted based on small matters such as a politicians stance on gay marriage(and I don't mean to belittle gay marriage I am just saying that people often will vote due to prejudice over these flashy topics instead of actual economic policy) etc.(instead of actual matters that directly affect them and their lives)

I guess we will see what happens in the future, but at this point I doubt a serious change is going to happen. Perhaps when tensions rise, and something of serious impact happens to truly unite and make all people reconsider the system.

[-] 2 points by genanmer (822) 13 years ago

Tensions are escalating and conversations are developing.

Even the mainstream media have changed their tune slightly as more people hold true democratic conversations.

The hunting/gathering of advertised goods from malls is losing its glamor. More people are learning cheap methods of living more sustainably and in abundance. As our true potential to overproduce is revealed the addiction to material affluence will decrease in favor of real wealth (purpose, connections, self-esteem).

The only thing stopping us is as you mentioned, insane fights over scraps of wealth. More people will understand how feasible a RBE really is as collaborative efforts grow.

[-] 1 points by blackpanther6389 (39) from Peoria, IL 12 years ago

I was lookin for this interview for the longest time and I think this is a really good interview to check out regarding the vp and Jacque's ideas:

http://www.trueactivist.com/a-conversation-with-conversation-jacque-fresco/#comment-19071

[-] 1 points by vjeanne (10) 13 years ago

" Concepts of “individuality” keep people divided. It puts the blame on individuals rather than the system that has failed them, whether it is going abroad for cheap labor or automating to maintain a competitive edge. However, you are brought up with the propaganda that you are to blame, not the environment. This is not the case."

I see what is being said here, but I think the concept of individuality has a lot of useful merit. All of us are points in a population of probabilities, each with our own configurations. What is beautiful has been the emergent properties of groups, which we are still learning, but can be viewed effectively through a lens of individualism. Active, open, engaging cooperation among individuals is ultimately what we are after.