The plans of The Venus Project offer society a broader spectrum of choices based on the scientific possibilities directed toward a new era of peace and sustainability for all. Through the implementation of a Global Resource Based Economy, and a multitude of innovative and environmentally friendly technologies directly applied to the social system, The Venus Project proposals will dramatically reduce crime, poverty, hunger, homelessness, and many other pressing problems that are common throughout the world today.
One of the cornerstones of the organization’s findings is the fact that many of the dysfunctional behaviors of today’s society stem directly from the dehumanizing environment of the monetary system. In addition, automation has resulted in the technological replacement of human labor by machines and eventually most people will not have the purchasing power to buy the goods and services turned out.
The Venus Project proposes a system in which automation and technology would be intelligently integrated into an overall holistic socio-economic design where the primary function would be to maximize the quality of life rather than profits. This project also introduces a set of workable and practical values.
This is also in perfect accord with the spiritual aspects and ideals found in most religions throughout the world. What sets The Venus Project apart, however, is that it proposes to translate these ideals into a working reality.
Phase 1: Center in Venus, Florida
The first phase of The Venus Project’s long-term plans has already been completed. Jacque Fresco, futurist, inventor, industrial designer and founder of The Venus Project with his associate and co-founder Roxanne Meadows have completed the construction of a 21-acre Center in Venus, Florida where they built 10 experimental buildings within a lush landscape to help present the proposals of The Venus Project. Videos, CDs and DVDs, posters, brochures, models, renderings and books, such as The Best That Money Can’t Buy: Beyond Politics, Poverty, & War, have been created to help raise awareness about this project and its many proposals.
Phase 2: Documentaries and Transmedia Production
Phase Two includes the production of documentaries to help introduce this direction to the world. Two major documentaries have already been completed: Paradise or Oblivion and The Choice is Ours.
Phase Two also includes a collection of stories told across a range of text, audio, and video media that will depict how a world embracing the proposals advanced by The Venus Project would work. These stories provide a positive vision of a peaceful society in which all human beings form a global family on planet Earth. A civilization in which all people are engaged in the pursuit of a better understanding of the world they share. These stories are designed to be an entertaining and educational experience for all viewers.
Phase 3: Center for Resource Management
The Venus Project has begun development of its third phase: the Center for Resource Management. This facility will showcase The Venus Project’s vision and will act as a stepping stone towards the development of our proposed network of cities.
One of the primary goals of the Center for Resource Management is to create an evolving and scalable social blueprint which future cities can be built upon and further develop. This will be done in collaboration with worldwide partners and with input from many diverse parties.
Phase 4: Experimental Research City & Network of Cities
The next phase of The Venus Project’s goals includes the construction of a research city. This new experimental research city would be devoted to working towards the aims and goals of The Venus Project, which are:
- Realizing the declaration of the world’s resources as being the common heritage of all people.
- Transcending the artificial boundaries that currently and arbitrarily separate people.
- Replacing money-based nationalistic economies with a resource-based world economy.
- Assisting in stabilizing the world’s population through education and voluntary birth control.
- Reclaiming and restoring the natural environment to the best of our ability.
- Redesigning cities, transportation systems, agricultural industries, and industrial plants so that they are energy efficient, clean, and able to conveniently serve the needs of all people.
- Gradually outgrowing corporate entities and governments, (local, national, or supra-national) as means of social management.
- Sharing and applying new technologies for the benefit of all nations.
- Developing and using clean renewable energy sources.
- Manufacturing the highest quality products for the benefit of the world’s people.
- Requiring environmental impact studies prior to construction of any mega projects.
- Encouraging the widest range of creativity and incentive toward constructive endeavor.
- Outgrowing nationalism, bigotry, and prejudice through education.
- Eliminating elitism, technical or otherwise.
- Arriving at methodologies by careful research rather than random opinions.
- Enhancing communication in schools so that our language is relevant to the physical conditions of the world.
- Providing not only the necessities of life, but also offering challenges that stimulate the mind while emphasizing individuality rather than uniformity.
- Finally, preparing people intellectually and emotionally for the changes and challenges that lie ahead.
Within the experimental city, a theme park is also planned that will both entertain and inform visitors about the possibilities for humane and environmentally friendly lifestyles planned by The Venus Project. It will feature intelligent houses; high-efficiency, non-polluting transportation systems; advanced computer technology; and a number of other innovations that can add value to the lives of all people – in a very short period of time.
A circular city would be a transitional phase and could evolve from a semi-cooperative money-oriented society to a resource based economy. This could be the prototype for a series of cities to be constructed in various places throughout the world. The rate of progress will depend on the availability of funds raised during the early stages and the people who identify with, participate in, and support the aims and direction of The Venus Project.
As these new communities develop and become more widely accepted, they may very well form the basis of a new civilization, preferably through the process of evolution rather than revolution.
No one can actually predict the future. We can only extrapolate on present information and trends. Population growth, technological change, worldwide environmental conditions, and available energy and resources are the primary criteria for future projections.
There is no single philosophy or point of view, whether religious, political, scientific, or ideological, that someone would not take issue with. We feel certain, however, that the only aspects of The Venus Project that may appear threatening are those which others project onto it.
The Venus Project is neither Utopian nor Orwellian, nor does it reflect the dreams of impractical idealists. Instead, it presents attainable goals requiring only the intelligent application of what we already know. The only limitations are those which we impose upon ourselves.
